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Lesson Plan for Prek-2
Asking Scientific Questions, Observing & Recording Materials: ladybugs; magnifying glass; butcher paper and marker or chalkboard and chalk (optional); small rulers; paper, crayons, pencils; Anatomy, Fun Facts, and Glossary (see sidebar) Place the ladybugs where students can observe them. Don't tell them these are ladybugs. Invite them to take a good look. To see closer, use a magnifying glass. Caution students not to shake the cup too much. Start a class discussion by asking questions. • What are these little things? • Are they alive? What makes you think so? • How big are they? • How many are there? • What are they doing now? • What do you think they're going to do later? • What do bugs eat? • What else do they need? Scientific questions are ones that students can answer by looking and experimenting. What does it really look like? and How do we know they're alive? are good beginning questions. Ask children if they have questions about bugs. Write questions on butcher paper or the blackboard, if you'd like to save them for later days. At the start of the lesson, children should be aware that there are no wrong answers to your questions and no wrong questions. Encourage them to make guesses and imagine everything they can about the strange creatures in the plastic cup. Give them free rein to wonder, explain, and invent. Then begin to focus them by asking them to look closely and describe what they see (tiny legs, teeny eyes, little bumps, little sections of body—how many? what color?). To help children begin to see details, draw a big picture of a ladybug on butcher paper or the blackboard and ask students to compare the picture with the tiny, real ladybugs. Name the body parts for them (head, mouth, legs, spots, segments) Ask students to think of ways to find answers to all their questions. Ideas might include reading, observing bugs outdoors, looking on the Internet, or asking a librarian, a gardener, or a scientist. Try looking up BUG and LADYBUG in a children's encyclopedia. Do you find answers to some of your questions? Students should— Look at the ladybugs every day. Keep a record of their observations by drawing pictures. Post some of these pictures on your bulletin board or collect them in booklets bound with string. Identify or name the stages and events of the life cycle. Older students may learn to spell some of them: egg, larva, pupa, imago, metamorphosis, molt, instar (see glossary for definitions of these terms). Color and name the parts of the adult ladybug on the handout. Count bugs, legs, body sections: How many legs and body sections do they have? How many legs and spots do the adult ladybugs have? Tell the story of ladybug metamorphosis. Describe why ladybugs are important for gardens. Release their ladybugs in your school yard or a nearby park or garden. |
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