Grow Up Great
Toggle nav
- Eyebrow text here -
- Heading here -
-
- Sign-up text here -:
Personal | Small Business - - Pinacle text here -
- Mobile App Dir Text Here - »
Personal and Small Business:
- Mobile Text Here - »
Personal and Small Business:
- Heading here - »
Corporate and Institutional:
- Pinacle Text Here - »
Theme: Curious Crawlers
Fascinating Spiders
Objective: Children will identify the differences between spiders and insects.
‹ Return to Theme
What You Will Need
- Close-up pictures of insects (see Lesson Tips)
- Close-up pictures of spiders (see Lesson Tips)
- Magnifying glasses – 1 per child
What To Do
- Review background information about insects (see Did You Know?).
- Tell children that they will be comparing spiders and insects.
- Distribute magnifying glasses and the pictures of the spiders and insects.
- Tell children to examine the pictures closely, and ask them about the differences (see Guiding Student Inquiry).
- Explain to children that both insects and spiders are animals known as arthropods (see Did You Know?).
- Explain that arthropods can be divided into three smaller groups; insects, crustaceans, and arachnids. Spiders belong to the group called arachnids (see Did You Know?).
Guiding Student Inquiry
- Explain what an insect is.
- Choose an insect, and describe what it looks like.
- How do the insects’ bodies compare to the spiders’ bodies?
- Describe the mouths of the spiders.
- Explain how a spider is different from an insect.
Explore, Extend & Integrate
- Allow the children to make spiders using egg cartons, black paint, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes. Cut each egg carton into six sections with two egg cups each attached. Have the children paint their egg cartons. When the egg cartons are dry, push 4 pipe cleaners that have been cut in half into each side of the second section of the carton. Allow the children to glue eyes on the front section of the egg carton.
- With the class, make a spider web with yarn. Sit in a circle on the floor. Hold on to the end of a ball of yarn, and roll it to a child. Demonstrate how to wrap the yarn loosely around your finger, and roll the yarn ball to another child. Continue rolling the yarn ball until everyone has had a turn to place the yarn around their finger. Place a plastic insect on the yarn web. Have the children notice that the insect falls off the web. Explain how a real web is different from a yarn web and why the other insect would stick.
Check for Children’s Understanding
- Could children explain what an insect’s body looks like?
- Could children explain what a spider’s body looks like?
- Could children tell how a spider is different from an insect?
Did You Know?
Arthropods are animals with segmented bodies, six or more jointed legs, and a hard shell called an exoskeleton. There are three major groups of arthropods: insects (the largest group), arachnids, and crustaceans. All arachnids have eight legs, two body parts, and no antennae. Arachnids also have two other pairs of limbs. The first pair is for catching and holding prey; this is also where the poison sacs and fangs are located. Another pair is for feeling and manipulating prey.
Insects eat mostly plants, but a spider’s favorite food is insects. Some insects have mouth parts that are similar to a spider’s; the difference is that insects can chew, and spiders cannot. Spiders have fangs that are used for injecting their prey with paralyzing venom. Spiders then douse their prey with digestive juices to liquefy the prey. Then, the spider slurps up the insides of the prey’s body.
Did You Know?
Arthropods are animals with segmented bodies, six or more jointed legs, and a hard shell called an exoskeleton. There are three major groups of arthropods: insects (the largest group), arachnids, and crustaceans. All arachnids have eight legs, two body parts, and no antennae. Arachnids also have two other pairs of limbs. The first pair is for catching and holding prey; this is also where the poison sacs and fangs are located. Another pair is for feeling and manipulating prey.
Vocabulary
- spider – a small animal with eight legs and a body made up of two parts.
- insect – a small animal with a hard covering over its three-part body and six legs.
- animal – one of a large group of living things that is not a plant.
- arthropod – a large group of animals with hard shells on the outsides of their bodies, legs with joints, and no bones on the insides of their bodies.
- arachnid – an arthropod having four pairs of legs and belonging to the class that includes scorpions, ticks, and spiders.
- exoskeleton – an external supporting structure, such as the shell of a crustacean.
Lesson Tips
- Instead of using pictures of insects and spiders, you can use plastic insects and spiders (available inexpensively at discount stores). At the end of the investigation, children can sort them into piles of insects and non-insects.
- Search online for close-up pictures of insects and spiders.
- Make sure the close-up pictures of the arthropods clearly show the parts of the bodies (segmented bodies, jointed legs, eyes, and exoskeleton).
Books
- Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
- Spiders by Gail Gibbons
- Are You a Spider? by Judy Allen
Common Core State
Standards Initiative
These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge.[2]
Important Legal Disclosures & Information
While we believe that the books and resources recommended may be of value to you, keep in mind that these are suggestions only and you must do your own due diligence to determine whether the materials are appropriate and suitable for your use. PNC has no sponsorship or endorsement agreement with the authors or publishers of the materials listed.
There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
Read a summary of privacy rights for California residents which outlines the types of information we collect, and how and why we use that information.
