Spiders

Here's a fun and easy way to spin some assessment into your spider studies. For your first activity, ask each child to
illustrate a spider on drawing paper and then flip her paper over and write (or dictate for you to write) a sentence that
describes her feelings about spiders/Also invite her to share any spider facts that she knows. Collect and store the
papers. Repeat the activity at the conclusion of your spider unit. When each youngster compares her two projects, she'll
surely see that she's become a skillful spinner of spider information. And there's a decent chance that her feelings about
spiders will have changed as well!

Insect or Arachnid?
Why isn't a spider an insect? After this hands-on activity, students will know the answer! Pair students and give each
twosome a blank sheet of paper, a pencil, a plastic ant (or another plastic insect), and a plastic spider. Be sure the
critters are anatomically correct. To complete the activity, one partner divides the paper in half and labels the resulting
columns "Ant" and "Spider." Then the twosome studies each critter and lists its features on the paper. Invite students to
name the features they've noted and then assist them in identifying the similarities and differences between the critters.
Finally inform students that you wish to collect the insects first, then the arachnids. If necessary, alert students that an
insect has three body parts and six legs. Students will quickly surmise (and remember!) that a spider is not an insect.
They'll also conclude that an arachnid has two body parts and eight legs.

Eight-Legged Wonders
Dangle this project in front of students and they'll learn the
different parts of a spider's body! Give each child a white con-
struction paper copy of page 10. Each child colors up to eight eyes
on the cephalothorax of the unprogrammed pattern, colors both
patterns, and cuts them out. (Remind students that spiders come in
a variety of colors.) Next he folds a 41/2" x 12" rectangle of colorful
construction paper in half and cuts out four pairs of spider legs. He
glues the leg cutouts to the back of one pattern, making sure
they're attached to the cephalothorax. He also glues or tapes one
end of a foot-long length of yarn to the back of one pattern near the
spinnerets. Last, he glues the two patterns together, keeping the
colored surfaces to the outside. Refer to the information at the
bottom of page 5 to lead a discussion about the spider body parts.
Then use tape to suspend each child's project from his desk.

Ant Spider

• 6 legs • 8 legs
• 3 body parts • 2 body parts
• Legs on front part
• Leg attached to
• Really ugly
middle • Legs are longer
• Sort of ugly