Third Grade Spring Walk: Insects and Mini-creatures
Goals:
• Insects & minicreatures all need to find food, shelter, air, water, warmth in their habitat
• Insects and minicreatures need food and are food to other creatures - the Food chain
• Insects are important as food source, pollinator, and as decomposers.
Materials: Per child (you may want to carry these): 1 bug box or Petri dish, clipboard, pencil, 2 worksheets
Per group: 2 hand lens, 1 insect field guide, set of Insect Fun Facts. Split class into 4 groups and rotate sites.
Logistics: Send out date and appropriate clothing reminder, long pants and closed toe shoes due to ticks and
poison ivy; Walk leaders can encourage children to tuck pants into socks. Leaders should do a quick tick
check (neck and ankles) before heading in. Go out in late May or early June for 1 hour.
Indoor Prep: 2 minutes – Set behavioral expectations and theme of food chains small creatures in them. .
Outdoor prep: 5 minutes small group –
We are going look at small creatures—mini-creatures-- and think about their role in food chains.
Many of them will be insects, but not all of them. Each of you will draw one at the end of the walk
and you'll record what you can about that creature’s habitat.
What is a habitat? (A habitat is a place that has all the things a plant or animal needs to survive)
Use ant as an example.
What would the world be like w/out insects? Who eats insects? (birds, skunks, even bears).
Walk: 30 minutes -Looking for insects collect one in each area
(You will see more if you stand still). Visit each site:(woods, mown grass, tall grass, shrub border) and
look for small creatures. At each site one child is responsible for collecting in bug box or petri dish (rubber
banded to close). Other children can help. Look at the habitat, we'll record observations later.
1. Mown grassy lawn area :
Look for signs of ants and worms. What do worms eat? (organic matter in soil) Who eats worms? Birds,
Fox. What do ants eat? (Decayed insects, sugar, juices) Who eats ants? (birds). Worms aerate and fertilize
the soil. Ants are important for decomposition and to loosen soil. What if there were no ants or worms?
2. Edge areas: Insects in all stages are eating and being eaten
Look for caterpillars (Larval stage- a baby insect). What do they eat? (leaves) Larva eat their own weight in
food daily. How many lunches would it take you to eat your own weight in food? What do insects eat? What
eats insects? Insects are part of a food chain. What would happen if there were no insects?
3. Wooded Path: Decomposition
What makes logs rot? Look for decomposers (pill bugs, sow bugs, carpenter ants, slugs etc.). If you roll over
logs or stones explain the importance of rolling it back to keep the same living conditions (damp soil,
shelter). Is a log a habitat? Before rolling back, remove any creature that could get squashed by placing it
right beside rock or log (it will crawl back). What if there were no decomposers?
4 . Tall Grass: Pollinators
Look for spittle bugs, beetles, spiders, snails, butterflies, bees and grasshoppers. If you could jump as far as a
grasshopper relative to your size you'd jump the length of a football field. What do grasshoppers eat? Who
eats grasshoppers? Many insects pollinate flowers so they can grow into fruits and seeds. What if there were
no pollinators?
Draw your mini-creature : 15 20 minutes -Look closely
Select a place for group to sit- be sure their creatures ares not in direct sun or it will die (overheat), and hand
out the clipboards, worksheets and pencils. As children draw, circulate among them asking questions to get
them to look closer. They can ask for help to remember what the habitat was like. Help them guess why it was
there. (Eating a leaf, hiding from sun, etc).
Is it an insect?(6 legs, 3 body parts, 2 antennae, exoskeleton) Adult, a larva, a nymph?
Can you guess what your mini-creature eats or who eats your mini-creature? How would you find out? What
would happen to the food chain if this insect did not exist? Correct identification is not necessary.
Adult should collect the creatures to free them after the walk- theoretically to their habitat.
Briefly check children for ticks (neck and ankles) before going in