Mini Beasts – Bugs And More

Mini Beasts – Bugs and More

Objective / Aim this Lesson

• Focus – Looking at the part insects play within the Ecosystem and food

webs.(Ecology – the set of relationships of a particular

organism with its environment)

• Question – Is our garden functioning as it should? Is it healthy?

Some Interesting Bug Facts

• A fly can travel 300 times the length of its body in one second. A jet travelling at the speed of sound only travels 100 times its length.

•There are more insects in two square kilometres of rural land than human beings on the whole planet.

Some Interesting Bug Facts

• A fly beats its wings 200 times a second, three times faster than a hummingbird.

• There are more than 2,000 muscles in a caterpillar. Humans have 650 muscles.

• Butterflies taste with their hind feet.• Cicadas have their hearing organs in their

stomachs, at the base of the abdomen. Crickets have their hearing organs in their knees, or, more precisely, in the oval slit of their forelegs.

Bug Types

• ‘Bugs’ is the common name for ‘Invertebrates’.

• There are an estimated 30 million species and new species are being discovered everyday. Scientists have only named about 10 million species.

• Vertebrates consist of only 36,000 species, eg birds and mammals.

Identifying Bugs – Food Chains

• Looking at bugs in the garden – have to identify them. Be specific in their features and characteristics

• Is there a good relationship or an imbalance in our garden. What is eating what?

• The next activity the insects have been grouped according to their features and characteristics and so you need to understand the basic groupings of animals.

Classification of Organisms

• Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

• These words (or classifications) are a means by which the relationship among organisms can be determined (plants, protozoans, animals, etc.).

• As we move down this list, we get more specific about the organisms we are referring to.

Great White Shark

Human Being 2 Spotted Lady Beetle

Kingdom: Animalia Kingdom: Animalia Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: Chordata Phylum: Chordata Phylum: ArthropodaClass: Chondrichthyes Class: Mammalia Class: InsectaOrder: Lamniformes Order: Primates Order: ColeopteraFamily: Lamnidae Family: Hominidae Family: CoccinellidaeGenus: Carcharodon Genus: Homo Genus: AdaliaSpecies: carcharias Species: sapiens Species: bipunctata

Classifications – Putting Animals into different groups

Organising the Animal Kingdom

Great White Shark• Kingdom: Animalia (mobile critters; have many cells;

can’t make their own food)• Phylum: Chordata (flexible skeletal rod with

accompanying nerves)• Class: Chondrichthyes (‘fish’ with a cartilaginous

skeleton)• Order: Lamniformes (‘Mackerel’ sharks)• Family: Lamnidae (‘Mackerel’ sharks)• Genus: Carcharodon (from the Greek carcharos

meaning “ragged” or “pointed” and odon meaning “tooth”)

• Species: carcharias (Greek for “shark”)

Arthropods you may see today

• Arthropods – 4 main groups or classes

- Insects- Arachnids- Myriapods

- Crustaceans

Arthropods• In rows (4 x rows of computers)• Each row will research one of the four main

classes or groups of Arthropods (5 min)InsectsArachnidsMyriapodsCrustaceans

• Bring up one fact each and write on board• http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/aboutbugs/

types.aspx

Bug Catcher

• Key question: Why is an earthworm not considered an insect

• 3 Activities– Bug Explorer– Bug Sorter– Bug Collector

• http://museumvictoria.com.au/bugs/game/content/content.html

Earthworms

• Kingdom: Animalia • Phylum: Annelida • Class: Clitellata• Order: Opisthopora• Genius• Species

Lesson – at 5E

• We have been studying different insects / bugs to help us know what to look for when we are trying to identify them.

• What sought of things are you going to record when you are out in the garden?

Break into 2 Groups

What is a food chain?

• A ‘chain’ of organisms, through which energy is transferred.

• Each part of the chain is a food source to another part in the chain.

Example: Wetland food chain

The arrows in a food chain or food web point in the direction of energy flow.

The broadest food chain is as follows:

Sun - The sun is the driving force of a food chain. It is the source of all life. Without the sun (and water) there would be no life.

Producers

• Producers are green plants that use the sun, water, nutrients and air (carbon dioxide) to produce energy which they store in their cells.

• This process is called photosynthesis, and also produces oxygen.

• Producers are the largest group in a food chain.

Consumers

• All organisms which eat other organisms are called consumers.

They include:• HERBIVORES – animals that eat plants• CARNIVORES – animals that eat other animals• OMNIVORES – animals that eat plants and animals• DETRITIVORES – animals that eat dead things and leaf

litter etc• PARASITES – animals that live off other organisms• SCAVENGERS – animals that eat dead animal carcasses

Decomposers

• Decomposers convert dead matter into small particles, nutrients and gases which are released back into the water, air and soil to be used again.

• Bacteria and very small organisms break down dead leaves and animals through a process called decomposition.

Decomposers

• http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

• http://www.mhschool.com/science/2008/student/na/scienceinmotion/Common/SIM.html?Module=../Grade4/Chapter3-MicroorganismsAtWork/

What is a food web?

• Shows the feeding relationships between the various plants and animals.

• It is a transfer of energy

• As a general rule, about 90% of the energy it gains is lost to the environment, mostly as heat and some as excreted wastes. The remaining 10% is used for growth, maintenance, etc.

Food Web – Transfer of EnergyThe tissues of all plants and animals are a store of energy which is available to other organisms in a food web. When an animal eats another one it obtains the energy available in that organism.

Developing a Food Web

• http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm

• http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/Phase3delivery/Wales/Science/Keystage4/Livingthingsand/Feedingrelation/Introduction/act2.swf

Food Webs are Complex

• If all the links and organisms had been shown, the food web would be impossibly complicated! For example, people eat yabbies but this link has not been included.

• Are there any other links which should be included which have not been?

Creating a Food Web

• http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

• http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodwebFF.htm