Future Flight 2013

Saturday (June 8, 2013):

Welcome to Earth! As alien beings, you no doubt are astounded by the diversity of life found on our beautiful Blue Planet. And, amongst all the life here, none are as diverse as the "bugs" that inhabit our lands.

Insects and arachnids are two major groups of arthropods (creatures with exoskeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed appendages). The main difference between the two are that insects have three body segments and six legs while arachnids have two body segments and eight legs.

In today's activities, you'll first help classify the different plastic bugs based on characteristics. Included is a basic dichotomous key to help you identify which type of arachnid it is. (For a more detailed dichotomous key with winged and non-winged insects, check out: http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-key.asp)

The second of today's activities is to create your own insect or arachnid with the "Insect Model Making Kit." Decide what type of insect you wish to make, referring to the different books, posters, samples, and reference sheets around the room. (For a virtual exercise, try out: http://www.mylearning.org/minibeasts/interactive/311/)

We hope you learned some nifty information about insects and arachnids, and that you also have begun to realize how important they are to our world's survival.

***Fun Facts***

There are over 800,000 documented types of insects and 40,000 types of arachnids!

If you added all the individual insects in the world, you would have to count up to 10 quadrillion. That is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 with more reproducing every minute!

Sunday (June 9, 2013)

Seeds come in many different shapes, colors, sizes, and characteristics. A seed contains a plant embryo ready to grow. By germinating the seeds in water, you are activating the seed's growing ability, from which a full plant will develop.

This mini-activity allows you to create a "Living Necklace" in which a germinating seed will quickly grow. It has everything a seed needs: moisture, warmth, air, and light.

Once the seed has started to sprout, transfer it to a planter.

Instructors:

Thomas Lee, Colleen Morimoto, Jan Tamamoto, Arlene Yoshimura, and Clyde Yoshimura