Learn about Spiders_!

7/30/2019 Learn about Spiders_!

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Spiders

Prior KnowledgeThe student has

1. sorted objects into sets

2. constructed sets of up to eight members

3. ordered objects or events first through sixth

4. used ordinal number wordsfirst, next, lastcorrectly

5. described objects and p henomena

6. classified objects using one variable.

M athematic s, Science and Language Object ivesMathematicsThe student will

1. depict information on a graph

2. find all possible paths in a geometric figure

3. make a figure on a geoboard; describe it verbally by finding lines of symmetry

4. estimate how m any spiderlings are held in a spiders egg sac if the eggs are the

size of a pea, a linking cube, lima bean, lentil

5. count or add m embers of sets by ones, twos, fives, tens

6. use words such as most, least, and as many as (middle) to describe how

man y in a group , e.g., spiders/n on-spiders

7. order pictures of spiders by size, by other variables8. use ordinal num bers up to six (first, second, last) to describe the life cycle of

spiders to describe the elements in th eir food chain

9. construct sets of up to eight elements; tell the num ber in sets of up to eight

elements.

ScienceThe student will

1. list four characteristics of spiders using num bers to describe and count body

parts

2. classify pictures of animals as spiders or non-spiders

3. list two parts of the spiders food chain

4. describe at least three characteristics of a spiders habitat5. list at least four types of spiderwebs

6. name one benefit of spiders to humans

7. name at least two natural enemies of spiders, including man

8. list two animals that are prey of spiders

9. describe a spiders life cycle

10. describe how a spiders web feels, looks and works

11. list special adaptations spiders have made to live in their environment,

including how the w ater spider and the trap-door spider have adapted

12. describe the danger of spider bites

u n i t

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13. make and list predictions about what will happ en if an insect is added

to a vivarium

14. describe differences between live birth and h atching.

LanguageThe student will

1. verbalize feelings about spiders in English and/ or Spanish

2. act out spider actions, such as spinning a web, ballooning, camouflage

3. write or dictate a sentence about spiders using the themes vocabulary

4. create a minibook about his/her favorite spider

5. provide information about spiders after observing thm in the vivarium

6. cite or draw an illustration about a story and its author from the several books

presented during the unit

7. examine their feelings about spiders

8. write a sentence about spiders using one or more of the days

vocabulary words.

2 Unit K Spiders

spider legs body parts insect

araa patas partes del cuerpo insecto

eight silk web arachnid

ocho seda telaraa arcn ido

spin feelings vivarium fangs

tejer sentimientos vivero colmillos

life cycle food chain egg sac ballooning

ciclo vital cadena nu tritiva huevera (ballooning)

spiderlings prey usefu lness camouflage

arauelos presa utilidad camuflage

venum

veneno

V O C A B U L A R Y


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Unit K Spiders 3

are

SPIDERS

GradeK

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prey

insects

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legs

2body

parts

Tarantula

Water

Black

Widow

m

aybe

poisonous

existas

different

types,

suchas

are

misunderstood

byhumans

becausethey

catch

andeat

andare

also

are

looklike

th

rough

by

butarenot

because

theyhave

Trap-

door

Brown

Recluse

look

scary

ve

nom

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ites

called

have

Natural

enemies

Alife

cycle

Reproduce

laying

eggs

Arachnids

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Teacher Background Information

This unit will help children ap preciate the place spiders have in the world and

will lessen the fear of spiders caused by m isund erstand ings. They w ill begin activ-

ities such as building a spider h abitat, constructing a web and reading about sp i-

ders to d evelop the th eme. There are m ore than 30,000 different types of spidersknown to scientists! Most of them are very tiny animals that h elp p eople by eating

insects. The ban ana sp ider, the trap-door spider, the p urse-web sp ider, the garden

spid er, and the grass spider are just a few of the in teresting animals w ere going to

learn about.

Spiders are not insects as many people believe. Students w ill learn the p hysi-

cal differences between insects and arachnid s in this un it. Studen ts will also study

other distinct characteristics of spid ers, such as spiders contribu tion to other

organisms in nature. Spid ers need for food w ill be explained as will the con cepts

of prey and natural enemies.

Spiders belong to a class of anim als called arachnid s. They have four pairs of

segmen ted legs, and can grow a new leg if they lose one. Most spiders have eight

eyes, and they do n ot have antenn ae or wings. A spiders body is divided in to twosections, the abdom en and the ceph alothorax. The legs, eyes, and mou thparts are

all in the ceph alothorax. Most spiders have p oison glands and fangs in their jaws,

wh ich they u se to inject poison into insects. The venom p aralyzes or kills their

prey.

Spiders usually have six fingerlike silk glands called spinnerets located

beneath their abd omen. The silk comes from inside the sp iders body as a liquid,

thicker than w ater. When a spider w ants to make a w eb, it squeezes the silk out of

the two sm all holes at the back of its body called spin nerets. The moment it hits

the air, the silk dries into a line that looks like a long strand of hair. Many spide rs

use their sticky silk webs to catch food, which consists of tiny animals. Some spi-

ders use silk as draglines, which are long lines of silk the spider hangs onto as the

wind blows it through th e air. The spider can always crawl back up the silk line if

it is blown some place it doesnt want to be! Some spiders spin silk webs, and oth-

ers line their bu rrows w ith silk. Many spiders lay their eggs in silken sacs. All

young spiders, and some adu lt males, release long silken threads to float or ride

the w ind to new areas. This is called ballooning.

Although sp iders can live almost anywh ere in the w orld, some like it where

it is very humid , and some like it where it is very dry. Some spiders live un der-

ground and catch their prey by jum ping out at them. Others live in trees and cap-

ture their prey in their w ebs. Others live in ou r houses. Have you seen them hang-

ing from the ceiling? Many times a sp iders comm on n ame tells someth ing about

the spid er. Where do you think the garden sp ider lives? What about the w ater spi-

der? A wolf spider? A banana sp ider?Th e tarantula is probably the m ost feared of spid ers. It is very big and can

stretch itself almost to the size of a one-foot ruler 10 inch es. It is furry, un like

other sp iders. It is a nocturnal animal and comes out at night to find food. It is

large enou gh to eat many an imals that sm aller spiders can t catch. It can eat big

beetles, toads and frogs. It can even eat small birds, snakes and lizard s. Most spi-

ders live one or two years, but the tarantu la takes eight to 10 years to become an

adult, and then lives a few more years. Tarantulas can become p ets in our h omes

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because they can be tamed.

Spiders are considered hu mankind s friend because they help keep the insect

popu lation in ch eck. Humans u se spiders silk to make threadlike lines for micro-

scopes, telescopes and other scientific instruments.

All animals have natural enem ies. Birds, insects such as wasp s, snakes, lizards,

frogs and fish eat spiders. Sometimes spiders eat each other. Humans try to destroythem because we d o not und erstand how u seful they are. Spiders try to protect

and defend them selves from their en emies. Ask studen ts to consider if they w ere

spiders wh at they would d o to protect and d efend th emselves. All of us know h ow

to protect ourselves using methods that are very similar to those of the spider.

1. Escape! How? (Use the dragline to drop in to space and wait; move along

the w eb to a safe place; use powerful jaws on smaller anim als; use venom .)

Usually spiders are frighten ed of people an d try to escape from us because w e

app ear like giants to them. Hum ans also try to escape from things that we

think are dangerous.

2. Hide! A spider can h ide by using its colors and patterns for camouflage to

blend in with colors and patterns. What colors do spiders have? What are thecolors of dirt, trees, leaves and grass? Hum ans w ill also hide if they sense a

danger.

3. Frighten the enemy! Many people th ink that all spiders are poisonous, but in

general, very few sp ider bites will be harmful to hu man s. Tarantulas look

frighten ing, but th ey are not poisonous. They just scare their enemies an d

peop le silly!

4. Use a weapon venom! Most spiders are not poisonous, but some are: the

black widow and the brown recluse are poisonous and m ake people very ill

with th eir bites. Many people d o not und erstand that spid ers very rarely

attack their enem ies. If a spider sees an en emy, it will u sually try to get away.

But all spiders use their p oison in self defense, wh en escape is im possible.

At times, spiders will not attack their prey unless it is moving. Many insects

have learned that if they do not move, the spider w ill not detect their motion

vibrations. Spiders that ensnare their prey in their webs do n ot use their poison.

The spid ers that hun t for their prey, or hide on flowers and capture insects by

grasping them with their fangs when the insects come close by, kill their victims

with poison.

Unit K Spiders 5


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6 Unit K Spiders

s LESSON 1

Spid ers ! Scary or Nice?

BIG IDEA S Hum ans often do n ot und erstand spid ers because spid ers look scary.

