BUGSCOPE

1. BUGSCOPE Nicole Flaherty Education 140 3/6/08

2. LADYBUGS • Lady bugs can be found in fields, grasslands, forests, gardens, and in people's homes. They feed off of aphids, mealy bugs, and mites, and an adult ladybug can eat over 50 aphids a day, while a larva can eat about 25 a day. They have three body parts, which are the head, thorax, containing the muscle system for the two front legs and wings, and abdomen, containing the organs and most of the digestive system. They are also insects, so they have six jointed legs. Ladybugs reproduce sexually, and they normally lay their eggs in small masses where there is an abundance of food. The lifespan of a ladybug is only a few months, but they go from eggs, to larva, to pupa, to adults. The type of ladybug can be identified by the number of spots, and as they age their spots fade. http://www.ladybuglady.com/ScienceFair.htm http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/Ladybug.shtml

3. The images above are all of ladybugs, but each picture differs greatly. The first picture shows what I think a ladybug looks like without looking at one. It does not show every detail because I could not remember every detail on a ladybug. The second picture is a picture of a ladybug from www.google.com. It shows exactly what a ladybug looks like on some sort of leaf, but it only shows details that the human eye can see. The third picture is a ladybug’s claw from Bugscope at Yarmouth Elementary School on October 4, 2007. I see much more detail in what the claw looks like. In the second picture the claw cannot even be seen because it is under the ladybug, but it is also too small to be seen by the human eye. Using the microscope in Bugscope helps the viewer see what the fine details are on bugs that are not visible to the human eye alone. I never realized how different insects and other bugs look when they are magnified. The two pictures on the first slide are also of a ladybug’s head, which I would have never guessed if I was not told what the pictures were of.

4. National Sciene Education Standards Content standard C: Life Science for K-4 The characteristics of organisms “Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.” (NSES) Bugscope applies to the above part of content standard C because by looking at the different insects the students can learn about what the purpose of the different structures on the insect are. The students will see the structures magnified and in much more detail, which will help the student see how the structure functions the way it does. The students can also be divided into groups and each group can look for more information on certain structures that were observed in the telescope. The above picture of a ladybug claw from Bugscope shows much more detail than the human eye could see, which will help the students understand what the function is because they see what it truly looks like.

5. Authenticity of Technology By engaging the students with the use of technology in Bugscope (microscopes and the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM)) the students receive both hands on experience and are exposed to different technology that they will use in upper grade levels. The students are able to drive the ESEM rather than passively listening to the teacher or watching the teacher, which makes the experience more meaningful and memorable because they chose what to look at. They are completely in charge, so they can also ask the people at Bugscope any questions they may have about what they are viewing. The students are able to ask any question they can think of relating to what they see, so they can ask any question that would relate to their life and insects. Also, if the students use microscopes to look at bugs as well they will learn how to use the microscope, which they will more than likely come across in a later grade. Knowing how to use a telescope is an important skill for all students to have. ESEM Photo courtesy of www.google.com.

6. Connecting Literature and Bugscope The student’s textbook could be connected to Bugscope if it has a unit or chapter on bugs. The students would be able to see in greater detail what is covered in their book. The students could also see more or different bugs than the book covers or investigate the different parts or structures of the bug in much more detail. Bugscope could also be connected to a classroom magazine that is received such as Weekly Reader. It may not apply to every issue, but it is likely that a few issues will have something about bugs. If the issue is not being covered at the same time as Bugscope the issue can be gone back to. Again the students can use Bugscope to see further detail about what they read in the magazine. Students could try to identify any certain parts using Bugscope that may be talked about in the article as well. Students could also be instructed to look up more information about what they learned from Bugscope. It may be more information on the insect in general or more information about one of the structures on a certain insect that they saw. The teacher would need to make sure that the students know the internet safety rules and look at reliable websites. The teacher could list a number of sites for the students to go to in order to investigate further. Photos courtesy of www.google.com.

7. Bugscope and other Curricular Areas Bugscope could be connected to reading because the students could read books that have to do with different insects that are viewed in Bugscope. A variety of types of books could be read including fiction and nonfiction. The pictures and descriptions in the reading books could then be compared to the actual pictures seen in Bugscope. Bugscope could also be connected to a writing activity by having the students write stories about the bugs that they view. Requirements could include having to include structures that were learned about from Bugscope or specific facts about the insects such as where they live or what they eat. The stories can then be read aloud to the class to help improve the student’s oral reading skills. Along with writing the story, the students can draw a picture to go along with it, which would incorporate art. The teacher could instruct the students to draw part of the picture according to what they saw in Bugscope. Also, Bugscope could be connected to older students in biology because the students can go into greater detail about the bug parts. The students would be able to see in great detail the different structures of bugs talked about in class.