Insects!

 This week we have been taking a closer look at insects! Insects have been featured in our daily poems each morning - butterflies, dragonflies, caterpillars, and ladybugs. 

As part of this study, kids have been learning the characteristics that set insects apart from other groups of animals: six legs, two antennae, three body parts (head, thorax, abdomen) and usually wings. This is tricky vocabulary so we have learned it through a song using the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" with accompanying motions. Your child may have shown you this song already - if not, ask them to sing it for you!

Another part of our exploration was an insect hunt outside to see who we could find creeping, crawling, leaping or flying in the gardens around our school.

Pictures below show our finds- aphids clustered on a milkweed pod, a bee collecting pollen from a Rose of Sharon, a milkweed bug, and an unfortunate queen ant found on the pavement. 

We will continue our hunt for monarch caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies in the weeks to come as they prepare for their migration to Mexico and parts south.