Insect Model

Are All Bugs Insects?

Many people refer to any tiny creepy crawler as bugs (including spiders). Not to get too technical, but there is a special kind of insect that is a bug. And not all creepy crawlers are insects. In fact, a spider is not an insect.

So what is an insect?

You can use the 3 + 3 rule for identifying insects. This means they have three body parts and three pairs of legs.

The three body parts are:

Head
Thorax
Abdomen

The three pairs of legs are connected to the thorax.

JUST FOR FUN

Make a model of an insect.

If you have a small group, use index cards. For large groups, fold a sheet of card stock in half twice. When it is unfolded, you have four equal size sections. Print or type the word "Insect" on the card.
Then draw three circles in a vertical line, decreasing in size from top to bottom. The circles represent the three body parts.
Use pipe cleaners for the six legs. These are to be glued to the second circle (thorax).
Cut wings from construction paper and glue these to the second circle. Note: Not all insects have wings. Some have one pair of wings and some have two pairs of wings. Insect legs and wings are all attached to its thorax (second body part).
Use different sizes of colored puff balls to represent the three body parts. Glue these to the circles. FYI: Cotton balls do not work well. The cotton balls pull apart.
Insects that have wings have them attached to the middle (thorax) body part.