Minibeast magic

Just before Christmas we launched a poll asking which topics you were most interested in so that we could compile a list of KnowledgeBox and web resources to hopefully save you some preparation time. Although ‘Dinosaurs’, ‘Ourselves’, and ‘Money, money, money’ have been popular choices, the most popular overall has been ‘Minibeasts’.

I must confess that I’m not a big fan of insects myself (I had a terrible experience in Taiwan when a cockroach crawled up my shirt sleeve when I was using a public telephone on the street!), but I know that children are fascinated by them. I used to run show and tell sessions with my students in Taipei and pets were often brought into class. As most people in Taipei live in apartments without gardens, having small creatures that can be kept in tanks is popular. I got to meet a variety of beetles, giant snails, spiders, millipedes, and even praying mantises!

It was one of the three National Bug Busting Days last week and so a good place to start for a minibeast lesson might be the ‘Bug busting’ question path (link currently on the homepage). It includes a fantastic animation to introduce the problem of head lice, and then other resources explaining how to bust them.

Using the Quick find function of KnowledgeBox will also bring up other resources to teach children all about minibeasts, aside from ways to bust them! Here are a few that caught my eye when doing searches for minibeasts, insects, and bugs:

• ‘ReviseWise’ video looking at how animals living in different habitats are adapted to their environment, and showing how to make and use a key for identification
• Minibeasts interactive photo album, and teacher notes with usage suggestions – zooming in on a photo displayed full screen on your interactive whiteboard will really enable your students to get up close to the creatures
• Several ‘Number Crew’ episodes and a range of maths related print activities incorporating bugs
• An interactive revision activity for life processes and living things set in a garden - explore how minibeasts fit into their wider environment

Minibeasts interactive photo album

Elsewhere on the web you might like to try:

• Some great interactive activities for pupils to practice grouping bugs
• An interactive minibeast hunt table for data handling lessons
• The fantastic nature explorer website from Kent County Council with stories, interactive games, worksheets, and web enquiries
• My learning’s minibeast page, including images, worksheets, a quiz, and a brilliant interactive activity where children can create their own Super Bug
• Videos, images and fact files of all kinds of species from ARKive
• An article about the decline in honeybee numbers, including useful weblinks

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. It will stay open so please continue to vote and we will do another topic post in the future.