Insect Investigators

"The first graders explored nature. A whole new world opened up to their imagination."

Martha Hindmand, 1st Grade teacher

Workshop Overview:  The Insect Investigators workshop focuses on science, with a special emphasis on literacy and dramatic play.  Students will spend 60 minutes exploring the larger-than-life BIG Backyard exhibit as bugs, learning about insects as they try doing the jobs that insects do.  Students will make wearable wings to further the experience in a playful way, solve riddles about insects, and work collaboratively on a big book that summarizes their discoveries.   

Grade Level: 1-2  

Illinois State Learning Standards: 1, 4, 5, 11, 12, 19, 21

Workshop Goals and Objectives: 
Students will:

• Explore together inside the BIG Backyard exhibit.
• Be introduced to new scientific vocabulary.
• Observe various fantasy-sized insects and bugs, and use costumes to create stories about them.
• Use dramatic play to learn about the physical features unique to insects.
• Take on a bug persona to explore the important jobs different insects do.
• Use their experiences to complete an oversized, collaborative book that illustrates how important insects are.
• Share art materials with their classmates to create a unique pair of wings to wear.
• Strengthen their literacy skills by solving rhyming riddles about the things they discover in BIG Backyard.

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