Insect Project Information

 Insect Project:

This year, we would like the students to research specific information about their assigned insect as we progress through our unit on insects at school.  As a result, most students will have most of the information they will need to complete their project by the end of this quarter.  Project assignments will be sent home on some  Wednesdays to be completed by the following Wednesday or Friday.

Due Nov. 6            Anatomy:   Size, colors, special characteristics, body parts

Due Nov. 12         Locomotion:  How does your insect move?

Due Nov. 25         Life Cycle: What are the stages of the insect’s life cycle?  Does it have complete or incomplete metamorphosis?

Due Dec 9              Habitat and Food: Where does it live?  What types of land?  Which countries or states?  What does it eat?

Due Dec 16           Predators:  What eats this insect?  What does the insect do to escape predators.  Fun Facts: Write at least two interesting facts about your insect.

Students should research their insect using internet resources and library resources.  You should plan on visiting the public library for resources in the next few weeks.  If you have difficulty finding information about your insect, please contact us.  We have some resources available for student use.  We share our books with all second grade classes, so students will only have access to these resources for short time periods. 
 

Students should choose ONE of the following four options for the final visual aid for this project:

·            Create a poster:  Poster should include most of the facts learned about the insect for all topics (as bullet points or captions) and one drawing.

·            Create a book about your insect:  Your book should have a title page, a table of contents, page numbers, and illustrations.  The book should include many of the facts you have learned about your insect.

·            Create a 3-D model or diorama:  You should add many details to the drawing/model and use realistic colors.  To go along with the model, you should create note cards with facts from each topic.   The facts can be written as poetry, bullet points, or as paragraphs.

·            Complete a final written report with a drawing:  The written report should be typed or written neatly.  Students should write one sentence for each topic.  This paragraph should be written in the student’s own words and be edited for capitalization and punctuation.  The report should include a minimum of one detailed drawing of the insect.  Students may choose to write as if they were the insect (for example, “After watching my sister’s dance, I leave my hive in search of nectar.”), or students may also write about the insect in third person (for example, “After getting directions from watching another bee’s dance, the honeybee leaves the hive to find nectar.”)  

*All projects should include a list of references that were used.

Students will orally present their project on January 7- 8.  Their presentations should be about 5 minutes long.  It could consist of, but is not limited to, the reading of the report and an explanation of the visual aid.  Before the project is brought to school, please have your child practice sharing the information he or she has learned with friends and family.  Students should be expert entomologists, ready to teach others.

The rubric that we will use to assess each student’s project, presentation, and audience participation is attached.

Please note, these are student projects and the expectation is that the visual aid/narrative will reflect student work and the content will reflect parent support and guidance.  If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher via email.

Thank you,

The Second Grade Teaching Team

Grading Rubric:  Insect Project

	Below Expectations		Meets Expectations		Exceeds Expectations	Comments
Written Work
Depth of Research / Content	1		2		3
Grammar Usage	1		2		3
Neatness	1		2		3
Resources (Book Used) Listed	1		2		3
Visual Aid
Creativity	1		2		3
Effort	1		2		3
Oral Presentation
Preparation	1		2		3
Presentation	1		2		3
Audience Participation
Listens to Other Presenters	1		2		3
Records Interesting Facts	1		2		3
Asks Thoughtful Questions	1		2		3

Comments:___________________________________________________________________

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