Exploring Invertebrates

We may not usually notice that over 95% of all living things are actually invertebrates, things without backbones, and 90% of all animal species are actually insects.   Our 2nd and 3rd graders have been busily studying these fascinating creatures learning about how all insects have an exterior skeleton called an “exoskeleton”, six legs, and three body parts (head, thorax, and abdomen).

Of course, many other critters belong to this amazing group such as the colossal squid, which our third graders learned about on the 3rd grade page (The Deep).  As well as many other fascinating and beautiful creatures.

Classifying Vertebrates Project

For the past four weeks our 5th & 4th graders have been working on a massive Vertebrate Classification Project in which they have been working in groups through various centers learning about how vertebrates are grouped into Birds, Mammals, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish.