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This idea is incomplete. Please feel free to add to it at your leisure. The Saint Michael's College students may or may not revisit this one in January 2008, but you should feel free to jump in before then and complete it.

Bio in Elementary Schools has moved to Wiki Educator.

Link under 'toolbox' on the left for a printer-friendly version. To print handouts, click the handout, and then click 'download high resolution version'. Please refer to Wikia's disclaimer statement before using this information.

Pond and stream bugs; this program not yet fully developed

Student worthiness

Tried and trusted. It is worth noting however, that even though most water bodies contain a number of invertebrate species, not all water bodies contain easily accessible invertebrates, and safety is a very real concern for all involved. We have not developed this idea, or tried it out with grade schoolers in our program because the pond from which we intended to collect the invertebrates was flooded when we arrived (without students in tow of course). However, one of us has run an activity of this sort multiple times with students of all ages and it is generally successful. It is actually better if the students can catch their own bugs rather than having them handed to them. However, in the absence of access and/or time, bringing them in a bucket of mud is not a bad substitute.

Primary biological content area covered

The students will be investigating different types of bugs and comparing them.

Materials

For the fieldwork at a pond and a stream:

  • 4-5 buckets
  • 4-5 nets
  • Waders (if available)

For the classroom activity:

  • 4-5 sieves (crochet hoops with window screen work well)
  • Hand lenses (1 for every student, or 1 for every pair of students)
  • 10-12 petri-dishes
  • 10-12 sets of forceps
  • Microscope (if available)

Handouts

Description of activity

This activity can include a field trip to a local stream and/or pond, however it is not necessary to do this with the students (it might be more efficient to collect the materials outside of class time). Mud samples should be obtained from a pond, and rocks should be retrieved from a stream. Once the mud and rocks have been collected, scrape the bottoms of the rocks in order to locate the bugs, and sift the mud to separate the bugs from the rest of the mud. Use the hand lenses and microscopes to look at the bugs and make comparisons.

Lesson plan

Potential pitfalls

Some students may not want to help in the collection of rocks and mud, or may be afraid to handle the bugs. Depending upon your location and recent weather patterns in your area, it might be hard to obtain adequate bug samples (flooding and excessive ice can inhibit access to bodies of water). There is also the chance that upon obtaining the rocks and mud, you simply have bad luck and there might not be a lot of bugs to observe. However, there are usually at least some bugs present if one looks carefully.

Math connections

Ven diagrams can be drawn based upon the characteristics of the invertebrates collected.

Literature connections

Waterboatman


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  • "Big Book of Bugs" by Theresa Greenway
  • "Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!" by Bob Barner
  • "Backyard Bugs" by Sue Hubbell
  • "The Bugliest Bug" by Carol Diggory Shields
  • "Song of the water boatman : & other pond poems" Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Beckie Prange

Connections to educational standards

Next steps

Citations and links

Vermont State Grade Expectations can be found at the State of Vermont Department of Education website. [1]

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