Wow! Look at that!
While teachers may not always think first of insects as a topic of study, many kids surely would. And, for
studying science, insects are a great resource. They are readily available, usually small, easy to care for, and
serve as a fascinating subject that inspires lots of questions.
Insects offer an opportunity to examine life cycles that are often short enough to keep track of in school.
Within those cycles, students can see metamorphosis. While the stages of metamorphosis are well docu-
mented and relatively predictable, the signals that bring about metamorphosis are not yet completely under-
stood by entomologists. So in studying metamorphosis, students are observing processes that scientists are
still investigating.
Insect studies can be approached from many angles: How do they communicate? How did the thou-
sands of species develop? Insects are vastly older than humans, their ranges are huge and their popula-
tion numbers at any one time are stunning. The biomass of ants alone,
for instance, comprises 10% of the total biomass of the planet! Many
insects’ tolerance for adverse conditions far surpasses that of humans’,
which leads some to speculate that invertebrates will remain long after
humans have become extinct.
Perhaps your students have visited a science museum that has a colony
of leaf-cutter ants traveling in a steady line back to their composting site,
each carrying a small piece of leaf, or bees at work in a visible hive. Or,
with the right equipment, the hive could be right at your school.
Studying insects can also spur lively discussions in your school com-
munity about evolution and adaptation; the ethics of collecting, raising,
and keeping organisms in captivity for the purposes of research and
study; and death as a part of the cycle of life.
This issue of Connect provides several glimpses of ways to study
insects, from simulation and modeling to direct observation and
research. Meet some of the six-legged, winged characters that are wait-
ing to intrigue you and your students, as together you can watch, listen,
question, learn, and exclaim, “Wow! Look at that!”
Connect
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published by S y N e R g y L e A R N I N g I N T e R NAT I O NA L
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Connect is published online five times per year (bi-monthly through the school year) and offers a wide range of practical, teacher-written  
articles. Each issue is thematic and supports hands-on learning, problem solving, and multidisciplinary approaches.   
Connect (ISSN: 1041-682X) is published five times per year, September, November, January, March, and May, by
Editor:  
Synergy Learning International, Inc., PO Box 60, Brattleboro, VT 05302. Tel. 800-769-6199, Fax 802-254-5233,
Heather Taylor
e-mail connect@synergylearning.org.
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For more articles and focus topics, see the Connect archive on our Web site: http://www.synergylearning.org.
Photo Credits: Cover, pp. 15–19, Sue Kidder; inside cover, p. 21, back cover (children), Heather Taylor; pp. 1–4, Phil Kahler; p. 7, Cindy Blobaum;
pp. 8–11, Robert and Janice Matthews; pp. 12, 13, Laurie Nakauchi-Hawn; back cover, Jim Nutting.
Illustration Credits: Page 6, Cindy Blobaum; p. 9, student work courtesy of Robert and Janice Matthews; p. 14, student work courtesy of Laurie
Nakauchi-Hawn.
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