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Parts of an insect
Use this presentation to describe and compare the structure of a variety of small animals. This activity focuses on insects and introduces learners to their main body parts and recognising common invertebrates that you might find on your site.
Key learning points include that insects are a type of invertebrate and understanding the main insect body parts.
©Trustees of the Natural History Museum. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Originally produced with support from the Evolution Education Trust.
Preparation
What you need
- parts of an insect worksheet
- pencils
- colour pencils (optional)
Location
Indoors
Step by step
- Look at images of common insects. Which ones do learners recognise? What features do the insects have in common?
- Summarise the similarities discussed with learners. Highlight the key parts of an insect: they have 6 legs and 3 main body parts
- Look at images of a few different animals . Encourage learners to use the animals’ features to identify which are insects and which are not.
- Use the worksheets to label the parts of a ladybird. Feel free to substitute the honeybee with the other insects from the presentation if you like.
- Learners can research the different types of ladybirds that live in the UK and colour in the picture on their worksheet to match their favourite one. They can also use the UK Ladybirds ID chart to help.
Curriculum links
Animals, including humans
- identify and name a variety of common animals
- describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals
Working scientifically
- identifying and classifying
What to try next
Habitat Heroes
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