Counting and graphs help us show information.

s LESSON 2 Spide rs Hav e Special Characteristics

BIG IDEA S Spid ers are animals that look like insects but are not, because spid ers

have 8 legs and 2 body parts. We can ord er nu mbers by using the idea of

one more than.

s LESSON 3 Spid ers Catch Prey

BIG IDEA S Spid ers catch and eat their prey and are also caught and eaten by their

enemies.

s LESSON 4 Spide rs Are Spe cial

BIG IDEA S Spid ers have a life cycle, and reprodu ce by laying many eggs. We can

coun t by 1s, 2s, 5s or as many as w e wan t.

s LESSON 5 Spid ers Have Natural Enem ies

BIG IDEA S Spid ers protect themselves from their n atural enem ies. A spid ers web

makes many paths.

s LESSON 6 Spide rs Live Eve ryw here

BIG IDEA S We can find spiders everywhere in th e world because they have adapted

themselves to living in different en vironmen ts.

s LESSON 7 Now We Know Sp id ers!

BIG IDEA S Knowing about spid ers helps us app reciate them. Information help s us

make guesses.

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O B J E C T I V E G R I D

Lessons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mat hematics Object ives1. dep ict information on a graph

2. find all the possible paths in a geometric

figure

3. make a figure on a geoboard; describe it

verbally by finding lines of symmetry

4. estimate how many spiderlings are held in

a sp iders egg sac if the eggs are th e size of

a pea, a linking cube, lima bean, len til

5. count (or add) members of sets by 1s, 2s,

5s, 10s

6. use words such as most, least, and as

man y as (mid dle) to describe how m any in

a group, e.g., sp iders/non-sp iders

7. order pictures of spiders by size, by other

variables

8. use ordinal numbers up to 6 (first , second,

last) to describe the life cycle of spiders,

to describe their food chain, other

9. construct sets of up to 8 elements; tell the

number in sets of up to 8 elements

10. order numbers

11. makes a guess based on in formation given.

Science Objectives

1. list 4 characteristics of spiders using numbers

to describe and count body parts

2. classify pictures of animals as spiders or

non-sp iders; other

3. list 2 parts of the sp iders food chain

4. describe at least 3 characteristics of a

spiders habitat

5. l ist and describe at least 4 types of

spiderwebs

6. name one benefit of spiders to humans

Unit K Spiders 7

Continued on next p age


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Lessons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. name at least 2 natural enemies of spiders,

including man

8. list 2 animals that are p rey of spiders

9. describe a spiders life cycle

10. describe how a spiders web feels, looks

and works

11. list special adaptations spiders have made to

live in their environmen t, including how the

water spider and trap-door spider have adapted

12. describe the danger of sp ider bites

13. make and list predictions about what willhappen if an insect is added to a vivarium

14. describe differences between live birth and

hatching.

Language Objectives

1. verbalize feelings and give information about

sp iders in English

2. act out spider actions, such as spinning a web,

ballooning, camouflage

3. write or dictate a sentence about spidersusing the themes vocabulary

4. create a minibook about the studen ts favorite

sp ider

5. provide information about spiders after

observing them in the vivarium

6. cite or draw an i l lustration about a spider

story and its author

7. state justifications for a claim about sp iders.

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BIG IDEA S Humans often do not understand spiders because spiders look

scary. Coun ting and graphs help us show information.

Whole Group Act ivities

MaterialsBooks: Spiders by J. Dallin ger or El Gato Araa by N. Bayley

Collection of pictures of different kind s of spiders an d different in sects such as

bees, grasshopp ers, snails, snakes, etc.

Collection of pictures of different-size spiders

Magnifying glasses to observe spiders in the vivariumWord tags: life cycle, egg sac, balloon ing, spid erlings, food cha in, vivariu m,

others, as they are needed

Encounte ring the Idea

Read a book on spiders to the stud ents; examp le: Spiders or El Gato Araa.

Have a short discussion with stu den ts about their experiences with sp iders.

Include w here spiders are foun d; what they look like; wh at they do; and wh y stu-

den ts are or are not afraid of them.

Construct tw o graph s to dep ict studen ts feelings toward spid ers before and at

the end ofthe lesson and at the end of the un it. Do Activity Like or Not Like.

The second graph shows the new vocabulary and information about spiders.

Exploring the Idea

At the Science Center, studen ts place spiders they have collected into their class

vivarium. Do Activity Spider Vivarium. Stud ents collect insects such as flies,

grasshopp ers, etc. to feed th e spiders. They find out w hat foods to bring to the

vivarium. Stud ents observe the spid ers using magnifying glasses when necessary

and write or dictate observations about the live spiders. Stud ents describe wh at

they see. (These d escriptions can serve as a p art of the lesson assessment.)

At the Music an d Drama Centers, sing and act out songs and nu rsery rhym es.

Introduce songs and rhymes to the wh ole group in th e first lesson and keep themin th e centers for rest of the u nit. Using nursery rhymes, stud ents role play Little

Miss Muffet an d Eensy, Weensy Spider.

At the Mathematics Center, the students do Activity Like or Not Like.

At the Art Center, the students make a wall spider. Students draw or paint

individual spiders to place on the bulletin board.

Studen ts can also make flannel board spid er body parts by cutting the body

parts out of flann el and p utting them together with glue or sewing them. The d if-

Unit K Spiders 9

Spiders ! Scary or Nice?

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ferent p arts can be mad e from d ifferent-colored flann el. (The teacher can prepare

flannel spiders to use in the Game Center as pu zzles.)

At the Art an d Drama Centers, act out rhymes. Students also make paper pup-

pets related to Spiders an d El Gato Araa and role play an original story.

At the Writing Center, students work on a vocabulary list by locating new

word tags in alph abetical order on the w all spider as they learn th em, e.g., lifecycle, egg sac, ballooning, spiderlings, food chain.

Getting the Idea

Studen ts verbalize any decisions to qualify their spider p references after th e les-

son and write their comments over or und er their names on the graph.

Place graph chart in Mathematics Center to add to as students work on the unit.

Organizing the Idea

Stud ents construct one set representing the stud ents that like spiders, and

another set represen ting the studen ts that do n ot like spiders. (Studen ts suggest

ways to make th ese sets.)Next, nam e the num ber of studen ts that do, and then the num ber that do not

like spiders. Talk about these two sets show ing different groups of peop le.

Example: By using beans, represent the stu den ts belonging to the set wh o like

spiders, and m ake the other set of linking cubes represent stud ents wh o do not

like them. Obtain the n um ber for each set from th e graph s at Mathematics Center.

This can be don e for the after set also.

Closure and Assessm ent

The sets constructed in the Mathematics Center under Organizing the Idea can

be part of the lesson assessment.

Oral Assessm ent1. What do the markers inside the set represent? How many students like spi-

ders? How d o you know? How man y do not like spiders? How d o you know?

Show this in tw o different ways. (Using sets and using nu mbers.)

2. Why didnt you pu t all of the markers inside only one set? (You have to show

two d ifferent sets because there w ere two d ifferent groups.)

3. Which set has more/ less?

4. In which set do you belong?

5. Were the sets different after the lesson? Why?

6. What did we learn about spiders?

Performance Assessment

1. Students will make drawings of sets constructed at Mathematics Center.2. Assess individual graphs constructed by students for student und erstanding.

List of Act ivities for this Lesson

v Like or Not Like

v Spid er Vivarium

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Objective

Stud ents collect information and d epict it on a graph ; count; compare nu mbers.

MaterialsAt the Mathematics Center

Chart paper

Glue or tap e

Post-it notes or pieces of paper w ith each studen ts nam e or initials to glue

on chart

Procedures1. Before the lesson, tak a survey of class members to see wh ether they like or do

not like spiders.

2. Each student places note on the column marked yes or no.

3. Students count notes in each category.4. Compare the numbers. How many more like (or dislike) spiders than not like

(or like)? What d o we d o to compare two n um bers to see wh ich is greater?

(We can cou nt; match th e squares to see wh ich on es are left over; subtract.)

5 . Repeat the survey after the lesson. Again, compare the n um bers.

Chart:

Unit K Spiders 11

ACTIVITYv Like or Not Like

Before Lesson

Yes

No

After Lesso n

Yes

No


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Objective

Stud ents stud y spiders by observing them in a close to natural state; theydescribe the spid ers ph ysical features and their eating, mating, and rep rodu cing

behavior, if possible from observations.

SPIDERVIVARIUM

MaterialsSoil; aquarium tan k or very large jar (one gallon); small w et spon ge; leaves,

rocks, branch ; cheesecloth an d tap e; flashlight; plastic container or n et

(for catching spiders an d in sects)

Procedures1. Place soil in the bottom of an aquarium tank and cover it with a few leaves,

rocks and a large branch . Place a small wet sponge in the tan k for moisture.

