Insect Habitat

Introduce your students to the world of insects, their collection, display, and identification using dichotomous keys. In the Insect Habitat curriculum guide, students will read a 1992 Post Science Notebook selection, "Entomology: Ant's Thermal Window of Opportunity," and the KidsPost article "Mister Bug: Gary Hevel Found a Wild World in His Back Yard," which focuses on one man's search for insects in his own Silver Spring, Md., back yard. Questions for discussion and close reading, Web resources and vocabulary are provided for the selections. An introduction to dichotomous keys encourages the collection and identification of insects from this area. Learn about resources available at the National Museum of Natural History on the Mall and the Naturalist Center in Leesburg, Va. A word study of "entomology," a word find and matching activity are included.