By Wendy & Katie
June 2, 1997
WHAT MAKES AN INSECT AN INSECT? (Part II: continued) The Thorax of an insect has the legs and wings; if the insect has wings. Some insect's have 1 pair of wings, while others have 2. A "pair" of something means 2 of something. For example, people wear a pair of socks; you have a pair of ears, or you may have a pair of mittens. Katie can name these pairs of her body parts: ...eyes ...eyebrows ...arms ...feet ...legs ...knee's ...ears ...shoulders The Abdomen, or area at the tail end of an insect; is where all the insects internal organs are. These are things like it's heart and lungs. Organs Inside My Body Some of my inside parts are my brain and my heart. ---Katie Katie and I then talked about why some insects, like butterflies, are special. "I think it is because they can fly like birds and stuff. They have wings like bats and birds." And Katie is right! Insects like butterflies are special because they can fly. SOME FACTS ABOUT INSECT WINGS Wings come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. They have a special reason for being a part of an insect. Wings help insects to do the things that they need inorder to survive. "I think that the wings on an insect help him to fly away from birds and stuff and to help keep them warm." ---Katie That is right. The wings of an insect help him to do a lot of different things. What could happen if a butterfly didn't have wings and he was spotted by a hungry bird? How would he get away? If a butterfly wanted to find a mate, how could he find one if he couldn't fly around and look for one? If Monarch's didn't have wings, how would they get to those far away, warmer places in the winter? We will learn more about butterflies and their body parts when we take a look at something very special that they do called "metamorphosis." We ended our lesson today by reviewing the various things we learned today. We also talked a bit about "What happens to caterpillar's?", in order to build some anticipation as to what is to come. When we were finished with the lesson we colored pictures of caterpillar's and butterflies. These pictures are in the Art Gallery. FUN FACT! FUN FACT! FUN FACT! FUN FACT! FUN FACT! FUN FACT! FUN FACT! Have you ever heard of anything that can taste with it's feet? Some do...flies are tasting when they walk on something! There are tiny hairs on the bottom of their feet. These tiny hairs taste! Now imagine if you're tongue was on the bottom of your feet:)