2. Go on a spider hunt. Be sure to capture your spiders (five or six) with a net or

plastic container so that you do not hu rt them.

3. Place the spiders in your tank. Cover the tank with cheesecloth. Tape the

cover in p lace. Place water on the sp onge periodically.

4. Have children observe the spiders over several days. Do they move around

mu ch? Do they eat leaves? If you are lucky, the spid ers will spin a web on a

branch.

5. Add a live insect to the tank and watch what happens.

6. Students begin and maintain a list of substances and animals that spiders eat.

7. Do spiders sense light (darken room and th en use a flashlight). Do they like

light?

8. Do spiders sense noise?9. List other ways students have tried to stimulate the spiders to get a response.

12 Unit K Spiders

ACTIVITYv Sp ide r Viva rium


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BIG IDEA S Spiders are an imals that look like insects but are not, because spi-

ders h ave eight legs, two body p arts and sp inn erets. We can order

nu mbers by using the idea of one more than .

Whole Group Work

MaterialsLive or dead insects, or large pictures of insects (bees, ants, flies)

Live or dead spiders, or p ictures of various types of spiders

Magnifying glasses

Copies ofNational Geographic featuring spid ersBooks: Spiders are Animals by J. Hollow ay & C. Harper, A Look at Spiders by C.

& B. Moon and La Araa Despistada by J. Wordm an


Read about spiders in Spiders Are Animals an d A Look at Spiders; discuss the

readings and brainstorm facts about spiders found in th e reading. Ask: How are

spid ers special? What can we say about them? Lets observe them an d see.

Exploring the Idea

At the Science Center, stud ents u se a magnifying glass to observe a spide rs legs,

eyes, and other bod y parts. They make a draw ing of the spid ers body parts thatthey observed.

Students specify characteristics: A Spider has _________________ (suggest

characteristics such as legs, eggs, body p arts ) They also write: A Spider does n ot

have _________________ .

Stud ents classify pictures or plastic toys as spider or not spid ers.

Students complete Activity Who Am I? and Activity Edible Spiders.

Getting t he Idea

After the studen ts have had an opp ortunity to explore the idea, discuss the fol-

lowing:

Many p eople believe that spid ers are insects they are n ot they look like

insects. There are two main features that d istinguish sp iders from in sects spi-

ders h ave only two body p arts and eight legs, whereas insects have three body

parts and six legs. Durin g this discu ssion, show p ictures or show live spid ers and

insects to dem onstrate the d ifferences.

Stud ents report on th eir observations of the sp iders. They illustrate their

report with d rawings in their journals.


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14 Unit K Spiders

Organizing the Idea

At the Art Center:

Students make paper-plate spiders with:

large plate for abdomen

small plate for cephalothorax

strips of construction p aper folded accordion style for legs.

At the Mathematics Center:

1. Play Water Spider Race game (a spinn er game w ith a die an d a ch eckerboard).

Students count the n umber of spaces that the spider can m ove, depend ing on

the num ber that comes up on the die.

2. Students predict the number that will come up on the die.

3. Construct a set of eight spiders. Make thum bprint for abdomen, other finger-

prints for cephalothorax and make legs with marker or crayons.

4 . Students comple te Activity Ordering Sets and Nu mbers and Activity

Spid ers Have Eight Legs. Place at th e Manipulative Center spider p uzzles;

board games related to spiders.

At the Music an d Art Centers songs on tapes or records ofLittle Miss Muffet

and the Eensy Weensy Spider. Studen ts draw, color, cut and paste four pictures

dep icting the sequen ce of each song wh ile listenin g to the songs.

Ass essm ent and Closure1. Students state reasons why spiders are grouped in specific categories, includ-

ing what distinguishes a spid er from an in sect. These commen ts can be writ-

ten on ch art tablet and reviewed later by the wh ole group .

2. Art Activity paper-plate spider (shows two body parts and eight legs).

3. Mathematics activity with sets of eight spiders.

Oral Assessm ent1. Why did you group the pictures/animals in this manner?

2. Can you put the frog with the spiders? Why/Why not?

3. How many fingers will you use to make a spiders body?

4. How many legs will you draw on your spider?

5. Tell me how a spider is different from an insect.

Performance Assessment1. Assess paper-plate spiders for student understanding.

2. Assess completed sets of eight thumbp rint spiders showing two body parts,

eight legsfour on eith er side of the ceph alothorax.

3. Assess for accuracy drawing of spiders observed in the Science Center.

4. Assess for understanding categories of spiders and non-spiders.

Little fingerprintStudentsthumbprint


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List of Act ivities for t his Lesson

v Edible Spid ers

v Spid ers Have Eight Legs

v Who Am I?

v Ordering Sets and Nu mbers

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Objective

Stud ents learn the p arts of a spider by m aking cookies in the shap e of a spider;they label the parts.

Materials3 cups peanu t butter

3 cups honey

4 cups powdered milk

3 cups pow dered sugar

Box of raisins

Procedures1. Mix the ingredients (except raisins) together in a large bowl.

2. Shape the dough into two shapes for the head (smaller oval shape) and the

abdomen (the larger, longer shape).3. Use raisins for the eyes (spiders can have many eyes).

4. Use pipe cleaners cut into eight lengths that are proportional to the body of

the spid er to represent the legs.

7. The students label or point to the various parts of the spiders body.

6. There is no cooking necessary!! The spiders are ready to eat.

16 Unit K Spiders

ACTIVITYv Edible Spiders


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Objective

Stud ents iden tify spiders by coun ting eight legs (four on each side) on anim alpictures.

MaterialsEach stu den t has a cop y of a picture of different anim als, as below.

Procedures1. Working in pairs, each student uses his/her picture to identify the spidersby

coun ting eight legs and p utting an x on th e animal th at is a spider.

2. If the student does not put an x by a picture he/she explains to his/her part-

ner w hy it is not a spider.

Alternative

Students classify picture cards of animals into two groups spiders or those thatare not spiders.

Unit K Spiders 17

ACTIVITYv Sp iders Hav e Eigh t Leg s


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Objective

The stud ent learns that a sp ider h as eight legs (four on each side of the body),cann ot fly, can spin a web, has eight eyes usually but cann ot see very well, and is

not an insect.

MaterialsCut-out p ictures of various types of spiders

Drawin gs of a spider han ging from a dragline

Pictures or drawin gs of a spid erweb

Pictures or drawings of a spiders eyes

Word card s arachnid, sp inn erets, silk, dragline

Pieces of silk thread

Procedures

1. The teacher tells a riddle: I am an animal; I have eight legs, I cannot flybecause I have no win gs; I can spin a w eb. Who am I?

2. The teacher holds up the pictures and tells the students that a spider is not

an insect; it is an arachnid (a-rak-nid ). One sp ecial thing about a spider is that

it can sp in a silk w eb. The silk comes from in side the spiders body throu gh

small holes at the back of the bod y called spinnerets. The silk comes out as a

liquid bu t quickly dries in the air. It is very strong and looks like a long strand

of hair.

3. The teacher shows a thin, long piece of silk thread. Spiders also make drag-

lines out of the same sticky, liquid silk. A dragline is a very long strand of silk

that allows spid ers to hang in the air. They use the d raglines to capture p rey,

the same way as with a web.

4. Spiders have many eyes but cannot see very well .

5. There are over 30,000 different types of spiders that scientists have been able

to study. Most of them are very small and n ot dangerous. They help us by eat-

ing insects that we may not wan t to have aroun d.

18 Unit K Spiders

ACTIVITYv Who Am I?


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Objective

The stud ent constructs a set with one m ore (one less) mem ber than a given setand assigns each set its correspond ing cardinal nu mber.

Materialscoun ters, toy spid ers or objects representing spiders

numeral cards 0 through 10

ProceduresStudents work in p airs.

1. One student constructs a set of spiders.

2 . The second student:

constructs a set with one more spider on the right of the smaller set

places the appropriate numeral card under each set

makes a statement such as: four spiders are more than three spiders;

four is one more than three.

3. The two students change roles and continue constructing sets of one more.

4. Change the task to construct a set that has one less spider than the

given set.

5. Students continue as in Procedure 2.

Unit K Spiders 19

ACTIVITYv Orde ring Se ts an d Num be rs


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BIG IDEA S Spiders catch and eat their prey and are also caught and eaten by

their enemies.

