We watched A Bugs Life yesterday as part of our insect study. Of course we've seen it many times but this time it was with new eyes -- with all the insect info we've been learning. I asked the kids to write down all the insects they could as we watched.....

Flik, Princess Atta, Dot, The Queen ~ ants

Francis ~ ladybug

Heimlich ~ caterpillar

Hopper, Molt ~ grasshoppers

Manny ~ praying mantis

Gypsy ~ gypsy moth

Dim ~ rhinoceros Beetle ( yes, there really is such a thing )

Slim ~ walking stick ( we havent learned about this fella yet )

See, watching movies is educational!

Insects feelers or antennae are very important to their survival. Whether looking for food, landing on leaves, finding a mate, sensing danger or looking for holes while crawling over rocks, insects need their antennae. Something neat about them pertaining to weather, insects use their feelers to sense vibrations, which help them find the air currents in which to fly through!

Cave Cricket

 Isn't this a pretty fella?! Well maybe his mama thinks he's cute......this one was my favorite today. He uses his antennae to find his way in the dark. Sorta like a blind person would use a walking stick to tap along the street looking for bumps or the curb. As we were drawing him today I kept having a vision of Jimmeny Cricket walking along tapping his antennae in the dark.....of course he doesn't do that in Phinnochio, but I kept seeing that in my mind. I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid! Anyway, back on track......

Chafer Beetle

So this fella uses its sensitive feelers to help it fly. When this guy is resting, his antennae are folded neatly, but when he is in the air, they spread out like a fan!

Longhorn Beetles

Longhorn Moth

  This cute thing has long, sorta wispy antennae. They measure twice the length of their body -- though in this picture it's difficult to tell. Moths in general use their antennae to keep from bumping into their friends when having a late night party at our porch lights!

these are the individual lenses of a compound eye 

Unlike us humans, who have simple eyes, insects have compound eyes. They are wonderfully fascinating. All those lenses -- can you imagine looking out at the world like that?!   Maybe being able to see in all directions at the same time would be a nice thing,.......ok,well maybe not!

 We made something to help us understand the compound eye a bit better. We took straws, cut them in half and taped them together.  It was fun trying to look through it.

We use our tongue & nose for tasting and smelling but insects don't have either of those! They use their feelers or antennae to smell & taste. Insects have taste buds in their mouths but some also use their FEET to taste things!

Like the fly ---  

 He scopes out food with its sense of smell, when he finds something, he lands on it and uses the tastebuds on his feet to see if its YUMMY! In case you want to know more, then he throws up and spreads the digestive juices on it. BLECK!

And the Dung Fly ---

The kids and I did an experiment to see what smells insects are attracted to. We gathered honey, water and old meat, placed one each on separate plastic lids and placed them outside. We found that butterflies & bees like the sweet stuff & flies like the old meat. However, our cat does too -- she ate the old meat!

And while we were out looking at our lids, we found a dead bird. My oldest picked it up to toss it b/c baby brother was crawling in the grass too -- when she did, we found MAGGOTS!! Awesome how we just discussed them and here they were! Kids were a little grossed out and wanted mom to touch them first ( with gloves on! ) So I did -- then they wanted to know if they would like the honey, water or meat we left out and decided to place one on each lid.

Interesting day!

We went on a search today for water insects.

Specifically ~  a water strider, those are the ones with the long legs that skim the surface of the water. Their back legs are like the steering rudders on a boat. The middle legs help push them forward and their front legs can sense ripples from struggling insects caught on the water's surface. The coolest part I think is that their legs are covered with waterproof hair & never get wet!

~ a water boatman, these guys you don't want to touch b/c they bite and it's painful! They are, however, fun to watch -- unfortunately, we didn't see any! They 'row' just under the surface on their backs using their very long back legs like the oars of a rowboat. They hunt tadpoles, minnows and other insects.

 & a whirligig beetle, these guys are also lots of fun. They are small, oval shaped, black beetles. They travel in groups that spin around and around on the water's surface. They have TWO sets of eyes, one pair to watch above the surface and one pair to watch below. -- Cool, huh?! They don't hunt like the others; they eat the dead animals that fall into the water.

 I wasn't able to capture all of them in pictures, those boogers are quick, however here are a few photos from where we were.

As you can see there is plenty of water and beautiful cattails growing.....

Kaden and I found a COOL black bug of some kind -- sorta shaped like a beetle but it was BIG! It was in the water moving rather quickly. I tried to catch it in these next couple photos.....we need to find out what it was.

There were also a TON of dragonflies. We saw red ones, blue ones ( there were several flying tandem like, ) one with zebra striped wings. We need to locate the names of those too....

there is one in the top right corner of this pic --- up above that patch of weeds, very difficult to see :(

 And here are a couple of the kids' journal entries, Jayda & Taylor's

Update on the Bug Pits: Checking the Bug Pits this past weekend and today, we found red ants, black ants, pill bug/rolly poly ( who is not an insect but rather an isopod ), and a beetle. YAY!

Today we learned just how we can tell if a bug is an insect.  3 & 3  is the key! It has 3 pairs of legs and 3 body parts; the head, thorax and abdomen.

We found it interesting that the abdomen is the last part and not the middle. The thorax has the flying muscles and the wings.

Here's Jayda's jounral page. Apparently no one only mom wanted to use color today -- all 4 of the kids drew in pencil!

Kaden's ( looks like baby brother got to it, its all crinkled )

We looked up these three scriptures to go with our study

Genesis 1:24-25 -- And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures.....creeping things."

Psalms 104:24 -- In wisdom You made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Proverbs 30:24-25, 27 -- "Four things on earth are small, yet very wise...ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer.....locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks"