INSECTS image :

INSECTS :

SOCIAL SCIENCE 👥

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NATURAL SCIENCE ♻

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TECHNOLOGY 💥

HELPING INSECTS

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DIFFERENT INSECTS

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Insects live in various habitats. Specific types of crickets such as mole crickets live underground where as field crickets live indoors during the cool temperatures (Richard Houseman,2023). Katie Piercy (2023) states that dragonflies of natural colours are found between the grasses or bark of tree.

Volia Schubiger(2022) wrote an article about how many insects there are compared to people - for every person there is approximately 1.4 billion insects. With that being said there are roughly 900 Thousand different species of insects in the world, ants being the species that dominants the population.

CLASS ACTIVITY : Using the information they learnt in class each child will be a worksheet where they will have to match the insect to the correct category that they fall under - herbivore, carnivore, frugivore or other.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INSECT

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The anatomy of insects consists of a head with two antennae, a thorax with six legs and an abdomen. Antennae or feelers are used for touching, smelling and hearing (Jonathan Seaton & Susie Seaton: 2023). Along the sides of the thorax and the abdomen are microscopic openings called spiracles where oxygen enters and exists the body (Timothy J. Gibb and Christian Y. Oseto:2023)

CLASS ACTIVITY : Using their knowledge on insect anatomy the children with be given a worksheet where they will build a 3D model of a Bee and label the various body parts.

Insects can either have wings or no wings this entirely up to the insects anatomy. Not all insects with wings use them for the same purpose - Beetles have a hard shell that protects their wings underneath whereas butterflies don't, their wings are used as visual cues for communication according to CK-12 (2023).

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LIFE CYCLE OF AN INSECT

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According to Oxford Primary Dictionary(2006:238) the term life cycle means the series of changes in the life of a living thing.

In an article done by Townsend (n.d) she claims that only 75% of insects go through a four stages to finalize metamorphosis.
The four stages include: eggs, larvae, pupae and adults.

CLASS ACTIVITY : The class will be grouped in pairs of two where they will have to create a poster of the life cycle of a butterfly as well as label them accordingly using recycled materials brought from home.

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HOW INSECTS HELP US

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Insects provide us with many services such as pollinating food crops i.e. watermelon, they remove waste i.e. fallen leaves, control pests i.e. lady bugs eat spider mites on plants as well as being the foundation for multiple animals dietary needs(Thompson Earth Systems Institute:2023)

According to World Wildlife Magazine (2023) insects help keep the ecosystem balanced in numerous ways-breaking down debris in water, pollinating food i.e., tomatoes, reducing animal waste, act as pest control as well as reducing the risk of infectious diseases.

CLASS ACTIVITY: The children are required to choose an insect and do a research project on how that insect helps us. The project must include a 3D model of the insect as well.

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HOW INSECTS HARM US

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Insects such as Driver ants that are found central and east Africa will attack anything in their way when they have a shortage of food-they produce severely painful bites that leave puncture wounds and removing them is difficult as their head can come apart from their body leaving their head behind. Ticks are found everywhere and carry various pathogens that can infect us: bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Tick-borne diseases are still in its beginning stage of understanding with that being said survivors are left to live with life long complications (Bill Heavey: 2021).

CDC (2020) states that there is over 200 types of mosquitoes yet only 12 of them spread germs - Aedes aegypti mosquito, Culex species mosquito and Anopheles freeborni mosquito just to name a few. The West Nile virus is common in USA as well as Malaria that affects roughly 87 countries (CDC: 2021).
Travel Doctor Network (2023) claims that between October and April South Africans are at risk of getting West Nile virus with symptoms like fever, rash, headaches and vomiting just like the symptoms of Malaria.

CLASS ACTIVITY: Show and tell on insects that harm us, what they look like, where they live, what they eat and how to avoid them.

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ENVIRONMENT VS INSECTS

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Jen Skerritt (2020) wrote on how the changes in the climate due to global warming is negatively impacting the environment as mountain pine beetles are thriving in the warm winters-destroying homes as well as log suppliers.

Kelby (2021) wrote an article on how insects are an essential component to natural ecosystems - providing us with valuable products i.e. Honey, they pollinate plants, promote decomposition as well as spread seeds. However Ecosystems are being destroyed by humans - pollutants such as sulfur dioxide that are released in the atmosphere creates acid rain that kills insects. The destruction of vegetation causes insects to migrate in search for food availability i.e. Locusts are the most recorded insects to cause destruction when migrating for food. Although Hunting doesn't directly effect insects it does however alter the food web causing an imbalance in the ecosystems.

CLASS ACTIVITY: In this research project the children are required to mark of a small section of their garden with rope and observe as to how many different insects they can find in that section. They need to predict the amount of insects before observing the area for 10 minutes.

REMOVING INSECTS

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HYGIENE

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espace por la vie montreal (2023) wrote on that most aquatic insects live in fresh water and insects such as dragonflies lay their eggs in the water only leaving when they become adults. According to World Health Organization (2022) insects that live in water transmit disease such as dengue fever. In order to make water safer to drink you could boil the water which kills germs, viruses and parasites states CDC (2022). You can use coffee filters or cloth to strain/ remove most of the debris from water however it does not necessarily mean it is safe to drink.

According to Crystal Clear Enterprise (2020) Keeping your surrounding clean helps protect endangered species as well as preserves our biosphere. Jeremy Hance (2019) states that due to pollution and global warming the number of insects are declining tremendously thus impacting our ecosystem and human civilization negatively- he goes on to say that insects despite their size they play an important role in the ecosystems being pollinators, recyclers and a food source for other animals.

CLASS ACTIVITY : Using plastic bottles that are cut in half the children will collectively try various ways to filter water. Using materials such as cotton balls, a sponge, a coffee filter and small stones they will observe which ones will turn the dirty/muddy water into clean water.

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Due to climate change, pollution and habitat loss the number of insects are declining rapidly. Not only are insects the foundation of many food webs but also a key provider for plants and animals that rely on them to pollinate. "If a dollar value was put on the services insects provide, this would equal roughly $70 billion in the U.S. alone." claims the Thompson Earth Systems Institute (2023).

Anthony Roebuck (2023) wrote on the benefits of Bee keeping-bees help with agriculture and growing food with 90% of wild plants depending on them for pollination, they help reduce the cost of food as they pollinate over $15 billion worth of crops yearly. Canada Agriculture and Food Museum (2023) tells us that beekeeper/apiarists take care of bees by providing them with shelter, medicine and a new queen. The hives are checked frequently to ensure that the bees are healthy and reproducing. Bees are able to fend for themselves however they depend on beekeepers for shelter that protects them from harsh weather conditions as well as predators i.e., wasps.

CLASS ACTIVITY: Creating their own Bug habitat the children will bring a container that has tiny holes for air ventilation, as a class we will go outside and gather all the necessary equipment to make the habitat for the researched insect.

An article written by Jesse Elop (2021) shows the different types of insects; herbivores (caterpillars), carnivores (praying mantis), frugivores (wasps) and other i.e. Animal feces (dung beetles) .

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CLASS ACTIVITY: Science experiment where as a class we will put outside two containers that contain the exact amount of sugar and chocolate. However one will have a home remedy for bug repellent. They class have to make a prediction for each container and come back later to see the results- if the home remedy worked.

Fly traps, bucket and bottle traps, electronic insect trap catcher etc. there are various devices used to remove insects with bucket and bottle traps being the most commonly used worldwide. Bucket traps or Pheromone traps are used to find where insects/pests are established as well as remove large populations of the insects/pests (npic:2021). Electronic insect trap catchers use high-intensity UV lights placed in-between two pieces or metal that not only attracts insects but electrocutes insects.

Gerald F. O’Malley and Rika O’Malley (2020) wrote an article on the effects insecticide has on humans, stating that the properties used in insecticides that kill insects are in some cases extremely poisonous to humans whether it be swallowed, inhaled or absorbed via skin.
Although insecticides are effective there are alternative methods to removing insects such as artificial sweetener for fruit flies, spraying lemon juice at the openings of the ants homes works states Harris (2022).
Killers-admin (2021) wrote an article about the pros and cons of home remedies, in short pros are that they are safe and cheap and the cons are that some might be ineffective and time consuming as they might take days or weeks to work.

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