Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Length of sessions:

Three 20 minute sessions
Three 30 minute sessions

Introduction Activity (30 minute session)
Play the game "Simon Says" using the directions to touch: head, shoulders, chest, neck, elbow, etc. (body parts). Keep the game at a lively pace and observe students to see if they touch correct body parts. Following the game, ask one student to volunteer to lie down on a large piece of butcher paper or craft paper. Teacher traces his/her outline. Ask the students to add eyes, other features and to name the body parts they know. Label the drawing as the children give responses.

Activity 1 (30 minute session)
Read and discuss A Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle. Explain to the students that this is the day that they will observe an insect and learn about its body parts. Show the students the crickets in the habitat container, explain where they came from (pet store, captured outdoors), and that the crickets will be kept in their habitat container except when they are being observed. Show the students one cricket in a small plastic tumbler (with a lid with holes) and demonstrate techniques for observation, and use of the hand lens. (Start with the lens at your eye and then slowly move it towards the insect.) Give each pair of students one cricket and two hand lenses. As the students observe their crickets, ask them questions to help them to focus: "How does the cricket move? How many legs can you see? Does a cricket have eyes? Can you see wings on the cricket? Does the cricket have body sections like a human's head, chest and stomach? etc." Following the observation time, collect the crickets and return them to the habitat container. (The students should be cautioned not to remove the lid.)

Activity 2 (30 minute session)
Show the large line drawing of the cricket to the students. Ask the students to recall their observations of the cricket and help to label the drawing. As children mention body parts, label them both with their words and the anatomically correct name(Cricket Diagram (labelled)). Explain that: "This is the term entomologists use. Entomologists are scientists who study insects." For example: chest and thorax, stomach and abdomen, eyes and compound eyes. If the students suggest the word "antennae," label it. If not, this would be a good time to explain the function of the antennae. Continue to label the cricket using the guide provided with the lesson. Give the crickets to the students for a second observation period. If some of the crickets have died, they can be put in an "Observa-scope," or "Bugbox" for closer observation. (Dead crickets may not be pleasant to handle or look at, use discretion). The students may want to handle the dead crickets to observe them more closely. Provide copies of the cricket drawings to be taken home and shared with the parents.

Activity 3 (20 minute session)
Review the Cricket Diagram (labelled) with the children. Ask if there are other parts they would like labeled. Then tell students they will pretend to be a cricket, and the "Simon Says" game will be played using cricket body parts. Simon Says: "Touch your thorax," etc. (Keep the game moving rapidly.)

Activity 4 (20 minute session)
Show the students the two large labeled drawings (insect and child) and have them compare the human body and the insect body. What is similar and what is different. Teacher records on butcher paper. Discuss with the students the importance of their bodies, and all of the things they can do. Explain that: "Insects, like the crickets we have been observing, have special bodies that help them to do all the things they have to do."

Closure Activity (20 minute session)
Give the students the crickets for a final observation session. As a class, do a shared writing activity about what the students learned about themselves and crickets. Write the story on a long piece of butcher paper and ask the students to draw crickets and other experiences from the lesson. Display in the hall or classroom. Conclude the activity with the song"Cricket Body Song" or "Head, Thorax, Abdomen, Six Legs".

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