What would it be like to be an insect? Through hands-on activities and discussion your students will learn about the parts of an insect and how their bodies and lives compare to ours. Select portions of this program to fit your group and the objectives of your curriculum. Consider these concepts:

• How does an insect communicate? Can you communicate in the same way?
• How and what does an insect eat? Compare insect mouthparts to learn the answer.
• What does the world look like through the eyes of an insect?
• Can you walk like an insect? What is it like to have six feet?
• Compare insect legs and how they function.
• If insects competed in the Olympics, could they win? Let's run some trials and calculate results.
• What's this stuff about classification? What do you mean a spider isn't an insect?

Materials Available: Extension Youth Development Educator conducts the classroom presentation.

Duration: Presentation takes 30-60 minutes and will depend on which activities are selected.

Illinois Learning Standards: Science: 11A – Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry. 12A – Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt and change. 12B – Know and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment. Mathematics: 7A – Measure and compare quantities using appropriate units, instruments and methods. 10B – Formulate questions, design data collection methods, gather and analyze data and communicate findings. English Language Arts: 4A – Listen effectively in formal and informal situations. 4B – Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situations and audience.