Category: Book Review (Page 45 of 63)

Insect Senses Activity Answers

Did you find the parts associated with insect senses from the previous post? Here are the labelled photographs to check.

Remember:

The following are public domain photographs taken by the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab.  Name links will take you to the image in Flickr. Note:  For the squeamish, there are a few photographs of dead birds in their photostream (preserved specimens).

flower-fly-labelled-head

(Syrphid or flower fly, face view)

Flies have very interesting antennae. They are shorter and smaller than the antennae of many adult insects. Fly antenna also have a hair-like structure sticking out called the arista. A few kinds of flies, like mosquitoes, can “hear” when sound vibrations cause the arista to move.

The large eyes are made up of facets or ommatidia. Can you see the patterns they make in the eye?

They aren’t labelled, but did you spot the sensory hairs around the ocelli and those just above the antennae? They are longer and thicker than hairs in nearby regions. They might help the fly figure out how fast it is going.

bee-antenna-labelled-head

The antenna of this bee looks very different from that of the fly.

bee-labelled-head

The  Eucera dubitata bee has smaller compound eyes than the flower fly.

The mouthparts are complicated, consisting of tube-like tongue to suck nectar but also biting jaws to dig nests in the soil. The long, whitish hairs at the top of the mouthparts are sensory hairs. They might help position the tongue in flowers.

The other hairs on the bee’s body may not be not primarily sensory. They may help keep the bee warm and also to trap pollen. The bee scrapes the pollen off its hairs and bundles it into bee bread for the larvae to eat.

moth-labelled-headThe velvetbean moth has a thinner, more flexible moth for sucking nectar.

The antennae of male moths are often bushy and thicker than those of female moths.

Moths, which are active largely at night when it is cooler, have hairs on their body to help insulate them and keep them warmer.

Some moths also have tympana on the sides of their abdomen, which allows them to hear the echolocation signals of bats and avoid them.

Because there are so many different insects, there are of course many different insect senses. Please feel free to leave a question if you a curious about an insect we didn’t mention.

 

 

Insects Book and Insect Senses Activity for Kids

For STEM Friday we are sharing a Smithsonian Little Explorer nonfiction title:  Insects (Little Scientist) by Martha E. H. Rustad.

Young children are often fascinated by insects and this book will give them a good foundation in the basics of insect science. In addition to explaining metamorphosis and insect senses, it covers eight main insect groups from ants to grasshoppers. Each section is a two-page spread with bright color photographs throughout. Some of the photographs are edge to edge, giving a feeling that you are actually seeing the scene first hand.

In the back are suggestions for thinking more deeply about insects, as well as a glossary, book recommendations for further reading, and a portal to Internet Sites through FactHound.

Insects will thrill budding entomologists. It is also a useful resource for libraries and classrooms.

Let’s celebrate the book with an activity.

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Related Activity:  Exploring Insect Senses

The following are public domain photographs taken by the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab.  Name links will take you to the image in Flickr. Note:  For the squeamish, there are a few photographs of dead birds in their photostream (preserved specimens).

Animals need to be able to detect or sense information about their environments in order to survive.

1. Brainstorm about human senses.

Read a book about human senses, such as My Five Senses by Aliki (as seen read in this video).

Ask the children about what senses humans have and why they are important (like avoiding danger or finding safe food to eat).

(Extension:  You are likely to have been taught in school, as in the book, that humans have five senses. This is a simplification. Think about other senses we have, such as the ability to sense pain or the ability to tell which way is up in relation to gravity. We can also tell when our stomach is full via stretch receptors. Some scientists think we may have up to 20 senses!  How Stuff Works has more about this.)

2. Find out about insect senses.

Insects have senses as well, but theirs don’t look the same and work in different ways than ours do.

Human-vs-insect-senses-graphic

Can you believe that mosquitoes hear with their antennae and that crickets hear with tympana (strips of membrane stretched tight) found on their legs?

Many insects can detect chemical odors via their antennae, which work in a similar way to how our noses detect smells.

Look at the photographs below and try to find the parts the insects are using to see, hear, smell, taste and touch things around them.

