Insects Level: 2nd Grade Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter  Description: Students will learn basic concepts related to insect life cycles, insect needs for life, insect habitats, and insect parts and functions.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Learning Objectives

Students will know and observe:

• Insects have common physical characteristics such as three body parts, antennae, six legs, wings, and compound eyes.

• In other ways, insects are different from each other, for example, color, shape, food, etc.

• Butterflies and moths are examples of insects that look alike in some ways, but are different in other ways.

• The different parts of an insect have different purposes or functions.

• Insects have basic needs for air, water, and food.

• Insects have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and dying.

• Some insects have a 4-stage life cycle: egg—larva—pupa—adult.

• Insects live in, and are adapted to, various environments.

• Insects have features that help them survive in different environments.

• Insects interact with human beings and with each other in various ways.

• Different insects eat different foods to live; some eat things that humans don’t really want them to eat.

Students will practice:

• Describing observed events.

• Developing questions on scientific topics.

• Collecting data for investigations.

• Recording data.

• Arranging data into logical patterns and describing patterns.

• Comparing observations of individual and group results.

Standards

Illinois State Standards: Early Elementary- As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:

12A. Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and change

• Identify and describe the component parts of living things and their major functions
• Categorize living organisms using a variety of observable features

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry

• Describe an observed event
• Develop questions on scientific topics
• Collect and record data for investigations
• Arrange data into logical patterns and describe the patterns
• Compare observations of individual and group results
  

Benchmark for Science Literacy- By the end of 2nd grade, students should know that:

• Some animals and plants are alike in the way they look and the things they do, and others are very different from each other.
• Plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.
• Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants for shelter and nesting
• Living things are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat different kinds in different places.

National Science Education Standards- As a result of activities in grades K-4, students should develop an understanding of the following fundamental concepts and principles:

• Organisms have basic needs, for example, animals need air, water, and food. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met
• Each animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
• Animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different animals.
• Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants
• All organisms cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changed are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial.

Resources

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800