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TEACHER RESOURCES

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FOR THE TEACHER

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ENGAGE - ACTIVITY 1: WHAT IS IN THE BAG?

What are the students doing?

• Individual or pairs of students are given a brown paper bag with a single small familiar item (e.g eraser, pencil, candy wrapper, leaf, etc)
• In order to play the game later students must keep their object a secret
• They will record what the item is on the top of the worksheet
• Students will be asked to silently write down as many single words as they can think of that describes their object, a time limit should be set (~2 min)
• Class will then engage in a discussion about what an observation is, being guided to reach to the conclusion that an observation involves the five senses touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. (student appropriate video)
• Once a consensus definition is reached this will be recorded on the worksheet
• Students will now sort the words the came up with in observations or non-observations and record this on the worksheet
• Next each student or pair reads off their observations to the class and the class tries to guess what is in the bag.
• When students guess what is in the bag quickly discuss what observations helped, if students can’t guess what is in the bag, discuss what observations might have helped

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What is the teacher doing?

• Prepare bags and worksheets in advance of this activity
• Give directions at start emphasizing the importance of not sharing what is your bag
• Lead discussion on what an observation is
• Lead guessing game of whats in the bag

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What student work will be assessed for understanding the phenomenon?

• You can assess the sorting of observations and non-observations to determine if students understand the difference

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ENGAGE - ACTIVITY 2: OBSERVE AN INSECT

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Additional notes: for this activity you may want to use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). If you are unfamiliar with this technique you can find more information here.

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What are the students doing?

• Students will first work individually to come up with observations about the insect at their station
• They will then have a chance to share their observations in a group and ‘steal’ any additional observations from their group members and record them on their sheet
• Students will then share out questions and develop a question wall (poster) which questions can be crossed off on during the course of the lesson as they are answered

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What is the teacher doing?

• NOT answering questions, don’t explain, just guide the observation so that they stay within the 5 senses

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What student work will be assessed for understanding the phenomenon?

• At the end of the lesson students can be tasked with answering their own questions as a method for assessing material learned

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What’s in the bag?

In my bag I have:_________________________________________

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Make a list of single words describing your object below, only use one word at a time.

• ____________

• ____________

• ____________

• ____________

• ____________

• ____________

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What’s in the bag?

OBSERVATIONS

NOT OBSERVATIONS

What is an observation?______________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________

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Now take your single words describing your object and sort them below.

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What OBSERVATIONS can you make about this organism?

(For example: color, legs/wings/leaves, movement, feeding)

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What QUESTIONS do you have about this organism?

(For example: why is black? What does it eat?

FOR THE TEACHER

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EXPLORE - ACTIVITY 3: WHAT DO THE OFFSPRING LOOK LIKE?

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What are the students doing?

• Individual students will continue to observe the insect, hold it, and then make a guess about what the offspring (babies) of this insect look like

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What is the teacher doing?

• Making sure the insects don’t get squished
• Don’t correct students at this stage, let them guess as wildly as their imagination will take them
• If more questions come up, record them on your question wall/board or on their sheets

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What student work will be assessed for understanding the phenomenon?

• Nothing at this stage, the revisions they will make to their model of a baby insect will be assessed at the end of the learning cycle

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EXPLAIN - ACTIVITY 4: READINGS

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What are the students doing?

• Students will individually read their section, circling each answer to one of their questions they see
• Students can then work as a group or class to answer as many of the questions they generated as possible
• Any unanswered questions can be looked up or directed to the Bohart Museum Scientists

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What is the teacher doing?

• Answering questions, especially with terminology
• To link this to NGSS standards teachers can gather similarities and differences between the life cycles of the different insects on the board

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ELABORATE - ACTIVITY 5: REVISE OFFSPRING MODELS

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What are the students doing?

• Allow students to return to their initial drawing of the offspring and now make adjustments, encourage them to label any parts they have learned from the reading

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What is the teacher doing?

• Now you get to answer questions, record any you can not answer, look up answers or direct students to the Bohart scientists.

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What student work will be assessed for understanding the phenomenon?

• You can assess this to see how well they understood the reading and how well they can revise an initial model.

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Draw what you THINK the offspring (babies) will look like?

(don’t worry you will have a chance to revise your answer)

MADAGASCAR HISSING COCKROACH

Where are Madagascar hissing cockroaches from?

The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina ortentosa) is one of the larger species of cockroach, reaching between 5-8 cm when fully grown. As their name implies, they are native to the island of Madagascar.

Madagascar

What is the lifecycle of a hissing cockroach?

Female (girl) hissing cockroaches create their eggs inside them until they are ready to hatch. The young cockroaches, called nymphs, look like tiny miniature adults. Young cockroaches are white when they are first born and darken in color after a few hours. Darkening is a sign that the exoskeleton is hardening. When cockroaches molt they are also white, as they are still developing an exoskeleton. Cockroaches go through incomplete metamorphosis, they do not have a ‘cocoon’ stage like some insects have. It takes between 9 months to a year for a cockroach to reach adulthood. These cockroaches have been known to live up to five years in captivity.

What do hissing cockroaches eat?

Hissing cockroaches live on the forest floor and are herbivores and detritivores, meaning they feed on dead decaying plant material. At the museum we feed them dog food. Hissing cockroaches have a lifespan between 2-5 years. You can tell whether a hissing cockroach is a male (boy) by looking for the 'horns' on the first segment of their bodies (also known as the pronotum).

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Why do hissing cockroaches hiss?

These cockroaches hiss by pushing air through small openings on their abdomen called spiracles. These spiracles are how cockroaches breathe, since they don’t have lungs like us. Most insects make sounds by rubbing body parts together (like crickets) but hissing cockroaches are rather unique in how they produce sound. Cockroaches use the hissing sound to attract mates, to scare predators or as way to warn off other cockroaches.

ANNAM WALKING STICKS

Where are annam walking sticks from?

These walking sticks (Medauroidea extradentata), sometimes called Vietnamese walking sticks are typically found living within trees in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. A full grown adult is usually between 10-13 cm in length.

Where are annam walking sticks from?

These walking sticks (Medauroidea extradentata) typically found living within trees in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. A full grown adult is usually between 10-13 cm in length.

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What do annam walking sticks eat?

Like all walking sticks, annam walking sticks are herbivores which means they only eat plant material. They will eat any plant in the rose family. In the museum, we feed them blackberry leaves. They have a short lifespan, only living 5-7 months.

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Why do annam walking sticks walk like that?

During the day these walking sticks mostly remain still, when they do move they often have a wobbly walk. They do this to replicate the appearance of branches moving in the wind. Their appearance is a form of camouflage and blending in with their environment is the only form of protection they have from predators.

What is the lifecycle of a walking stick?

Most annam walking sticks are female (girls) and do not require males (boys) to produce eggs. This form of reproduction is called parthenogenesis. When their environment becomes stressful due to lack of food, excessive predators, or weather they will produce males. Young walking sticks, called nymphs, look like miniature adults. Molting is the process of shedding the hard exoskeleton. If a walking stick loses a limb it can regenerate the leg during the next molt. Once the insect reaches maturity, it is unable to regrow body parts.

egg

nymphs

adult

BIRTH

GROWTH

REPRODUCTION