Whole Group Work

MaterialsBooks: The Very Busy Spider by E. Carle and The Spider Makes a Web by J. Lexau

Pictures of spiderw ebs, or observe the webs constructed in the vivarium

Pictures of spiders that do and do not not catch prey with a w eb

A chain abou t 12 inches long, or a picture of a chain

Word tags: prey; camouflage; enemy; food chain; frog; bird; snake; balloonin g; spi-derlings

Encountering the Idea

You h ave been observing spiders for a while in our class vivarium . One reason we

observe the spid ers is to learn some important th ings about them . For example:

What d o spid ers eat? Where do sp iders get food? How d o they get food? We also

wan t to know if other an imals eat spid ers. Are spiders them selves food? If you

were a spider, wh at would you d o to hide from your enemies and not get eaten?

Look at the spiders in the vivarium. What color are they? Are all spiders brown ?

Are there green sp iders? Red? Durin g the time w e spen d in the centers, we w ill

try to discover some of the answers to th ese questions.

Exploring the Idea

First, we will read a story that will give us some ideas about spiders food an d

how it is caught. Read: The Very Busy Spider or The Spider Makes A Web. After

reading the book, ask the stud ents: Do you thin k that other anim als eat spiders?

Do birds eat sp iders? What else eats spid ers?

Lets discuss th is: If you were a sp ider, what w ould you d o to hid e from you r

enem ies and not get eaten? (Hide, use cam ouflage.) Look at the spid ers in th e

vivarium. Can you see their cam ouflage? What is th eir camou flage? We will be

exploring these new ideas in th e center activities.

At the Science Center, the students1. sort pictures of safe and un safe insects and other animals.

2. sort pictures into those that are spiders prey and those that are not.

3. com plete Activity Spider Venom.

4. com plete Activity A Spiders Breakfast.

20 Unit K Spiders

Spiders Catch Prey

L E S S O N

3


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MaterialsCollection of pictures of various kinds of spiders

Collection of pictures of various kind s of insects and oth er small anim als

(lady beetle, fly, bee, wasp, snake, snail, caterpillar, ant, roach, water beetle,

grasshopper)

Procedures1. Students sort the pictures into animals that spiders eat, those they do not eat,

and those that are spiders.

2. The studen ts report to the teacher or to the group wh y they sorted them as

they d id, inclu din g reporting on spid ers characteristic of having eight legs.

They coun t the legs to see if there are eight, and also say that four p lus four is

eight.

3. The students also count the eyes: spiders usually have eight eyes; other ani-

mals u sually have only two (ant, grasshopper, caterpillar).


1.Activity

Spider gets the Fly a spin ner game. One student is the spider and the other is the fly. The spider and the fly

move on a board the n um ber of times shown on a die or a pair of dice,

dep end ing on the studen ts ability to finds sum s of 12 and less. The spider

catches the fly when th e spider land s on the same square as the fly.

2. Students design a web on paper and then follow the design to draw or make

their web on th e floor or rug with yarn.

3. Com plete Activity Catch a Fly.

At the Art Center:

1. Students construct webs with yarn glued to construction paper or with cooled

spaghetti. They pu ts knots on the yarn to represent the sticky parts that hold

the p rey.2. Com plete Activity Spider Fun.

3. Make paper-bag spider costumes and stress camouflage.

4. Make Black Widow spider with an hourglass design.

5. Make a chain, with at least three to five links with one word w ritten on each

link: grasshopp er, spid er, frog, plan t, bird, snake, fish. The link w ith th e word

plant is first and th e second word is grasshopp er because grasshopp ers

eat plants; grasshopper is followed by spider, followed by frog, etc. Frogs

are eaten by birds, snakes an d fish , so place those links after the frog link. The

studen ts use the word s first, second, next and last to describe the

links of the chain s they make.

At the Music Center:Stud ents sing along and read word s written on a chart, and tape the song:

One Elephant (also foun d in Sp anish).

One elephant went out to p lay

out on a spider web one day

He had su ch an en orm ou s day

that he called for another elephan t

to com e to play.

Unit K Spiders 21


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At the Writing Center:

Students examine a spiderweb in the vivarium. They write an illustrated descrip-

tion about how the w eb looks, feels and w orks.

For Physical Education, students play freeze tag game getting stung by theBlack Widow.

Getting the Idea

Discuss how the spid er uses a web to catch p rey. Show d ifferent types of webs

and h ow different spiders catch their prey. Show w ord cards du ring the discu s-

sion. Discuss how cam ouflage helps spiders catch their p rey and also helps th em

hid e from their enemies.

Discuss the notion of a food chain w ith the stud ents. Spiders consum e many

different kind s of insects, but th ey themselves are prey to oth er animals. At the

bottom of the ch ain are the p lants because they make th eir own food. At the top

of the chain are human s. Humans consume p lants, but hu mans eat meat also.Since frogs are p rey to man y different an imals, several different links are placed

within the frog link.

How does a sp ider u se its venom? Are all spiders h armful to hum ans? Do all

spiders bite? Which kind s of spiders have been know n to kill hu man s with their

bite? If not all spider bites cause d eath, in w hat other w ay can spid er bites be

harmful?

Use the Trap-door Spider as a choral reading. Expand the readin g by

comparing one spider and the web it spins to another type of spider and the web

it makes.

Trap-door Spid er hiding u nd ergroun d

In h is tu nnel where he cant be found .

He digs it deep an d lin es it with silkA nd work s very hard un til i t is bu ilt .

Patiently he waits and d oesnt m ake a sound ,

So h e can feel the vibrations on the groun d.

He crawls to th e top to get a good view.

If you are an in sect .... he m igh t ca tch you !!

Unknown Source

DiscussionHow d oes the trap-door spider catch its p rey? Does it build a w eb? How d o the

leaves, sticks and grass help th e spid er? (The sp ider senses th e vibrations of the

leaves and sticks and know s there is prey outside the trap.)

Comp are this method to the method the pu rse-web spid er uses to catch itsprey.

A spiderling can u se its spinnerets as soon as it is born. The spiderling pu ts

out a silk line called a dragline. What do you suppose the spiderling uses this

line for? (To catch food.) How does it find food? When a spid erling sways on its

line, it can catch p rey. This is called ballooning. Why do you th ink it is called

ballooning?

22 Unit K Spiders


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Organizing the Idea

The class designs and makes a booklet on w eb-buildin g, stressing the idea of

sequence the studen ts verbally dictate the steps. Provide studen ts with p ic-

tures that su ggest the various stages of web-building, or studen ts may d raw th eir

own pictures. The teacher may also use this activity to assess und erstandin g.

Journal Writing Write a story of how a spid er catches and eats its prey

the stud ent may select any type of spider th at the class has discussed. Example:

trap-door, wolf, black widow, etc.


1. Write and illustrate a Facts about Spiders class Big Book.

2 . Students comple te Activity Catch a Fly as a cu lmin ating activity.

Oral Assessm ent1. Tell me about the spider web. What does it look like? How does it feel?

2. If you were a spider, where would you spin your web and why?

3. How does a spider use its web?4. Students explain how the dissolved sugar cube in Activity Spid er Venom is

like a spiders venom.

Performance Assessment1. Assess quality of completed spider webs.

2. Using labeled paper links (with plant and animal names), the student places

at least three links, includin g the spid er link, in the correct order in w hich th e

organisms exist in the spiders food web.

3. Assess quality of completed Sp ider Fun and A Spiders Breakfast.


vSpider Venom

v A Sp iders Breakfast

v Catch A Fly

v Spider Fun

Unit K Spiders 23


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ACTIVITYv Sp ide r VenomBefore performin g this experimen t the stud ents discu ss snakes having a poison

similar to spid ers venom . Discuss w ays to avoid d anger of being bitten by spi-ders. After the discu ssion, the studen ts perform th e spiders venom exp eriment

(sugar cubes and water); use p ictures of/or d ead black wid ows or brown recluse

spiders.

ObjectiveStud ents observe a simu lation of the effect of a spiders venom on its p rey.

MaterialsOne styrofoam cu p p er group

One sugar cube per group

Very warm water

Procedures1. Give each group a cup w ith several sugar cubes in the bottom. Explain that

cubes are like th e insid e of an in sects body hard !

2. Have children pour a few drops of water onto the cubes. What happens?

The w ater dissolves the sugar cubes just as the spid ers venom dissolves the

insects body w hen the sp ider spread s venom into the in sects body. Because a

spider can tu rn its food to liquid, it can eat without chew ing!

3. Discuss how p eoples diets would change if we didn t have teeth.

Discussion

Because the sp ider can only digest fluid food, predigestion mu st take place out-side the spiders body. Some p eople believe that spid ers suck blood; this is not

correct. Spiders inflict a woun d with th eir fangs and, through the wou nd , inject

digestive enzymes into th e wou nd to liquefy the tissues of their p rey. Then th e

spider p um ps the insect dry, leaving nothin g but an emp ty shell behin d.

