We just concluded our study of insects and oh boy, both Mavi and Vito had a wonderful time learning all about these creatures! We’re having zoology for this month (12 Months of Montessori Series) and I’m going to give you a complete guide on how to study insects with your kids.
What is Insect?
Start your unit study by learning what is an insect. Put it simply as, it is an animal that has 6 legs with segmented bodies. And yes please, spiders are definitely NOT insects. Now for the Mavi to have a wider understanding of this subject, I put up a sorting activity of the 4 major groups of the Arthropods. Since we've done this last year, Mavi has a prior knowledge of the difference between insects and spiders. He got confused with the crab though, if its either arachnids or crustaceans LOL. Initially he placed it in the Arachnids These animal figures were from Safari Toob Insects and Insect Lore.
The Life Cycle of an Insect
Now after learning about the animals that belong to the insect family, we looked into the life cycles of an insect. Here we talked about the insects that undergo “complete metamorphosis” and those with “incomplete metamorphosis”. Note complete metamorphosis means, it has the stages of: egg-larva-pupa-adult.
Parts of an Insect
We also learned about the different parts of an insect. I have a separate post on this one. To read, click the image below or here.
Insect Habitats and Bug Hunting
I created guides on hunting insects in different habitats. We have insects found in woodlands (in the forest), those found rivers and lakes, the ones found everywhere and in the meadows/fields. We used these guides as we go “bug hunting”.
We were able to catch a few insects like ladybird (escaped from our net after a few hours), this unidentified insect in the outdoor stairs and ants.
Vito was fascinated with ants! He also had a separate insect study (made for little toddlers only).
Previous Post on Insects
- The World of Arthropods Part One
- The world of Arthropods Part Two
- FREE Arthropods Chart
- Insect Activities for Preschooler
- Life Cycle of a Butterfly (Preschool)
- Grasshoppers
- Parts of a Ladybird
- Life Cycle of a Ladybug
This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning which is hosted by Natural Beach Living and The Natural Homeschool.
Natural Beach Living ~ The Natural Homeschool ~ Living Montessori Now ~ Planting Peas
The Kavanaugh Report ~ Mama’s Happy Hive ~ Study at Home Mama ~ Child Led Life
Every Star Is Different ~ Grace and Green Pastures ~ The Pinay Homeschooler
What an in depth study of animal classification! I even learned something new. We haven't studied the Chilopods yet, and I honestly had no idea what there were. Lol. I love the separation chart you used with animal figures. I'm definitely going to have to remember that one. Oh, and I must have those adorable insect puzzles!
ReplyDeleteWhat an in depth study of animal classification! I even learned something new. We haven't studied the Chilopods yet, and I honestly had no idea what there were. Lol. I love the separation chart you used with animal figures. I'm definitely going to have to remember that one. Oh, and I must have those adorable insect puzzles!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about Chilopods! This is such an awesome guide, and perfect for spring and summer. I love all of the nomenclature cards and printables that you create for your boys -- you must spend a LOT of time on them. Thank you so much for your dedication and sharing them with us!!
ReplyDeleteI really love the life cycle of the butterfly. We have had a mini butterfly garden before and loved watching! Pinning for sure!
ReplyDeleteSo much information! I love the life cycle material! We have the butterfly, but I would love the ladybug too!
ReplyDelete