Parts to look for:

  • Antennae
  • Compound Eyes
  • Ocelli (simple eyes)
  • Mouthparts

Bonus:  see if you can spot any special sensory hairs.

 

syrphid-fly-huge-eyesSyrphid or flower fly, face view

close-up-bee-antennaCan you tell what part of the bee this is?

female-Eucera-dubitata-mouthparts

 Eucera dubitata bee

velvetbean-mothVelvetbean moth

Once you have examined these insect photographs closely, go to the answer post for labelled photographs and more information.

Isn’t it amazing that even though they look and work in different ways, insects have senses just like we do?

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Be sure to look for Insects (Little Scientist) by Martha E. H. Rustad.

Age Range: 4 – 7 years
Publisher: Capstone Press (August 1, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1491407948
ISBN-13: 978-1491407943

Disclosures: The book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate for Amazon. If you click through the linked titles or ads and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Proceeds will be used to maintain this self-hosted blog.

 

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

 

 

Zoology Science Activities for Kids

Our post today is inspired by a new middle grade children’s book, Zoology for Kids: Understanding and Working with Animals, with 21 Activities (For Kids series) by Josh Hestermann and Bethanie Hestermann with a foreword by The Kratt Brothers. The book is so awesome I want to share it by giving away a copy.  See below for details on how you can enter to win a paperback copy of this book.

 

Josh Hestermann is a zoologist/zookeeper and his wife, Bethanie Hestermann, is a writer. Together they explain what zoology is (the study of animals) and what an animal is, and then give a lively introduction to the science of zoology. The second part describes common career options for people who want to work with animals. Sprinkled throughout are hands-on activities for middle-grade-aged children, such as baking a model of an animal cell, playing a dolphin echolocation game, eating a bat fruit salad, and planning an animal’s exhibit for a zoo. See our sister blog, Wrapped in Foil, for a full review.

Related Activity:  Making Animal Books

Gather:

  • Photographs of animals (from old magazines, the Internet, take photographs at your local zoo, or see these public domain line drawings)
  • Spiral notebook or binder with 3-hole paper (or an artist’s sketch book)
  • Crayons, markers and colored pencils
  • Glue stick or tape

Version 1. Animal Alphabet Book for the Youngest Set

Create a page for each letter of the alphabet. Try to find an animal or animals whose name starts with each letter. Don’t forget that fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and invertebrates are also animals.

Glue or tape the pictures on the page. Draw the letters and add the animal’s name.

For older children, have them add information about the animals, such as what they eat and where they live, maps, etc. Encourage them to draw pictures as well as write the text.

Examples:

anteater-page-1zebra page

Looking for an animal with a name that starts with X? Suggestions:

  • Ground squirrels in the genus Xerus
  • X-ray tetra fish
  • Swordfish in the genus Xiphias
  • Xantus’s hummingbird

zoo-visayan-warty-pig

Did you take a picture at the zoo and now can’t remember what kind of animal it is?

Hint:  Try an Internet image search to see if you can find matches. Just be careful to look for reputable sources.

Another hint:  If you go on a trip to the zoo to take photographs, take a few photographs of the signs as well. This will help you remember which animal is which and also gives you more information to talk about when you get home.

zoo-sign

Turns out this one can be used for the letter V!

Version 2: Animal Phyla (For older children)

For older children, consider exploring the phyla that make up the Kingdom Animalia by making a scrapbook or presentation. See our previous post for details (because it got too long to be included here).

Related:

Extensive interview with a Zoo Docent here at Growing With Science

Zoology for Kids website

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GIVEAWAY

Would you like to try to win a copy of Zoology for Kids? Simply sign into Rafflecopter (U.S. mailing addresses only, please). It will ask you to leave a comment on this blog post and/or like our FaceBook page by March 14, 2015 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. A single winner will be selected at random by Rafflecopter and I will notify the winner via e-mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Age Range: 9 and up
Grade Level: 4 and up
Publisher: Chicago Review Press (March 1, 2015)
ISBN-10: 1613749619
ISBN-13: 978-1613749616

Disclosures: The book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate for Amazon. If you click through the linked titles or ads and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Proceeds will be used to maintain this self-hosted blog.

 

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

 

 

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