BUG BONANZA
Length: 1.5 hours. Suitable for K-3.
This highly interactive program can be extended to two hours at no extra charge if your schedule allows. This will allow for even more in-depth learning and more time for questions. It is structured as follows:
Introduction: Welcome to Bug Bonanza! We get warmed up with a game of I Spy With My Little Compound Eye to introduce grade-relevant topics such as life cycles or ecological roles. The class will then divide into smaller groups to rotate through stations.
Stations: vary by grade.
Preschool Stations: Teachers can choose which of these activities they prefer
–Ladybug Picnic: using puppets and a variety of fake food, children will explore how different bugs eat different things.
–Build-a-Habitat: Students will use various props and terrarium supplies to set up a diorama habitat for different sorts of bugs which will include food, water, and the right amount of space and shelter.
–Build a Beehive: Using hexagonal boxes, finger puppets, and other props, children will play at being honeybees.
–Big Beautiful Bugs: the instructor will introduce students to large charismatic bugs such as giant millipedes, tarantulas, and vinegaroons which they can touch if they wish.
—Sensory Bin: a bin filled with soil plus live mealworms and isopods is available for the students to play in. This is accompanied by darkling beetles, caterpillars and other small live bugs that they can also touch and hold.
—Bugabaloo: a movement game for the whole class which explores how animals move as well as their needs.
Kindergarten and Grade 1 Stations:
–Isopod Art: The students will make a piece of art by following live isopod (AKA roly-poly) on a piece of paper with a marker to discover what line they will make. (Curriculum links: How and why animals move)
–Build-a-Habitat: Students will use various props and terrarium supplies to set up a diorama habitat for different sorts of bugs which will include food, water, and the right amount of space and shelter.(Curriculum links: Represent an environment in nature, How environments meet the basic needs of plants and animals)
–Big Beautiful Bugs: the instructor will introduce students to large charismatic bugs such as giant millipedes, tarantulas, and vinegaroons which they can touch if they wish. (Curriculum links: Reflect on what is personally considered beautiful and appreciated in nature, How humans take care of plants and animals, as well as tying in all other relevant outcomes in the discussion)
–Optional Station for the extended program– Sensory Bin: a bin filled with soil plus live mealworms and isopods is available for the students to play in. This is accompanied by darkling beetles, caterpillars and other small live bugs that they can also touch and hold.
–Optional activity for the extended program–Bugabaloo: a movement game for the whole class which explores how animals move as well as their needs.
Grade 2&3 Stations
–Black Light Pollination Game: The students will become bees and move around the classroom with UV flashlights to pollinate flowers, solve a riddle, and learn about the relationship between native bees and native flowers. (Curriculum links: Plants and animals can be affected by human behaviour, with a focus on introducing plants which are not native, Interconnections in environments)
–Sensory Bin and More: Gr 2: using the living sensory bin, which contains isopods and superworms, and a set of life-cycle models, students will have a hands-on experience with metamorphosis (Curriculum link: Life Cycles) Gr 3:students will investigate the same bin of dirt and bugs that the younger grades use, but instead use it to learn about decomposers and how they break down dead vegetation.(Curriculum link: Soil is changed by plants and animals)
–Big Beautiful Bugs: the instructor will introduce students to large charismatic bugs such as giant millipedes, tarantulas, and vinegarroons which they can touch if they wish. Discussion will be grade level relevant. (Curriculum link: Life Cycles, Interconnections in environments)
–Additional activity for Gr 3—-Food Chain Sorting: Using a variety of live organisms and other materials, students will sort them into the trophic levels of producer, consumer, and decomposer (Curriculum link: Food chains)
Conclusion: questions and discussion. Great job everyone!
BUG BASICS
Length: 1 hour. Suitable for all grades.
This shorter program follows the same basic structure as the longer one described above, but the centres involve more general buggy fun rather than the curriculum-linked activities listed above. The stations will be:
-a brief introduction with I Spy With My Little Compound Eye
-Living Sensory Bin (box of dirt with real live bugs in it for the kids to play in)
-Big Beautiful Bugs (a chance to meet a tarantula, giant millipedes and others, and even hold them if you wish!
-Bug-themed colouring and games
Of course we can steer the discussion in any direction you wish to touch on any science points which you would like to prioritize.
YOUR CUSTOM PROGRAM
Language arts unit about spiders? L & L class focusing on ecosystems? Preschoolers who are just really into bugs? Arthropods can fit in just about anywhere to enrich learning and liven up the classroom. Let’s have a conversation and design a program based around your learning goals and interests. A visit can be appropriate for all ages including high school and adults.
Lady Buggy 