Water molecules attract each other. This is why a moist sponge will absorb more water than will a dry sponge. The feet of flies are moist and when they touch a surface, such as a ceiling, some of this moisture sticks to the surface. Now the moisture on the ceiling attracts the moisture on the […]
Types of Green Roofs
There are two basic types of living green roofs, intensive and extensive. The primary difference between these types is soil depth. Intensive green roofs or more park-like and require a soil depth from 6 to 24 inches. This type of roof has a weight load of 80 to 150 pounds. per square foot. An intensive […]
Insects: Molting
Insects, including grasshoppers, have an outer covering on their bodies called an exoskeleton. This covering protects their soft bodies, gives it support, and shape. A newly formed grasshopper eats and its body grows larger. But the exoskeleton never changes size. When the exoskeleton gets too tight, it splits and the grasshopper wiggles out. The grasshopper […]
Bugs
Bug is a term that is often used to indicate any creepy crawler, including spiders and scorpions. With this broad definition of a bug, insects might be considered a creepy crawler and thus be called a bug. But not all bugs are insects. You can distinguish insects from other bugs using the “3 by 3 […]
Janice’s Magic Viewer
Reading is something that many kids have problems with. But it is more than just recognizing the words, they have problems with reading comprehension. Some studies associate the ability to form mental pictures to reading comprehension. In other words, kids need to imagine what is happening instead of always seeing a picture. “Clip art licensed from […]
Crickets vs. Spiders
Bug is a term that is often used to indicate any creepy crawler. Some people call both spiders and crickets bugs. While both might be “creepy crawlers” they are very different. One difference between crickets and spiders are their number of legs. The cricket in the diagram to the right has six legs. There are […]
ButterflyWing Color
You can use a butterfly wing craft to teach camouflage. First prepare a butterfly wing for each child. This can be done by folding one-fourth of a sheet of green construction paper in half. Draw the wing pattern shown, and then cut it out. Cut a large leaf from the remaining section of the green […]
The World’s Smallest Butterfly
How Big is the World’s Smallest Butterfly? First, let me name this tiny insect. The Western Pygmy Blue is the smallest butterfly. Now about the Western Pygmy Blue’s size. When spread out, its wingspan is about 15mm to 19mm. Just how big is this? Discover for Yourself Use a metric ruler to draw two lines, one […]
A Blutterfly’s Life Cycle
Metamorphosis is a term used to indicate something changing, such as the life cycle of a butterfly. The stages of this cycle are: 1. Eggs are laid on a plant leaf. Each egg develops into a caterpillar. 2. Caterpillars look much like tiny thin worms at first. They eat on the leaves of the plant […]
Sniffers
Dogs have a better sense of smell than you do. This is because there is more surface area inside their noses. So what does that mean? The surface inside a human or animal nose has bristles covered with a sticky mucus (snot). Odor molecules dissolve in this slimy stuff and as a result a message […]