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Current page navigation: Creepy crawlies | The creepy and the crawly bits | The weta | Te weta | Bug fun | Escher's insects' art | What is this bug?

Creepy crawlies

Have you ever been scared or fascinated by a spider, stick insect, worm or even a ladybird? Maybe they have scared you by crawling over your hand, flying into your hair; or fascinated you by spinning a web or even changing colour.

1. Open creepy crawlies and read some interesting creepy crawly facts.
2. Open the insect chart document (Word 46KB) and fill in what you know about these creepy crawlies. Click on the creepy crawlies pictures if you are not too sure.

Email your creepy crawly chart to ed@tki.org.nz.

or

1. Open ' What are insects?'
2. Read about the special features of an insect.
3. Are worms, spiders and snails insects?
4. Print off the beetle diagram and colour in the different body parts.

The creepy and the crawly bits

What is it about insects that make us squirm? Is it their legs, body shape, colour, size, feelers, eyes, claws, horns or pinchers? Let us have some fun and design your own creepy bug. Here are some pictures to help you.

1. Open 'What's in your backyard?' and look at the many creepy crawly pictures.
2. Open auto shapes in word, kidpix, or paint and create a new bug.
3. To enhance your drawing try:
   • changing the thickness of your lines
   • using different shades of the same colour to create a three dimensional (3D) effect
   • using a mixture of little and big sizes of the same shape
   • copying and pasting a shape to make two identical shapes.
4. Give your insect a name and label the important body parts.
5. Tell us about its habitat: where it lives, what it eats, who are its enemies, and how it protects itself.

Email your creepy crawly to ed@tki.org.nz.

The weta

Did you know that the weta is a special native to New Zealand and is very old even outliving the dinosaurs! Open this 'Unique New Zealand' website and read how the ancestors of the giant weta, snails, and earthworms became marooned on the islands of New Zealand.

Wiki has read some great facts about the weta. She has taken these facts and she has had fun changing some of the words.

1. Open the wickED weta changes document (Word 30KB)
2. Find the words that Wiki has changed.
3. How many mistakes did you find?

Email your wickED weta changes to ed@tki.org.nz.

or

Wiki thinks she can tell the differences between the tree weta, giant weta, cave weta and the tusked weta. Can you?

1. Here are three websites that will give you loads of information on the New Zealand weta:
   • different types of wetas
   • gigantism in insects
   • Suzy's fact sheet.
2. Open the weta chart document (Word 74KB) to see if you can tell the differences between them.

Email your weta answers to ed@tki.org.nz.

Te weta

I mōhio rānei koe, he ngāngara tino motuhake te weta i roto i Aotearoa nei, ā, he tino tawhito, e ora ana i te wā o ngā mokoweri, ā, e ora tonu ana! Huakinatia tēnei paetukutuku ahurei o Aotearoa ka pānui i ngā kōrero mō ngā tipuna a te Giant Weta, ngā ngata, ngā noke, i whakarerea mai ki ngā motu o Aotearoa.

Kua panuitia e Wiki ētahi meka matua tino pai e pā ana ki te weta. Kua tikina ngā meka nei ka panonitia e ia ētahi o ngā kupu o roto.

1. Huakina te pepa panoni i te weta o wickED (Word 30KB).
2. Rapua ngā kupu i panonitia e Wiki.
3. E hia ngā hē i kite koe?

Īmeratia ō mahi mō te weta ki a ed@tki.org.nz.

Hei tā Wiki, ka taea e ia te kite i ngā tū momo rerekētanga o te weta noho rākau, te weta nunui, te weta noho ana, me te weta mau niho rei. Ka taea e koe?

1. Anei ngā paetukutuku e toru, e mau nei ngā pārongo katoa e pā ana ki te weta o Aotearoa:
   • ngā momo weta
   • gigantism in insects
   • te ripanga meka matua a Suzy.
2. Huakina te pepa mahere weta (Word 74KB) ki te tiro mēnā ka taea e koe te kite i ngā rerekētanga.

Īmeratia ō whakautu mō ngā weta ki a ed@tki.org.nz.

Bug fun

Time to have some fun with these bug games.

• Game one: Creepy Crawlies
• Game two: Insect puzzle
• Game three: Wild wordsearch
• Game four: Fact file. Find and click on the weta then read all about it.

Escher's insects' art

M.C Escher was a famous artist who enjoyed making geometric patterns in his artwork. In maths we call them tessellations. Escher thought that you could recognise a bug more easily when you were looking down on it ( from a bird's eye view) so he often drew them this way.

1. Open Escher's examples (Word 191KB) and name the insects that he has drawn to make these tessellation patterns.
   Hint: look in the shaded area.
2. Copy and paste one of these patterns into a new Word document, then enlarge it, print it off, and colour it.
3. Design a bug tessellation on the computer.

or

Follow these instructions to draw your own tessellation pattern.

Email your tessellation pattern to ed@tki.org.nz.

What is this bug?

By now you will know that bugs come in many shapes, sizes and colours. Some have no legs while others have six or more, and some eat plants (herbivore) or possibly other bugs (predator)!

Here are a few websites that you may like to visit to brush up your bug knowledge.

1. A praying mantis is interesting to observe and easy to care for, and it is fascinating to watch when it is eating.
2. Bumble bees do not lose their sting and die if they use it, as a honey bee will. The bumble bee will happily pollinate your flowers, fruit, and vegetables. This is a bumble bee picture to print and colour.
3. Centipede and the millipede. The centipede is a fast moving predator, and the millipede is a slow moving herbivore. The millipede is the one with the most legs.
4. Earwigs do not really crawl into people's ears, but they do like to hide under stones, behind tree bark and in loose soil.
5. Slaters also known as woodlice may look like insects, but in fact they are crustaceans and are related to crabs and lobsters.
6. Open Buggy Facts document (Word 27KB), select a bug that you are interested in and fill it in.

Email your buggy facts to ed@tki.org.nz.