Ladybugs....

So my son loves bugs....So I ordered him a ladybug lodge...What is this you ask...?

  It is a enclosure where ladybug larvae arrive at your home and you put them inside this home, and they turn into pupas and then adults...The life cycle of a ladybug takes about 4 weeks. A ladybug passes through three stages before it looks like the ladybug we all know and love. Egg, larva,pupa,adult. Ladybugs eat bugs called aphids or mites. Just 20 years ago, the nine-spotted ladybug was common. Now, it and other native species are rare. We got them from www.insectlore.com

My son will be learning how many legs ladybugs have...If gardners like ladybugs... What they eat... What shape there eggs are... How many body parts they have (3) and what an Elytron is (el-eh-tron) I can tell you the elytron  is what protects the ladybugs wings (the elytron is what you see, the red with spots, they are not the wings, the wings are thin and underneath.

We will begin reading books about ladybugs

 Did you know that ladybugs are really called ladybird beetles? This is just one fo the many things he will learn in our upcoming unit on ladybugs. We will be having a beautiful bug ball at the end of the unit... we will order ladybugs made out of flannell in order from most to least.

 We will talk about clocks from the book the grouchy ladybug and feelings as the ladybug in the book is grouchy.

Middle age farmers were always grateful when a grou0 of colorful little beetles came along, because they knew spotted beetles would eat the pests and save the crops.

also at this time  people worshipped Jesus, and they were grateful to him and his mother, Mary, whom they called Our lady. the people decided to name the little beetles in honor of Mary, and ever since they have been known as ladybugs.

I will do a bit of Symmetry with him to show how each spot should match the other spots in symmetry.

We will feed our ladybugs in captive raisins and let them go in a few weeks, it's a great learning experience....