24 Unit K Spiders


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ACTIVITYv A Spiders Break fastObjectiveStud ents recognize wh at spiders eat.

MaterialsCrayons or markers

Cut-out p ictures of insects and other anim als, and food substances such as bread

and candy, glued on cards

ProceduresStudents classify pictures into thin gs spiders eat and things spiders do n ot eat.

Discussion1. Which items did you mark that spiders will not eat? Why did you mark those?

2. When you observed the spiders in the vivarium, what did you see them eat?

Did you try bread? Someth ing else?

Unit K Spiders 25


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ACTIVITYv Catch a FlyObjectiveStudents catch and count popp ed corn; compare w hich n umber is the largest.

Materialspopcorn popper and pop corn

sheet to place on the floor

various utensils to catch the p opp ed corn: sheet rolled into a cone, large spoons,

box

ProceduresThe ch ildren p retend to be spid ers who are going to catch flying insects (the

popp ed corn).

1. Place sheet on the floor to catch the popped corn.

2. Pop the corn in the center of the sheet to avoid the corn falling on the floor.

3. The students sit around the popper on the edges of the sheet.

4. As the corn is popp ing out, the students stay seated and from where they are,

try to catch th e pop ped corn with the d ifferent u tensils or objects they

selected. They cannot catch th e corn that h as fallen on th e floor only the

corn that falls into their u tensils.

5. After the popper has popped all the corn, the students count the num ber of

insects each caught. They comp are to see wh o caught the most.

6. The studen ts can compare to see who got the most insects by either count-

ing and comp aring to see who h as the largest num ber or by matchin g the corn,

kernel by kernel, to see wh o has th e most left over.

26 Unit K Spiders


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ACTIVITYv Sp ider FunObjectiveStud ents make observations about spid ers, naming two kinds of spiders and

describing their webs and sp iderlings.

Materialsscissors; glue; popsicle sticks; a tissue box; yarn; cutout of trap-door spiders; flour

and water; nylon thread; cardboard tube (from pap er towels); new spaper;

pain ts or colors; markers; stapler; tape; construction p aper; leaves, small

sticks; grass; one balloon per ch ild; small brown pap er bags

ProcedureTrap-door Spiders

1. Use the tissue box with its lid, to form the trap door for the spider. The spider

hid es inside the trap (or the box) un til it senses through the web th at some

prey is n ear.

2. Glue the leaves and small sticks on the sides of the tissue box.

3. Color and then glue the cutout of the trap-door spider on a pop sicle stick.

4. Students draw, color and cut out shapes of insects: ants, bees, grasshopp ers,

flies, etc. (These can also be used for other activities.)

5. Staple pieces of yarn to the insects to dangle close to the opening of the trap

door.

6. One studen t dangles the insect while the the spider pops out of the trap door

to get its prey.

Purse-Web Spiders

1. Cut the cardboard paper towel tube in half to make two webs.

2. Make a paper mache mix with the flour and water.

3. Cut the thread into six-inch to eight-inch p ieces; dip them in the mix and

wrap th em aroun d the tube. Let the thread dry.

4. Color the tubes brown (for camouflage). Make the brown paper bags into rocksby stuffing them with n ewsp aper and gluing or stapling them shu t.

5. The purse (web) is now ready. Place it on the side of the rocks. The spider

digs a hole und er the web. When in sects get caught in the web, the spid er

captures them. (Student p retends to be a spider and hides un der the rocks

[bags]; another studen t pretend s to be an insect. When th e insect touches

the web, the spid er captures it. The spider pretend s to eat the insect.)

6. Students take turns being the spider and the prey.

Unit K Spiders 27


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Flower Spiders

1. Each student draws a daisy with a yellow center and wh ite petals.

2. They draw on the white petals a white spider waiting for an insect to

come by.

3. The spider waits for the bee, butterfly or other insect to get close enough

to it, then it strikes its prey.

4. Th is sp id er does not use its web to catch its prey. It relies entirely on its

camouflage to deceive the insect.

SpiderlingsEach child blows up a balloon and:

1. counts and makes eight construction p aper spider legs

2. counts and colors in eight eyes at the front of the balloon

3. makes two fangs on the sides close to the eyes

4. tapes the eight legs to the spider balloons

5. tapes a piece of yarn to the spider

6. hangs the spider from an app ropriate place in the classroom.

Stud ents observe that air currents in th e room make the spid erlings sway

and float.

Discussion1. How does the trap-door spider catch its prey? Does it build a web? How

do th e leaves, sticks and grass help the spid er? (The spid er senses the

vibrations of the leaves and sticks and kn ows that prey is outside the

trap.)

2. How does the purse-web spider catch i ts prey?

3. A spiderling can use its spinnerets as soon as it is born. The spiderling

pu ts out a silk line called a dragline. What do you supp ose the spider-

ling uses this line for? (To catch food.) How does it find food? As the spi-

derling sways on its line, it can catch p rey. This is called ballooning.

Why?

28 Unit K Spiders


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Unit K Spiders 29

BIG IDEA S Spiders have a life cycle, and reprodu ce by laying man y eggs. We

can coun t by ones, twos, fives, or as many as we w ant.

Whole Group Work

MaterialsBook: Spider Magic by D.H. Paten t.

Life-cycle sequence cards (to cut ou t and use in a variety of activities: pictures of

spider eggs in the egg sacs; spiderlings molting in order to grow; adu lts dying

or being eaten as p art of the food cycle)

Collection of live insects such as flies and others that can serve as food for thespiders

Chart

Word tags: balloon ing, habitat, life cycle, molting


We have been collecting and observing spiders for several days n ow. Have any of

our spid ers died? Yes, some of them h ave died, but w e keep on bringing new ones

into our vivarium. New spiders have to be born, otherwise we would run ou t of

spiders, and we h ave many of them all the time. Where do new spiders come

from? Yes! Spide rs come from eggs. Have you seen an y of our spid ers w ith eggs?

Where are th e eggs? Have you seen th em th rough the magnifying glass? In this

lesson we will discover many n ew th ings about the life and death of spiders.

Exploring the Idea

The teacher reads the book, Spider Magic, about the life cycle of spiders. What

are the two w ays that animals are born? Animals either h atch from an egg or else

they are born from their moth er wh en they can live on their own, like kittens or

pu pp ies. How are spid ers born? Yes, spiders h atch from eggs.

At the Science Center:

1. Com plete Activity Spider Egg Sacs, as below.

Materialswh ite tissue p aper; water; yarn or string; tacks; lentils, linking cubes, sugar cubes,

lima beans

Students roll out t iny spider eggs out of wet, white t issue paper.

Students put the eggs into a small piece of t issue paper about two inches

squa re to form th e egg sac. Tie the sac at the top w ith th e string or yarn.

Hang the sacs from th e string in different p laces in the classroom.

2. Students review the concept of ballooning by playing with the spiderlings

they constructed in the Art Center.

3. Com plete Activity Spider Life Cycle.

The Sp iders Life Cycle

L E S S O N

4


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30 Unit K Spiders

At the Drama Center:

The stud ents w orking in pairs or small groups select a favorite spider, dress to

resemble that spider using brown p aper bags on w hich they h ave drawn the spi-

ders features, and act out a scene.

At the Writing Center, students1. write at least two things in their journals on the life cycle of the spider.

2. describe spiders, their habitats and life cycle using number words, geometric

(shap es) descriptions, and th e new vocabulary words.

3. use life-cycle sequence cards to construct a book. Students dictate the life

cycle to the teacher who writes it on cards, and th en the stud ents sequence

the cards.

At the Art Center, students

1. color the paper bags showing the spider features for the Drama Center.

2. construct a spider life cycle cap (use ordinal num bers to name the steps, from

one to five or six d ifferen t steps in the sp iders life cycle). A spider cap is

mad e of a circular headban d, the length of each stud ents head, and about twoinches w ide, decorated w ith pictu res depicting the life cycle of spiders. Make

a large pap er spider outline cu tout to form the crown of the cap an d glue the

legs of the spid er to the headban d.


Stud ents estimate, then cou nt, the nu mber of spiderlings that can fit into a spider

egg sac. Next, use lima beans to p ut in to the sac to simulate sp ider eggs; estimate

how man y can fit, then coun t. Do the same thin g with len tils, linking cubes, sugar

cubes or other small objects. Simulate different-size sacs with socks, plastic bags,

or other types of material that can h old beans or cubes. Again, studen ts estimate

and count.

