ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Bugs Alive!
These materials have been designed to be easily downloaded as PDF files and give adult learners the
opportunity to be involved in pre-visit, on-site and post-visit activities about this exhibition.
Pre-visit
Designed for the teacher to download. Contains suggestions for the students before their visit to the
museum.
On-site
Bugs Alive! is in the 'Science and Life' gallery. It is recommended that teachers visit the Melbourne
Museum website http://museumvictoria.com.au/MelbourneMuseum/Exhibitions/ to get an overview of the
gallery content.
Post-visit
Designed for the teacher to download. Contains suggestions for follow up activities after the museum
visit. These materials are the result of a collaborative project between adult education staff at NMIT and
museum educators. By calling on the skills of teacher practitioners it is intended that they bring their
expertise of students and curriculum that compliments museum educators who are experts in gallery
content and interpretation.
What teachers will find in these PDFs is a non prescriptive approach. Practically this means that
students will not be expected to answer many specific questions as they visit. Rather they will be
encouraged to observe and be hands on, to be guided by what they see and how they respond. This will
foster both general educational development and classroom application (tasks, projects) on their return.
Note taking is encouraged. Although a stand alone visit will have value to adult learners, a combination
of using pre-visit activities, the on-site visit and post-visit activities will be a more stimulating and
ongoing educational experience.
This unit includes activities for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels, with: Reading, Writing,
Speaking and Listening skill/learning outcome focus.
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
1
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Pre-visit Activities
Bugs Alive!
Beginner
Reading
Select one or more activities from the following to prepare your students.
Find a picture of an insect
* Could try the website at http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/
Use descriptive adjectives to describe its body parts (head, antennae, nose, wings, legs)
Discuss what ‘big’ means in describing (compared to long, heavy, tall)
Look at the names of the bugs they will see (go to on site activities) and talk them through.
Writing
Write the descriptive words and understand their meaning
(Refer to CGEA Bugs Alive unit – Writing for self expression LO1) below
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘bugs’?
Write about an experience with a bug
Write an imaginary story/poem about a bug
Write a story from a bugs perspective about living among humans
Bugs Alive! exhibition, Bugs website http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/
http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/amazingbugs/
Speaking
Beginners might be better able to discuss their experiences of bugs (rather than classifying).
Ask what they thought of the new bugs they met when they got to Australia or bugs in their
former countries
OR
Brainstorm the names, descriptions and ways of classifying
Vocabulary to learn for on-site activities – exhibits, habitat, feeding, activity, description
Listening
As above
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
2
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Pre-visit Activities
Bugs Alive!
Intermediate
Reading
Factual reading – cards/books
Download from bug catcher http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/catcher/index.aspx
Writing
Everyone has a story about a bug or pest from their life experience.
Write that story.
Listening
Look at superlatives and comparatives (adjectives)
- how big, how long (Hercules beetle), how hairy
Practice use of the superlatives
Look at a copy of ‘The Guinness Book of Records’. Copy relevant photos/information about bugs.
Ask students to discuss some of the bug facts the teacher presents
Speaking
Why do bugs get such negative press?
Discuss this and the general perception about bugs and why some people hate them and are frightened
by them and why they know so little about them
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
3
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Pre-visit Activities
Bugs Alive!
Advanced
Reading
Key words: species, diversity, biodiversity
Do you know:
How many insect species there are?
How many insects there are for every human?
Which type of cockroach can produce 20,000 babies a year?
How many European wasps can be found in a colony?
Writing
Key words: detective, forensic, crime, quarantine, declare
Write down their meaning and learn them
Speaking
Bugs – Good or bad?
Discuss all the reasons bugs are ‘bad’ and then all the reasons why they are ‘good’
What good do they do?
Listening
Discuss any issues relating to quarantine perhaps drawing on own experiences or well known stories.
For a historical perspective try: http://museumvictoria.com.au/customshouse/
- click on People and Stories > Smuggling Fauna 1950s and 60s.
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
4
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
On-site Activities
Bugs Alive!
Beginner
Reading
Find the biggest living bug in the exhibition (or the longest, hairiest, heaviest).
This could be a cockroach, stick insect, tarantula etc?
