What is an Insect?

Whitney Hewitt

ED 205

Links

• The Basics• Characteristics of an Insect• Vocabulary • Different Kinds of Insects• Species• Size Doesn’t Matter• The Life of an Insect• Insects in Motion• Author• Resources• Concept Map

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• An insect is a very small animal with certain characteristics

• Most insects walk, but some can fly or jump

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The Basics

Insect Characteristics

• All Insects have an exoskeleton• They have three main body parts:

thorax, abdomen, and head• Insects also have a pair of

antennae on the top of their heads

• Insects have compound eyes, three pairs of legs and many have two pairs of wings, but not all

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Vocabulary

• Abdomen – the posterior (farthest to the rear) section of an insect’s body

• Antennae – little feelers on top of the insect’s head that help them receive messages, sound, and motion

• Thorax – the middle section of an insect’s body

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Vocabulary continued

• Invertebrate – animals that do not have a backbone. The exoskeleton is the reason insects do no need a backbone.

• Exoskeleton – the hard shell-like covering on the outside of the body

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Vocabulary continued

• Arthropods - any invertebrate animal with an exoskeleton and segmented body, and jointed appendages in pairs

• Arachnids – any various arthropod that has four pairs of segmented legs, and a body divided into two regions

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Different Kinds of Insects

• Ants, Grasshoppers, Butterflies, Beetles, and Spiders are a few of the insects you are probably familiar with

• There are over 700,000 different species of insects that are known, and still more are being discovered

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• These species are categorized into a large group called Arthropods

• Spiders and scorpions are placed into a group called Arachnids inside of the Arthropods

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Species

Size Doesn’t Matter

• Most insects are quite small, but this doesn’t mean they are at a disadvantage

• An ant is able to carry 20 or more times its own weight, and the bumblebee can carry up to 300 times its own weight!

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The Life of an Insect

• Insects still need food, water, and air to live just like we do

• The life span of an insect however, depending on the type, can range from one day to fifty years!

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Insects in Motion

Video

Video2

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Author

• Hello, my name is Whitney Hewitt. I am a student here at Grand Valley State University, and I am majoring in Special Education Psychology. I plan on pursuing a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology after I graduate. I am the youngest of four, and the only girl.

• My email

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Resources

• Information• http://www.reachoutmichigan.org• http://mcwdn.org• http://dictionary.com• Images • http://www.images.google.com• Videos• http://youtube.com

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Concept Map

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