Getting the Idea

After studen ts have had an opp ortunity to complete their activities in the centers,

discuss th e following ideas: What is a life cycle? What does the word cycle

mean ? Yes, like a bicycle, it is someth ing that is in a circle. A life cycle means

that anim als, and p lants also, live in a cycle. They are born, become adu lts, repro-

duce or m ake new animals or plants, and then they die. Although th e adults die

after they have reprodu ced, there are more new an imals all the time. Living

organisms p reserve them selves in this man ner all the time. When all the an imals

of one kind d ie out and n o new on es are born, we say that anim al has become

extinct. We don t know if any types of spiders have become extinct, but we kn ow

that the spider is certainly not on the en dan gered species list. There are too manyof them to become extinct, and th ey have learned to adapt themselves to their

environm ent. They will always survive.

All animals need a p lace to be born and to live. The place wh ere animals are

born, live and d ie is called a habitat. It is very similar to the Span ish w ord,

habitacin. Spiders have h abitats wh ere they are born and w here they live.

Different spiders have d ifferent habitats. The h abitats are different becau se the

places wh ere spiders live are very different. The spid ers have to use wh at is

around them in their environm ent to make their habitats. Describe some of the

habitats you have learned about from the books you h ave read and looked at.


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(Pause for students to give oral reports of the results of their activities.)

New spiders hatch from eggs. How many eggs does a female spider lay? Yes,

spid ers lay many, man y eggs. When th e eggs hatch th e new spiders are called spi-

derlings. What are two things that new sp iders can do as soon as they are born?

(Pause to allow for stud ent respon ses.) Yes, they can sp in silk and they can catch

and eat prey.As a whole group , the studen ts write a cinquain expressing their feelings

about spiders.1

Organizing the Idea

1. Working in small groups, studen ts make two lists of animals on a chart one

list of those th at reprod uce by laying eggs and th e other of those th at give live

birth.

2. Students draw and illustrate a story about a particular spiders life cycle.

3. Students draw and illustrate a story about a particular spiderling and wh ere

and how it lives to become an adu lt.

4 . Students comple te Activity Spider Minibook.

Asses sm ent and Closure

Oral Assessm entAssess mastery of the u se of new language structures and vocabulary in the oral

interviews.

1. Are spiders and cats born the same way? Explain how each is born.

2. Why do spiders build an egg sac?

3. Describe ballooning. How is it used, and w ho uses it?

4. Students explain wh y more lentils, for example, can fit in the egg sac than

lima beans. What does estimate mean? Is it like a guess? How is it different

from a guess, or is it the sam e? (An estim ate is like a guess. In makin g an esti-mate, however, you might be using some information to help you narrow you r

guess down to just a few choices. In m aking a guess you m ight n ot use any

information at all.)

Performance AssessmentAssess und erstandin g of the Big Idea by assessing studen ts completion and qual-

ity of work on Activity Spider Minibook, on th e story of a spider or sp iderling

or on th e life style cap.


v Spider Minibook

v Spid er Life Cycle

Unit K Spiders 31

1Cinquain one formula

1 st l in e - 1 w or d n am e o f a ni ma l T ar an tu la

2nd l ine - 2 words descr ibe animal Black, hai ry

3rd l ine - 3 words describe actions of animal Hiding, hunting, jumping

4th l ine - 4 words descr ibe your feeling about animal Scared s t iff, cant look

5th line - 1 word group animal belongs in Spider


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Objective

Stud ents draw and color four p ictures dep icting the sp iders life cycle on separatesheets of paper, wh ich are pu t together to form a m inibook.

MaterialsBook pages: pap er rectangles, 3 1/2 x 5 inch es

Procedures1. On four separate pages or pieces of paper, students draw four stages of a spi-

ders life cycle: eggs in the sac; spiderlings in the n est hatch ing and leaving

the n est; spiderlin gs ballooning; adu lts spinn ing a web to catch prey.

2. Color the drawings.

3. Label each page or make an observation about the spider in the picture.

4. Sequence the pictures and number the pages.

5 . Stap le the pages.6. Make a cover page and il lustrate i t.

7. Write a story, poem or cinquain (see Lesson One) for the minibook.

8. Place the minibook in the Library Center for other child ren to read.

32 Unit K Spiders

ACTIVITYv Sp ider Minibook


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Objective

The studen t verbally describes a sp iders life cycle in correct ch ronological order.

MaterialsSet of four cards showing spider laying eggs, the egg sac, the spiderlings and

adu lt spider, as shown below.

Set of pictures of animals that eat spiders: frogs, wasps, birds, snakes, ants, fish

or flys.

Procedures1. Students sequence a set of four pictures depicting the life cycle of a spider.

2. Student either points to and/or w rites words (eggs, egg sac, spiderlings, adult)

app ropriate for the four stages.

3. Students sort a set of pictures into those of animals that eat and th ose that do

not eat spiders.4. The students count the life cycle cards to ensure there are four. They count

them sin gly, or say that three and one m ore is four, or that two p lus two is

four.

Unit K Spiders 33

ACTIVITYv Sp ide r Life Cycle


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34 Unit K Spiders

BIG IDEA S Spiders p rotect themselves from th eir natural en emies. A spiders

web makes many paths.

Whole Group Work

MaterialsBooks: Spiders by A. L. Hopf an d The Lady and the Spider by F. McNulty

An arm y camou flage jacket and /or p ants (green an d gray), or

Leopard-spotted material (brown/yellow) to m ake d resses, skirts

Pictures taped on cards of spider en emies and an imals that are not enem ies

Frame sentences written on a poster board that studen ts can see:A _____________ wou ld be afraid of a sp id er, but a sp id er wou ld not be afraid

of a _____________ .


Show th e army camouflage jacket and p ants to the studen ts. Ask the studen ts to

describe them . Ask the stu den ts, Who wears th ese kinds of clothes? Yes, sol-

diers wear them. Why do you thin k the soldiers wear clothes colored with th ese

colors and sp ots? If soldiers are fighting in the jungle, would they be h arder to

see if they wear these clothes? Why? Yes, because they are the same color as the

jungle, and th e so ld ier wou ld blen d in to th e trees an d leaves .

What about th e tigers or leop ards spo ts? What color are th ey? Yes, black an d

brown an d yellow. Why do you th ink that tigers and leopard s have developed

these spots? Yes, to make them blend with their h abitat, so their prey w ont see

them and get away. Yes, they want to h ide from the p rey and also from their ene-

mies.

Exploring the Idea

Read Spiders. Focus on spid ers enemies an d spid ers defense mechan isms. Open

a discussion on wh at students wou ld do if they saw a spider on th eir bed, or

shoe, or simp ly crawling across the floor. Would they kill it or n ot? Say that spi-

ders h ave to be careful of all types of animals in cludin g human s. Why?

Ask the stud ents to name different animals and w rite animal names on a

poster board. Stud ents predict how different animals wou ld react to spiders.Would an elep han t be afraid of a spid er? Why? Would a spid er be afraid of an ele-

phant?

Read The Lady and the Spider. Discuss spiders defense mech anisms, inclu d-

ing camou flage.

At the Science Center, the students complete

1. Activity Spiders Can Defend Them selves

2. Activity Spider Enemies.

Spiders Have Natural Enemies

L E S S O N

5


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Unit K Spiders 35

At the Mathematics Center, the students

1. sort pictures of spiders and their enemies

2. sort pictures of animals that are enemies and th ose that are not.

3. com p lete Activity Spid er Paths

4 . p lay a game.

Game: two p layers per card; one die for each p air of studen ts; one p layingboard, as below.

Rules: one stud ent is the spider (uses the pictu re of a spider to move

across the playing board), one studen t is an enem y (uses picture card of a

spiders n atural en emy).

Object o f game: Spider throw s the die and m oves that nu mber of spaces.

The enem y throws the d ie next to try to catch th e spider. The players

begin m oving at Start, move to the right following the arrows on the p lay-

ing board, then u p an d on to the Fin ish Line. If spid er reaches the Finish

Line, he/ she is safe. If an enemy catch es up to spider by land ing on the

spiders square, then the spid er is dead. The stud ents take turns being the

spider an d th e enemy. They keep a tally mark to convert to a num ber to

see who wins.


1. Students name two or more natural enemies of a spider. Write enemies

nam es in studen t journal; illustrate how enem ies can harm the spid er.

Write wh y spiders shou ld n ot be killed, or

2. students draw and/ or write in their journals three ways that spiders defend

themselves.

At the Art Center Camou flage Diorama .

Stud ents draw a garden scene with different-colored p lants, flowers, leaves,

branches, and other thin gs they like. They place at least three different spid ers in

their webs in th e garden . They draw at least 2 spider enemies in th e garden.

They color the spiders to blend with the environment.

