Length of sessions: Two 30 minute sessions Two 45 minute sessions Three 60 minute sessions Introduction Activity (30 minute session) Read one or more of the following books either as a class or in separate groups: The Blue Ribbon Puppy by Cricket Johnson; The Pet Show by Ezra Jack Keats; Koala Lou by Mem Fox; The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle. (Note: Koala Lou presents perseverance, climbing ability. Blue Ribbon Puppy has puppies with some unique attribute. What are they? Pet Show has many different animals and people who are recognized for their unique attribute.) Have the students discuss the different physical or unique attributes of the characters from the stories. If the students read in groups, have each group discuss the above and share what they discovered with the class. Have the students list the attributes on butcher paper. Activity 1(60 minute session) Introduce the grasshopper, and through discussion, establish the obvious attributes of the grasshopper. (Include: jumping legs, 'armored' exoskeleton, shape of the body, etc.) Give the students drawing paper and have them draw the grasshopper with care for details. Discuss what attributes make a good jumper, a fast walker/runner, a strong flier, or swimmer. Discuss different attributes of people. (Include those above as well as a good singer, perseverance, good reader, sense of humor, etc.) Have the students chart the grasshopper and human attributes on butcher paper and compare with the attributes from the stories. Activity 2(60 minute session) Divide students into teams. Ask each team to choose students to be a handler, a recorder, and a marker. Explain their roles using Student Task descriptions on the Activity Sheet. Have each team select a grasshopper for the jumping experiment. Ask the handler and recorder to work together to measure the length of the grasshopper. (Use the grid on the Grasshopper Jumps Activity Sheet to assist in measuring). Grasshopper Jumping: Use an "x" marked on a flat surface for the grasshopper starting point. The handler places the grasshopper on the starting point "x." When the grasshopper hops, the student marker places a pebble or stick to mark the spot where it landed and writes a "1" with chalk next to the stone on the ground. When it hops again, the student marker marks the place with a stone and the number 2. Repeat procedure for the third jump. (Grasshoppers may need to be prodded. If the outside temperature is cold, do the activity inside the classroom.) The recorder needs to assist the marker to make sure no hop marks are missed (see diagram on Jumping Experiment activity sheet). The handler needs to be ready to capture the grasshopper at the end. After the grasshopper is contained, the recorder measures the distance between each marker going from X to 1, 1 to 2, and 2 to 3. Record the results on the record sheet. Have the students average the three jumps (add and divide by three) to arrive at one number to share. The teams report to the class, and the teacher records the results on butcher paper. Activity 3(60 minute session) Have the students participate in the same teams. Have the students measure how tall they are. Student Jumping: Using a crouched take-off like a grasshopper stance, have students jump from Starting Point X. The students measure their jump from Point X to their landing (closest body part to Point X is measured). Record the distances. (Rotate jobs in the activity so all students can participate). Have the students average the three jumps. (Note: Some students may be sensitive about their height, weight, agility and athletic capabilities. Please use discretion and monitor competitive contests which may develop between individuals and teams.) Activity 4(45 minute session) Work with the students to graph both the human and grasshopper jump distances on their record sheets. Use the averages from each team to create a class graph. (Use the grasshopper pictures on the Jumping Experiment Activity sheet if needed. These can be colored and individualized by the teams.) Using the activity sheet, compare the length of the grasshopper to the average length of its jump and the height of the student with his/her average jump length. (Optional: Make the length and height comparison with the longest jump.) How many times its body length can a grasshopper jump? While the students use the activity sheet, demonstrate on the board using long division how to calculate the relationship between the distance jumped and body length (divide the length by the height). Chart the results using the grasshopper graphic. Activity 5(30 minute session) Review the three graphs. Ask the students how far they think they could jump if they looked like a grasshopper? Have each team make a prediction. Using data from the experiment and the height of a student, calculate the distance. Measure the distance in the hall or outside to demonstrate how far this large grasshopper could jump. Discuss what the students have learned and any further questions they have about which physical attributes and abilities result in a greater distance jumped. Discuss how human and insect bodies move in the same ways and different ways, and what parts of our bodies help us move. Closure Activity(45 minute session) In teams, have the students make awards for themselves for participating in the activities. Display with the graphs.

Center for Insect Science Education Outreach The University of Arizona Contact:CISEO http://insected.arizona.edu All contents copyright © 1997. All rights reserved.