Reading Activity
The colorful click beetle is from the cover of Eric Carle’s The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. Eric’s books are very colorful and fun. This one about beetles would be a great introduction into a study about beetles. Learners of varied ages can compare the characteristics of real click beetles to 
the characteristics of the beetle in Eric’s book. Older learners would be expected to research the characteristics of real click beetles.
For more information about the characteristics of click beetles, see ELATERS.
Science Activity
The bodies of click beetles can bend, and then unbend in a way that causes them to suddenly spring into the air. This body motion produces a loud clicking sound. This sudden motion helps the beetle to escape from predators. If the beetle lands on its back, it just snaps its body and voila’ ! Up it flies. The video provides more information about this clicking sound.
Video Activity:
1. Watch the video and count (in your head) how many times the beetle clicks. Record the number.
2. Watch the video again, and this time make a mark on a piece of paper each time you see the beetle click. Compare this number with your count in step 1. Are they the same? Sometimes, when counting we get distracted and our counting is not accurate. But if we make a mark, generally the count is accurate.
FYI: Counting twice is not considered enough by scientists. So, they would repeat the activity many times, or have others do the activity and compare answers.
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