Getting t he Idea

1. List the dangers the spider encountered in The Lady and the Spider on a

chalk board. Discuss how each of the barriers was removed.2. Students discuss and share information on spiders found in Activity

Spid ers Can Defend Themselves.

3. Spiders use their webs to catch their prey and to defend themselves. How do

they use th eir webs to defend th emselves? Look at a web un der a m agnifying

glass. You can see that there are sticky drops of silk on some of the strings of

the web, but n ot all. The spid er knows h ow to travel on th e web so that she

doesnt get stuck; this way she can m ove very fast along the web an d escap e.

4. Discu ss weird disguises with the students.

Finish

Start

Jane||||Paul||


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A white spider does not bu ild a web to catch its p rey. She relies on her cam-

ouflage. The wh ite spider lives on a flower whose p etals are completely wh ite.

The spid ers color is also white. When a bee stops on the flow er petal to pick up

pollen to m ake honey, the bee cann ot see the spider th at looks like a flower petal.

The spid er springs, jum ps on the bee and catches it for food.

One spider is a deceiver. The spider pretends to be an insect. You kn ow th atspiders h ave eight legs, but an insect has on ly six legs. How man y more legs does

a spider h ave than an insect? Yes, two more. This deceiving spider raises her two

front legs and p retends th ey are anten nae, like the sp iders feelers. Since many

insects cannot see very well, to them the sp ider preten din g to be an insect has

only six legs. The insect is fooled, an d th e spid er eats it.

Organizing the Idea

1. At the Writing Center, the studen ts complete frame sentences:

A ________________ wou ld be afraid of a sp ide r, but a spid er w ould not be

afraid of a ________________ .

2. Students illustrate the list of ways that spiders defend themselves.

Applying the Idea

Students draw themselves as a spider encountering an enemy and draw w hat

they wou ld do to survive.

Ask the studen ts to observe the spid ers in their vivarium to see if spiders use

a sense of smell to detect their p rey or their enemies.

Ass essm ent and Closure

Oral Assessm ent1. Why did you sort the pictures in this manner?

2. Tell me why this animal is a spider enemy.

3. If your picture was in this collection, where would you pu t it?

4. Show and tell three ways a spider can protect and defend herself from an

enemy.

Performance AssessmentAssess:

1. Camouflage diorama.

2. Journals in w hich students draw spiders defending themselves.

3. Drawings of two spider enemies.

List of Act ivities for this Lesson

v Spid ers Can Defend Them selves

v Spider Enemies

v Spider Paths

36 Unit K Spiders


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ACTIVITYv Sp ider Can Defen d The m selvesObjectiveStud ents learn that spiders have man y ways to defend th emselves from their ene-

mies and nam e at least three different ways.

MaterialsPictures of spiders defendin g themselves using their draglines, using their poison

fangs, hidin g and escapin g in their webs, and looking frightenin g like a tarantula.

See Teacher Background Information.

Procedures1. Ask students what they would do if someone was going to attack them.

Make a list.

2. Students pantomime how they would defend themselves from attack.

3. Students describe how they think spiders would defend themselves.

4. Students dictate or write in their journals illustrated stories of how spiders

defend themselves.

Unit K Spiders 37


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ACTIVITYv Sp ider Ene m iesObjectiveStud ents list at least three spid er enemies.

MaterialsPictures (or small plastic mod els) of various an imals, some that are the sp iders

natural enemies and others that are not

Procedures1. Students examine the spiders in the vivarium to see if they can observe what

things a spid er fears.

2. Are spiders afraid of light? How would you find out?

3. Are spiders afraid of noise? Are they afraid of being touched, for example, by

a person w ith a straw or a twig?

4. What happens if you touch a spiders web very softly with a straw or a small

twig? Can the spider feel the vibrations of the w eb?

5. Students hypothesize about why spiders would or would not be afraid of

light. (Their enemies can see them.)

6. Students will draw or collect pictures of various animals, and then sort the

pictures into tw o categories: Spid er Enem ies and Not Sp ider Enemies.

38 Unit K Spiders


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ACTIVITYv Sp ider PathsObjectiveStudents make different paths between two points.

MaterialsGeoboards with rubber band s

ProceduresWorking in pairs, stud ents m ake as man y path s as they can for a spid er to go from

A to B (the prey).

Rule: You cant go back or retrace a step .

DiscussionHow many paths did you m ake?

Can there be more?

Draw a spid erweb and show d ifferent path s the spider cou ld take to get to the

prey.

Unit K Spiders 39

A

B

A

B


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BIG IDEA S We can find sp iders everywhere in the world becau se they have

adap ted them selves to living in d ifferent environm ents.

Whole Group Work

MaterialsVarious reference books on sp iders that d escribe and tell about th eir habitats

Color pictures of a variety of spiders

Pictures of different spiders habitats includ ing the trap-door, w ater, grass, pu rse-

web, tarantula and/or others

Paper, pencil, crayons

Encountering the IdeaAll living organisms n eed a place w here th ey can be safe, eat, sleep or rest,

develop from new organisms to maturity and can become adu lts and be able to

reprodu ce. Spiders are living organisms, so they too n eed all these th ings. We

know th at spiders live in every kind of environm ent there is on earth. They live

in th e desert; they live in cold w eather. They live in the jun gle, and th ey can live

un derw ater. One of the reasons that spiders can live in man y different places on

earth is because they have adap ted to their environmen ts. They have mad e

chan ges so they can live where th ey are. In th is lesson, we are going to discover

different ways spiders have adap ted to their environments.

Exploring the Idea

To begin ou r lesson, we are going to take a n ature w alk to discover and observe

different spid ers and see wh ere they live. The stud ents prep are for the walk by

taking jars to capture an y spid ers they see that are d ifferent from the on es they

have in th e class vivarium. They can also capture insects and other animals to

place in th e vivarium for spider food.

The stud ents will keep a record in th eir notebooks of the nu mber of different

spiders they find . The stud ents can draw p ictures of the spid ers they see. When

the stud ents return to the classroom, they complete a record of their observations.

Some thin gs they can look for are whether th e spider w as in the shad e or out in

the sun , and w heth er the spider w as moving or being very still. They can makeany other observations they w ould like.

40 Unit K Spiders

Spiders Live Everyw here

L E S S O N

6


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At the Science Center, students:1. observe and draw a p icture of the habitat of one of the spiders in the vivarium.

2. com p lete Activity Where Do Spider s Live?

3. read a book describing different spider habitats.

At the Mathematics Center, students comp lete Activity Spid er Number

Stories.

Getting t he Idea

We can find spiders anywhere on earth because they have adapted to the environ-

ment to make a habitat. For example, if the p lace where th ey live, their habitat,

is cold or has too much rain or light or enemies are around, some spid ers build

tents that they u se as retreats or hidin g places to find shelter from all of this.These spid ers roll up a leaf, wrap it and secu re it with silk threads. They go into

the sh elter until they feel safe enou gh to come ou t. This way spid ers can live

un der difficult conditions in d ifferent parts of the w orld. Some types of spiders

use the tents to jump down on u nsuspecting prey.

Some spiders build tents underwater. An aquatic spider builds her tent in the

shap e of a bell and fills it with air. Other spiders m ake complete envelopes ou t of

very tough silk for themselves and their eggs un til the spid erlings are capable of

taking care of themselves.

Spid ers do n ot live in captivity for a long time. Males die soon after they

mate, but if kept alone in captivity they may lin ger for several weeks, usually

refusing to eat. Females, on the oth er han d, live longer. In som e species the

female dies soon after laying eggs, but in others they may live for several years,laying eggs ann ually. Some large tarantulas are kn own to have lived in captivity

for as long as 15 years.

Organizing the Idea

Students will draw a picture of a spider they found at home or on th e nature walk

and write about (dictate) wh ere they found it (its habitat).

Unit K Spiders 41

I Found Some Spider Habitats

Color Where Web, or no Food caught in web Eggs, or none


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At the Language Center, the students make a chart:

In a whole group activity, the class suggests words to fill in blanks on

four types of spiders. Then they work in small group s to complete the frame

sentences.

I am a __________ (type of sp id er) __________ . You will find m e __________

(habita t) __________ . I __________ (do/ don t) __________ bu ild a web.

My web __________ (wh at it look s lik e or what its used for) __________ .

Assessment

Oral Assessm ent1. Do all spiders live in hot, dry places? Where else can you find spiders? Name

at least three different h abitats that you learned about in reading your book in

th e Science Center.2. Describe how a trap-door spider builds its web.

3. If you were a garden spider, where and how w ould you build your web? What

would you eat?

Performance Assessment1. Assess complet ion of Activity Where Do Spiders Live? and level of partici-

pation in an d comp letion of frame senten ces in the Writing Center.