Biggest bug
Longest bug
Heaviest bug
Writing
Find all the living bugs and fruit flies. Tick the name (below) when you find them. There are: water worms,
green tree ants, black ants, big ants, bull ants, jumping jack ants, velvet ants, redback spiders, northern
whistling spiders, sac spider, funnel web spiders (4 types), tarantulas (4 types), scorpions, centipedes,
Australian cockroaches, rainforest snail, garden snail, crickets (5 types), Australian sheep blowfly, fruit
fly pie dish beetle, tiger beetle, giant grasshopper, gumleaf grasshopper, lesser mountain spotted
grasshopper, praying mantis, blistered pyrgmorph, and stick insects (various).
Speaking
Choose one of the live exhibits. Ask the teacher/museum expert to talk about the characteristics of the
bug (including habitat, feeding, activity of bug, description of bug)
Listening
As above
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
5
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
On-site Activities
Bugs Alive!
Intermediate
Reading
Look at ‘Meet your housemates’.
Find out who else might be living in your house
(social huntsmen, whitetail, brown house, black house and wolf spiders)
Writing
Read the myths of the Daddy Long Legs and White Tailed spiders.
Find ‘Alien Invaders’ and read about cockroaches, snails, European wasps, fire ants and elm leaf beetles.
Listening
Look at the ‘Bugs Hall of Fame’
Discuss some of the names and why these were chosen.
Eg longest beetle (Hercules)
loudest insect (double drummer)
fastest flying insect (desert locust)
greatest people killer (mosquito)
Speaking
Use some of the superlatives from the ‘Bugs Hall of Fame’ eg world’s largest, best defensive strategy,
world’s greatest people biter.
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
6
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
On-site Activities
Bugs Alive!
Advanced
Reading
Look for the answers to the questions below in ‘Bugs Alive’ under ‘Enormous Numbers – Amazing
Insect facts’
How many insect species there are?
How many insects there are for every human?
Which type of cockroach can produce 20,000 babies a year?
How many European wasps can be found in a colony?
Writing
Unusual uses of bugs
See:
-‘Bugs that work for the museum’
-‘Bug detectives’ (How is the collection used?)
-‘Bugs in crime solving’
-‘Bugs in forensic science
-‘Bugs at the bottom of the garden’
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
7
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
On-site Activities
Bugs Alive!
Speaking
Find the Quarantine exhibit.
Listen to the quarantine multi media (2 minutes 20 seconds).
Discuss the key message from the multi media presentation with your classmates.
What does quarantine mean and why are Australia’s quarantine laws very strict?
Listening
As above
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
8
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Bugs Alive!
Bugs Alive!
Floor plan of the Bugs Alive! exhibition
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
9
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Post-Visit Activities
Bugs Alive!
Beginner
Reading
Students are to:
Find out more about one of the bugs you looked at while at the museum. Is the bug you chose an
Arthropod (insect, myriapod, arachnid or crustacean) or a Non Arthropod
Try the website: http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/resources/classification.aspx
Writing
Write something that is special about one or two of these bugs
It might be about its size, shape, what it does, how it moves
Do a presentation/drawing/model
Speaking
Group discussion about ‘Bugs Alive’
Go over the language used (descriptors – especially in terms of size, shape, colour)
Questions that may lead to further understanding or research
Listening
As above
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
10
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Post-visit Activities
Bugs Alive!
Intermediate
Reading
Have a look at cans of fly spray or other bug killing sprays
Read the labels on them
Are there alternative ways of dealing with bugs apart from killing them?
Writing
Compare what students thought (perhaps the myth) with what was learned by visiting the exhibition
A short report, a poster, a drawing with text support
Listening
Find out about one of these great bugs (from the Hall of Fame) and be the expert by explaining about it in
more detail to a small group or the class.
Create a panel of experts who tell us about a particular ‘great’ bug.
Speaking
As above
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
11
ESL
(English as a
Second Laguage)
Post-visit Activities
Bugs Alive!
Advanced
Reading
Research/learn about more related information eg, Why we aren’t overrun by cockroaches?
Go to the Bugs web site and see the resources section at: http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/resources/
then click on education, classification.glossary or further reading (where there are more web links)
Guinness Book of Records (for related or other topic area)
Writing
Create a ‘Bugs Hall of Fame’ (or original title) for a powerpoint presentation or for a presentation to
another class
Speaking
Presentation delivery (as above) or a debate on Bugs – Good or Bad (using new knowledge learned from
visiting Melbourne Museum or go to the website at http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/amazingbugs/
Listening
Listen to the presentations and participate in follow up discussion by
- asking questions
- seeking more information
- inviting a guest speaker
Melbourne Museum Adult Education
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