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Thematic Unit Outline |
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Description of Unit: |
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The theme of this second grade unit is insects. The unit is thematic because several disciplines are used to teach it. Although insects are primarily a science unit, reading, writing, math, and technology will be used to meet the objectives. This unit was taught over a period of ten weeks. |
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Objectives: |
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1. Students will be able to label the three main parts of an insect. (E.g. The head, thorax, and abdomen.) |
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2. Students will be able to label and illustrate the four stages of complete metamorphosis. (E.g. The egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages.) |
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3. Students will be able to label and illustrate the three stages of incomplete metamorphosis. |
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4. Students will be able to list differences between an ant and a spider. (E.g. An ant is an insect and has insect characteristics, while a spider is not a true insect and has several differences, like lifecycle and body parts.) |
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Activities for Each Week: |
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Week 1: |
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Begin the unit on insects with a KWL chart. Be creative, use chart paper in the shape of an insect and list each student's response in a different color of marker on the chart. After coming up with what students know about insects ask, "How do we know if a bug is an insect?" Brainstorm ideas and list them on the board. Ask the students what they know about an insect's body parts. After discussing that insects have three main body parts, the head, thorax, and abdomen, have each student make an insect book, which shows the three main body parts and color it. |
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On day two, discuss the lifecycle of a mosquito. It is important to emphasize that a mosquito goes through complete metamorphosis, four stages of development. Read a non-fiction book about mosquitoes that discusses the lifecycle. Next, have the students complete a worksheet about the mosquitoes' lifecycle and turn it in to check for understanding. |
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On day three, do a reading activity. Give each student a copy of V. Aardema's Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. Discuss folktales and compare them with the non-fiction book that was read the day before. As an extension activity have the students make a class python with crayons and paint hang it in the classroom. |
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Week 2: On day one, begin mealworms with a KWL. Next, in a small container, give each student 2 mealworms. They will each need a spoonful of grain and a tiny slice of apple for their containers as well. Allow students to look at the mealworms with magnifying glass and then have them journal what they have learned about mealworms or what they found out about their worms. |
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On days two and three, have the students answer questions about the way that their mealworms walk. They will need to use their magnifying glasses and record their data on the line below each question. The students should do this in partners. |
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Week 3: |
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On day one, have the students find out what colors mealworms prefer. To do this they will need to use placemats made with four squares, read, yellow, black, and blue, with a white circle in the middle. Each pair of students will need to count, with tallies, for five minutes, how many times their mealworm crawls onto each color square. |
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On day two do a math activity. Have the children graph the data as a class, and on their own worksheets, to find out which color mealworms prefer. Discuss whether mealworms seem to prefer light or dark colors more. |
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On day three have the children build mealworm mazes out of ten blocks. After the students have built their mazes have them place bran at the end of the maze and draw it. Next, have the students time their mealworm to see how long it takes for it to get to the bran. They should also draw on their paper the path that the mealworm took to get to the end of the maze. |
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Week 4: |
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Discuss where mealworms live. Talk about habitats and then have the students find out what condition mealworms prefer. They will do this by observing mealworms in a pan with half wet paper towel and half dry. They will also find out if mealworms prefer grass, bran, leaves, dirt, or sticks. When this is done have a class discussion to find out what students observed and then form a class conclusion whether mealworms prefer wet or dry habitats and what type of area they prefer, grass, leaves, dirt, bran, or sticks. |
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On day two have the students do a descriptive paragraph, writing assignment. They will need at least five sentences that describe mealworms or tell something about them. |
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On day three give the students an assessment. They will need to list three things about mealworms that they have learned and draw the mealworm larva with the correct number of segments and legs and label its three main body parts correctly. |
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Week 5: |
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Spend this week teaching about ladybugs. Read a non-fiction book about ladybugs and their lifecycle with the class. Then chart each of the four stages and list several facts under each stage. |
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On day two have students start working on a ladybug book. The book is started for them, but they are required to finish writing about each stage of the ladybug's lifecycle and illustrate them. Finish this book by the end of the week and have students share their books with each other. |
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Week 6: |
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Read The Grouchy Ladybug and end ladybugs with a fun art project. For day one and two have the students make paper machet ladybugs. Display these cute ladybugs around the classroom. |
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On day three, have the students add to the KWL chart things that they have learned and cross off things that they know if they were incorrect. Then watch the Eyewitness insect movie and have the students write down what they learned from it. |
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Week 7: |
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Make a cricket house as a class and put live crickets in it. Then start a KWL for crickets. |
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On day two read through the book Cricketology, and then chart what we have learned about crickets. |
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On day three set up five stations around the classroom for cricket experiments. Have an adult at each station and give them questions to ask the students that come to their station. Students will be observing and measuring things about crickets, what they eat, if they can swim, where they live, how far they jump in a minute, and what happens to cold crickets. Discuss what they observed, as a class and then have the students write in their journals about what they learned. |
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Week 8 and 9: |
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Spiders will be the topic these weeks. Have students do reading activities each day. They will each need a copy of a chapter book full of folktales about the spider. Use vocabulary activites and writing exercises with this book too. Students will also need to discuss that spiders are not insects. This will be done with a Venn diagram for spiders and ants. Students will also read factual information about spiders and do several worksheets to check for understanding. |
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During this week students will also be taking surveys for what the favorite insect is from their classmates and using their data to make graphs on the computers. After their graphs are created they will insert them into a newsletter and write about what they learned from their surveys and graphs. |
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Week 10: |
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Finish the insect unit off with ants. Have the students set up an ant farm for the classroom on day one and discuss what we know about ants. Ask the students if ants are really insects. How do they know? |
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On day two read Ant Cities and talk about what they learned after reading the book. Use chart paper to make an anthill KWL. |
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On day three and four have the students write ant poems and form a class book. Then celebrate the end of the insect unit as a class by watching the Magic School Bus ant video. |
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