2. Assess level of completion of a drawing of a spider found around the home

and identification of wh at type (garden, trap -door, etc.) of spid er it is and how

the student came to that conclusion.

List of Act ivities for this Lessonv Where Do Spid ers Live?

v Spider Number Stories

42 Unit K Spiders


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Objective

Stud ents say that spid ers can live anyw here and n ame at least three differenttypes of habitats.

MaterialsBooks that describe and tell about the h abitats of various spid ers

Pictures of d ifferent spiders habitats includ ing the trap-door, water, grass, pu rse-

web, tarantula, some shown below, and /or any others

Paper, pencil, crayons

Procedures1. Working in p airs or small groups, the studen ts select at least three different

spiders. They look in books to find ou t all they can about w here spid ers live

and how spiders comp lete their life cycle.

2. The students draw their spiders in their journals, labeling the type of spiderand w here it lives.

Unit K Spiders 43

ACTIVITYv Wh ere Do Sp iders Live?


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Objective

Students add and subtract using single-digit addends.

Mathematics Story Boards

MaterialsLamin ated p oster boards with stories; erasable color markers

In this part of the activity, give the story on th e poster. The ch ildren fin ish th e

story and d raw a p icture of the story.

Five insects stood by a flower.

Oops! Two of them fell into a spider web.

Ex: How m an y d id not get caught?Num ber sentence : 5 - 2 = 3 or 3 + 2 = 5

Four beautiful blue butterflies were on a

sunflower.

Two yellow butterflies came to join them .

Num ber sen tence : 6 - 2 = 4Finish th e story

__________________________________________ .

1. There were 11 eggs in the egg sac. Now there are only nine left in the sac.

How man y eggs hatch ed? Draw a pictu re of the egg sac.

2. One frog weighed 23 grams. Now it weighs 14 grams. How mu ch weight has

it lost?

3. There are some frogs and toads together in a pond. Make up and draw a num-ber story about the frogs and toads.

4. There are some yellow and some orange fish in an aquarium. Make up n umber

stories about the fish .

44 Unit K Spiders

ACTIVITYv Sp ider Num be r Stories


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Number Story Charts

MaterialsAt least three poster boards that have been lamin ated after the pictures and /or

nu mbers are put on them; erasable color markers

ProceduresSmall group activity.

The teacher places the laminated posters around the room wh ere the students

can w rite on them with the m arkers. Poster 1: Tell a story about these four butter-

flies. Poster 2: Draw a p icture about the n um ber seven.

Unit K Spiders 45

23

+ 27

7 s

Draw a picture

Poster 2

Tell a stor y:

Poster 1

Poster 3

6 s

Spider eggs

Tell a stor y:

3+ 3

6


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BIG IDEA S Know ing about spiders helps u s appreciate them. Information

helps u s make guesses.

Whole Group Work

MaterialsBook: Anansi the Spider by G. McDermott


Read Anansi the Spider to the stud ents. Discuss how spiders are remarkable. Ask

studen ts to name d ifferent thin gs that make sp iders remarkable. List key wordson a p oster strip for use at the Writing Center.

Lead the discussion so as to refer to the graphs studen ts constructed at the

beginn ing of the unit. Take a survey at this time. Put th e new data on a poster

board showing the way stud ents feel about spiders now th at they have completed

the un it. Use the information in th e Organizing the Idea ph ase of the lesson.

Exploring the Idea

At the Science Center, the stud ents pretend they are spiders catching flies and

participate in Activity Catch a Fly .


1. Students construct new sets of students liking or not liking spiders by refer-ring to the n ew graph constructed at the beginn ing of the lesson. Studen ts

list the stud ents in each set and coun t the mem bers of each set. They identify

the set that has more, or fewer, mem bers. The stud ents say which nu mber is

greater and wh y.

2 . Students comple te Activity Spider Probability!


1. Students write individual cinquains on spiders and glue or staple them on the

body of the pap er-plate spiders they constru cted earlier in the Art Center; dis-

play work on the w all.

2. Students design and make a minibook, in cartoon style, showing a sequence

of a spider bu ilding a web.

Getting the Idea

Students read the cinquains they wrote at the Writing Center. They discuss the

ideas in the cin quains am ong themselves, comparin g and contrasting their feel-

ings about sp iders.

46 Unit K Spiders

Now We Know Spiders!1

L E S S O N

7

1This lesson can serve as a unit assessment.


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Ask stud ents if they think that know ing about somethin g help s them develop

better opinions about that thin g. For example, when they first gave their opinions

about spiders, did they know th at spiders will not bite or attack unless they have

no escape? What else did they learn about spiders that influ enced th eir opinions?

Make a list of things the studen ts did n ot know about spid ers. What do they

know abou t spiders now ? Explain th at after learning new thin gs about spiderspeople may still not like them, but now they have reasons for liking them or n ot

liking them .

Organizing the Idea

Construct a third graph to see if studen ts have changed their opin ions on liking

or not liking spiders. Record their opin ions again. The responses shou ld inclu de

reasons for chan ging their opinion s based on facts about sp iders. Compare th e

feelings and op inions between th e first two graph s and the th ird graph .


1. Students identify special characteristics of spiders through comparing/con-trasting in Spider Characteristics sentences. They complete frame sentences

such as:

A ____________________ is ____________________

A ____________________ is ____________________

A ____________________ is not ____________________

2. Assess degree of completion of cinquain and the nu mber of ideas expressed

in it.

3. Assess degree of completion of minibook and th e correct sequencing of the

steps in buildin g a spiderw eb.


v Spider Probability!

Unit K Spiders 47


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48 Unit K Spiders

Objective

Given information about the n um ber of spinn erets a group of spiders h as, thestuden t makes a guess about the nu mber of spinn erets a given spid er from the

group has.

MaterialsMultiple cards of pictures of spid er spinn erets, as follows: nin e with six spin-

nerets; six with four spinn erets; and two with eight spin nerets.

Procedures1. The students count the number of spinnerets each spider has.

2. The studen ts place the pictures into three groups those spiders that have

four, six or eight spinnerets.

3. The studen ts place each of the pictures on a pictograph, as below.

4. They count the pictures in each group.5. Students identify the spinneret-group that has the most spiders in it. (The six

group , since it has nine spid ers in it.)

6. Students identify the spinneret-group that has the fewest spiders in it. (The

eight group, since it has tw o spiders in it.)

7. Students identify the spinneret-group that has more than the smallest group

but less than the largest group of spid ers in it. (The four group, since it h as six

spiders in it.)

8. The students take turns identifying the smallest and the largest groups using

the ap prop riate terminology; they say th at six is greater than tw o, but six is

less than n ine, and other similar comparisons.

ACTIVITYv Sp ide r Proba bility!

spinnerets 4 6 8


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After the studen ts have had an opp ortunity to classify the pic-

tures according to the n um ber of spinn erets the spiders have, dis-

cuss the following ideas with them in a w hole group activity.

DiscussionTell the stud ents that al l spiders h ave either four, six or eight sp in-

nerets. Today, a new sp ider h as come to join the group of spid ers

that students have placed in the pictograph. Show the students an

additional card, but do n ot let them count the n umber of spin-

nerets.

1. From the information the students have, which type of spider is

the n ew sp ider m ost likely to be the four, the six, or the

eight-spinn eret type?

2. Ask the students to make a guess. The students give their rea-

sons for the guess. (The six-spinn eret type is th e most likely

type to app ear; from the sam ple, there are more p ictures of the

six-spinn eret type than of the others.)

3. Ask students, who would guess that the new spider has fourspinnerets? (The new spider could be of the four-spinn eret type,

but that is not as likely to occur as the six-spinn eret type.

Maybe, the new spider would have four spinn erets.)

4. Ask students, who would guess that the new spider has eight

spinnerets? (The new spider could be of the eight-spinn eret

type, but that is not as likely to occur as the six or the four-

spinneret type. Maybe, the new spider would h ave eight spin-

nerets, but the probability is that the new sp ider wou ld not

have eight spinn erets.)

5. Would any of the students guess that the new spider has only

one sp inn eret? Why? (All spiders have at least four spin nerets.

It is not probable that the new spider has only one spinn eret.)6 . Does the new spider have at least four spinn erets? Would you

guess that this spider has at least four spinnerets? (Yes, every

spider w ill have four spin nerets; some spiders may have two

more, or six; others may h ave four more, or eight, but every spi-

der w ill have at least four.

Unit K Spiders 49


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References


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Unit K Spiders 51


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52 Unit K Spiders


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Unit K Spiders 53


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54 Unit K Spiders

Documents

Learn about Spiders_!