MEASURE ME INSECTs
henry hedgepodge academy of art creative learning + therapeutic arts engagement @cheesepickles
Project leads Deborah Withey + Tara Hale; Words + book design, Deborah Withey henry hedgepodge academy of art creative learning + therapeutic arts engagement www.henryhedgepodge.com Henryhartacademy
Springboard is a project committed to delivering a wide range of fun, free and engaging activities to families across Pembrokeshire.
In all primary school settings we are committed to ensuring that our Family courses link closely to the four core purposes of learning that are promoted in the Curriculum for Wales.
Through participating in our courses we hope that our adult learners will develop the confidence and skills to progress and fulfil their personal goals, be that to engage in further learning, volunteering or employment or to improve their health and well-being and that of their families.
Let’s learn about
ladybirds
All ladybirds have a pattern of dots on their backs and no two are exactly the same! Look at the patterns and count the spots on these ladybirds.
Ladybirds may be tiny but they are mighty. They can brave the cold and survive through the winter months. And ladybirds can fly up to thirty-seven miles per hour, which is as fast as a horse runs!
There are twenty-six different types of ladybirds in the UK, but there are over 5,000 varieties on the earth. In the United States, a ladybird is called a “ladybug”!
Can you measure these ladybirds? The ones in the grass are life size. How many wings do they have? Can you count all the blades of grass?
Queen ant Let’s learn about the
The queen ant is bigger in size than the other ants in her colony. She needs to be larger because she lays more than one thousand eggs in her lifetime! That’s quite a lot!
She is the mother of all the other ants in the colony and she can live to be fifteen years old – which is a very long time for an ant!
Measure the queen ant and the worker ant. How much larger is the queen ant?
What other differences can you see between the queen ant and the worker ant?
bumbleBEES Let’s learn about
Bumblebees are plump and furry. They are larger than honeybees and their tummies are more rounded. Bees can flap their wings up to eleven thousand, four hundred times in just one minute!
Measure the distance from the bumblebee’s head to the flower. And how far is the bee from the leaves?
Bees have a sweet tooth and their favourite foods are nectar and pollen. They have a long tongue to help them reach the flower nectar. Every time they take a drink and move on to the next meal, they help to make a new flower grow!
Count all the panes of my wings. Now count all the dots on my eyes. Do I have more panes than dots?
Let’s learn about the
FLY
Flies can taste things just by landing on them because they have sensors on their feet.
Later in this book you will meet another insect who tastes with its feet!
House flies can walk upside down, thanks to their tasty, sticky feet!
Flies have amazing eyes that can look in all directions, even behind them!
Caterpillars move in a wave-like motion from back to front. How many stripes does this caterpillar have? Now measure the width of each stripe!
caterpillars Let’s learn about
Caterpillars have twelve eyes – six on each side of their head! But they can’t see very well. They use other senses like touch and smell to find their way around the garden and to find food.
Are they hungry all the time? Yes! Caterpillars eat enormous amounts – up to twenty-seven thousand times their body weight during their lifetime!
Caterpillars have a unique way of breathing. They don’t have lungs like we do. Instead, they move air through small openings called spiracles located along the sides of their bodies.
The name for the game of cricket may come from the word “cricket”, which refers to a type of leaping insect!
Let’s learn about
crickets
Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together very, very fast! There are hundreds of species of crickets and each one has a unique chirp.
But they don’t all make a sound. Female crickets are super quiet because they don’t chirp at all. Only the males do! When crickets gather, it’s called an orchestra!
Can you measure how far the cricket’s red ball is from his bat? And how far is the red ball from the edge of this page?
stickbugs Let’s learn about
The stick insect is the world’s longest insect, measuring on average, thirty centimeters! That is very long for a bug! Can you measure how long the stick bug is on this page?
Stick bugs spend most of their time in trees, munching on leaves. Their secret defence weapon is knowing how to keep completely still in order to blend with the branches so they can’t be seen.
But if a predator does catch a stick insect and grabs it by the leg, the insect can detach the leg and run away! It will later regenerate, which means it will grow back the leg that was lost.
This stick bug is happy standing on her long stick.
Measure how long she is and how long the stick is and count all the little spots.
tarantulas Let’s learn about
Tarantulas live everywhere on the Earth, except Antartica, but most are found in the rainforest of northern South America. They are the largest spiders in the world. Imagine a spider as big as a dinner plate!
