Bugscope Assignment

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Bugscope Assignment

• Michelle Pitzl
• EDUC 140
• October 15, 2005

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• Beetles are a part of the Coleoptera family which
  comes from a word meaning sheath for their hind
  wings.
• Beetles have an incredible ability to adapt to
  any environment which ensures us they will exist
  much longer than human beings.

Picture of beetle seen through the naked eye.
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• In addition to being associated with several
  different plants, they can be found in land and
  fresh-water habitats such as logs or under bark,
  in fungi, in mud, in decaying plant and animal
  matter, in water, in stored food, in bird and
  mammal nests, and in termite nests.
• Adult beetles range in size from 0.01 to almost 8
  inches in body length, but antennae of some are
  much longer than their bodies. Beetles usually
  have hard bodies, but sometimes they are leathery
  or even have soft bodies.

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• Most beetles are dark brown or black, but many
  are red, blue, green, purple or a combination of
  colors and can be smooth or hairy.
• Beetles usually have two sets of wings, the hard
  front wings and the soft hind wings for flying.

http//www.betterpestcontrol.com/2103_1.jpg
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• Beetles feed as scavengers on dead plants and
  animals. Other species feed on fungi or mold, and
  a few are parasitic on other insects or
  vertebrate animals.
• Did you know there are more species of beetles on
  Earth than there are plants?!

Beetles leg magnified at 2560 where you are
capable of seeing the beetles setae.
http//bugscope.itg.uiuc.edu/members/2005-029/
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Helpful Websites

• Amazing Insects website
• http//www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1
  insects/beetles.html
• Wonderful World of Insects website
• http//www.earthlife.net/insects/six.html

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National Science Education Standards

• Content Standard C
• Grades K-4
• Organisms and their environments
• All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat
  plants for food. Other animals eat animals that
  eat the plants.

http//tolweb.org/tree/ToLimages/beetleflying.gif
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Using Technologies

• Teachers can use technologies such as microscopes
  and ESEMs in order to further the learning of
  their students.
• Students can take the information they have been
  given and use technology to put it into a power
  point presentation as a means of applying what
  they have learned.
• In using the microscopes, teachers are able to
  show their students that a bug is made up of so
  many different things. They can show magnified
  slides of certain insects and have children guess
  what the insect is being displayed.

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Three Literature Sources

• One recommended source is Beetles and Bugs by
  A.J. Wood and Maurice Pledger. Offers a
  touch-and-feel adventure for children ages 4-6.
• A second recommended book is The Beetle Alphabet
  Book by Jerry Pallotta and David Bierdrzycki. A
  book that uses various letters of the alphabet to
  introduce different beetles
• The third recommended book is Bugs, Beetles, and
  Butterflies by Harriet Ziefert and Lisa Flather.
  It is a book that uses rhymed text and
  illustrations to introduce bugs, beetles and
  butterflies.

http//browse.barnesandnoble.com
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Applying the Bugscope Activity

• The bugscope can be applied as a creative writing
  activity where students look at a picture of a
  magnified bug and guess what part or what type of
  insect it may be.
• Another activity used from the bugscopes to
  enhance learning is offering an opportunity like
  we had to chat online. That way students can ask
  questions and get the answers they are looking
  for from professionals.

http//www.cemes.fr/Services/Microscopie/2010.jpg