Incredible Insects

Brownie Requirements COMPLETE 4

1. All insects have three body parts.  Discover a game or use your imagination to make up one that will help you and others learn about insects.  EXAMPLE: Cootie board game or play "Ants on the Loose", choose a player to be IT. Divide the rest of the girls into teams of three. Each player is a body part of an "ant" who must join together with two other body parts (by holding on to other teammates at the waist) to make a whole insect. The player who is IT is minus two body parts and must chase the ants by attempting to attach herself to one of them. Start by telling the ants to move around. Remind the groups that they must stay attached as they move. Any ant that becomes unattached is a dead ant and must sit down. Then tell IT to begin her chase and try to hook onto the last person making up one of the ants. When she is successful, the first person on the tagged ant (the head) must unhook and become IT. Play continues with the new IT attempting to hook onto another ant and all dead ants rejoining the game. 

2.  Learn how to distinguish harmful from harmless insects. List reasons people like and dislike insects. What are some of the ways to control insects without using chemicals? All living creatures need four things to survive: food, water, shelter, and air. Pick an insect, learn all about it. Draw what you have learned.  Find out how insects use camouflage to protect themselves from predators. 

3. Make a special snack that was inspired by your insect friends. It could look like an insect - Beetle Salad, Ants on a Log, etc. OR find different types of honey and have a honey tasting party.

4. Create a piece of artwork that is inspired by insects. It can be a drawing, a poem, a collage, or a sculpture. 

5. Take part in a skit, play, song, or dance about insects. 

JUNIOR REQUIREMENTS (5 requirements)

1. Discover what I.P.M. (Integrated Pest Management) means.  Make a poster to promote I.P.M. and encourage others to do so.

2. Make something that will help you learn more about insects.  You can make bait, trap, sweep, item to search for insects.

3. Become an entomologist and discover how much you know about a specific insect. Select an insect and answer the following questions and share with your group: What is a habitat? What is its life cycle? How does it protect itself? What is its prey? What are its predators? Is it poisonous? What do they do in the winter? Is it harmful or helpful? What mouth parts does it have?

4. Create a piece of art using insects as your inspiration.

5. Take part in a skit, play, song, or dance about insects. 

 6. Play a game or participate in a scavenger hunt or bingo about insects that help you identify the insects.

7. Invite a bee keeper, entomology expert or someone from a nature center or county extension office to present a program on insects, or visit a nature center for a special program on insects.

OLDER GIRL REQUIREMENTS (6 requirements)

1. Discover what I.P.M. (Integrated Pest Management) means.  Make a poster to promote I.P.M. and encourage others to do so.  ( IPM means you'll look at environmental factors that affect the pest and its ability to thrive. )

2. Label an insect using a diagram. Label the body parts, mouth parts, etc,  Is the insect harmful or beneficial?  

3. Become an entomologist and discover how much you know about a specific insect. Select an insect and answer the following questions.  What is a habitat? What is its life cycle?  What is its prey? What are its predators? Is it poisonous? What do they do in the winter? Is it harmful or helpful?

4. Take part in a skit, play, song, or dance about insects. 

5. Participate in a scavenger hunt, game, or insect Bingo that helps you view a variety of insects.

 6. Create a piece of art using insects as your inspiration.

7. Use guide cards, field books, internet, or other books about insects to assist you in learning about 5 different insects. What do they look like? Their habitat? Any special characteristics?

8.  Learn about one insect that is prepared for meals. How do they prepare it? Would you like to try to eat an insect?

9. Learn more about careers in the field of insects.  Choose one career to learn more about. 

10. Adopt an insect. Choose an insect that is harmless to care for.  Ladybug, firefly, ant, etc.  Care for it for a couple days then release it.  Find out what it eats, part of the body, and it's habitat.