The largest tarantula is the “Goliath Birdeater,” but they don’t munch on birds. These spiders eat insects, frogs and lizards. A tarantula doesn’t spin a web like other spiders do. They prefer to burrow and live in the ground. Because of their large size they can look scary, but their venom is weak, so they are not dangerous to humans.
The biggest tarantulas look soft and furry, but it’s not fur on their bodies, but stiff bristles, like a hairbrush! For a spider they live a long time. Females can live to be thirty years old.
Measure the length and width of the tarantula on this page.
Can you count all the leaves around him?
Let’s learn about
daddy long legs
A daddy long legs is part of an insect family called the cranefly. There are ninety-four species in the UK. They have a long body with translucent wings and VERY long legs that fall off easily when touched. Scientists say it doesn’t hurt when one of their legs falls off, but it’s best not to touch them!
Daddy long legs have two eyes right on the front of their body. The female has a stinger-like tail that she uses to lay her eggs in the ground.
They spend most of their time on the wing but just like the drawing on this page, they like to be inside too.
Count the smileys on the bedroom wall!
Can you count all the bricks on the wall?
Measure both how wide and how tall this snail’s shell is. How long is his neck and antennae?
snails Let’s learn about
A snail can climb up and down a wall, just like the one on this page because it creates mucus - like slime as it travels, using its single, long foot.
But it can take a long time to get to where it wants to go because common garden snails are one of the slowest creatures on Earth!
Snails can be found everywhere on Earth, even in Antartica. They hibernate all winter, so they must be asleep for most of the time in colder places!
The snail is part of our book because we love how it carries its shell home on its back. But snails aren’t insects at all! They are part of the mollusk family and are cousins of the clam and octopus!
dragonfly Let’s learn about the
Dragonflies are flying insects with long blue and green body colours that shimmer in the sunlight. They are the aerial acrobats of the insect world! They can fly backwards, do loop-the-loops, and even hover in one spot.
Because they are able to hover this makes them great hunters. They can munch on mosquitos and other bugs while they are flying.
Dragonflies have been around since before the dinosaurs. They were so big back then, some were even as large as crows!
Measure how far this dragonfly needs to fly to get from one lily pad to another!
earthWORMS Let’s learn about
Earthworms are good friends to humans. They live in the soil and help us to grow vegetables by loosening the soil for the vegetables’ roots.
Earthworms are a source of food for many animals like birds, rats, and toads. Their skin looks slimey, but they are actually covered with tiny bristles –shorter than the tarantula’s.
Count the carrots and measure the distance between each one.
Measure the length of the worm. Do you think he would fill the page if he were straight?
Let’s learn about the
LUNA MOTH
Luna means “moon” in Spanish. Luna moths are big moths who are gentle and harmless with very large, lime-green glowing wings. They begin their life as a fat, green caterpillar, like the ones on this page.
The fat green caterpillar pupates, which means to transform, or change from one thing to another.
For the luna moth, that means to change from a caterpillar into a flying insect. This change takes place inside a beautiful cocoon made of silk that the caterpillar spins all on its own.
Luna moths are only found in North America, and flutter from Canada to Florida, where there are big forests with very tall, leafy trees. These are good places to hang a cocoon!
Let’s learn about the
BUtterfly
Just like the moth, butterflies are beautiful flying insects. But they don’t begin life in the air. Like the moths, they begin life on the ground as caterpillars!
There are fifty-nine different species of butterfly living in Britain and a few more who come every year to visit.
Butterflies taste food with their feet, not with their mouths!
They have six legs and four wings. Their wings don’t work well in cold weather, so they migrate, which means to travel to warmer climates in the Autumn.
Butterflies use their long antennae to keep track of the position of the sun so they can always stay warm.
Do you know how to say butterfly in Welsh?
ARTISTS! Measure Me Insect
Ladybird, fly, trantula, daddy long legs, pond skater and dragon fly by Kendell Jones, Sofia Ryan
Queen ant, butterfly and snail by Elaine Melville, Millie Hobbs
Bumble bee, caterpillar and worm by Joanna Allen, Nyla Allen, Ebbaleece Petit
Cricket by Laura Osborne, Lola McDermott-Jenkins
Stick insect and luna moth by Janice Hughes, Kirsty Hannon, Luna Hannon
I am a pond skater!
Sources for bug facts: Kent Wildlife Trust; National Geographic Kids; Wikipedia; Western Exterminator Company
