Insects Don't Bug Me

Our little entomologists have been working very hard on their insect collections.  We have discovered that taxonomy, the process of classifying insects, is harder than we thought.

All living things fit into five KINGDOMS.
The animal kingdom is divided into 36 PHYLA (a phylum).
Each phylum has CLASSES.
Each class is made up of ORDERS.
Each order is made up of a number of FAMILIES.
Families are made up of GENERA (a genus).
Each genus is mad up of SPECIES.

Right now, we are just trying to identify the common name of each insect and it's order, but insects make up 3/4 of the animal population, so identification is a tough job.

Caldwell Memorial Wildlife Area

Thanks to the Missouri Conservation Department and the Discover Nature Schools grant, Edgar Murray students had the opportunity to do field investigations at Caldwell Memorial Wildlife Area in Washington, MO.  Using the Nature Unleashed curriculum, students participated in inquiry based activities at the pond, prairie, and forest.  With out a doubt, their favorite location was the pond!

Sam Faith gives students last minute directions in the Prairie area.  Students learned that prairies aren't always plains with wildflowers.  Most of the prairies have very few trees because fires cleared the trees.  

Students measure the temperature in various locations to see where they can find a comfortable fit for their randomly chosen cold-blooded animal.  Students used strategies to change the temperature, such as placing the thermometer in the shade, sun, under a leaf, in a hole, etc... 

Our parent chaperons helped keep our young scientists on track.  The activities were student led, but our parent volunteers were available to help students with questions.

Jarod and Zachary view one of their living organisms through a hand lens.   They got a close look at their frog's webbed feet, a specialized structure of their frog friend. 

Here is a closer look of our froggy friend!

 

Jessica and Sophie discuss specialized structures they've discovered on living organisms in the pond.

Mrs. Hawkins enjoys observing an earthworm.   Don't eat it Mrs. Hawkins!

Students collected living organisms to view under the microscope.

Nature Unleashed

 The third, fourth, and fifth grade Challenge classes have been participating Nature Unleashed, curriculum provided by the MO Conservation Department.  In the pictures below, students are looking for producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers.  Their favorite part was digging in the soil.

Second and third grade students dissected owl pellets. As the dissected the pellets, they put the bones in categories. They then evaluated the data they collected.