Talkin' About Tarantulas

Created by Karen Rakowitz

krakowit@amphi.com

Project Web Page Coordinator pgreenle

This lesson plan was developed as part of the Amphitheater School District Technology Literacy Challenge Fund grant. The purpose of the program is to provide teachers with a way of learning about technology and in turn provide students with the best teaching practices and curriculum through technology. This lesson plan was developed as part of the program's TLCF Science Guides, which are a series of web-based lessons designed by teachers to provide students with on-line educational opportunities in the area of science.

Disclaimer: While every precaution was taken to insure the integrity of the sites included in this lesson plan, with the dynamic nature of the World Wide Web sites can constantly change. Teachers are advised to view the sites before conducting a lesson with their students.

Tarantulas! Our kids love nothing more than the scary and the gory. Here are sites and activities focusing on tarantulas which coordinates with our insect units.

Lesson Objectives

• Students will find out about the anatomy of the tarantula
• Students will fill in a diagram of a tarantula showing the exterior parts
• Students will identify the life cycle and species of tarantulas (same site as first objective)
• Students will record facts about a tribe of Indians in Venezuela who hunt tarantulas for food
• Students will watch a quicktime movie of a tarantula
• Students will record facts about what is necessary to have a tarantula as a pet

Arizona State Science Standards

Standard 4: Life Science

• Describe and explain cause-and-effect relationships in living systems
• Trace the life cycles of various organisms
• Identify the basic structures and functions of plants and animals

Materials

• Computer Lab
• pencil, crayons, and diagram of tarantula Tarantula Diagram
• Notepad or Microsoft Word to record notes
• Quicktime and Internet for each computer

Student Activity One Talkin' About Tarantulas

Students will find out about the anatomy of the tarantula Tarantula Anatomy using the diagram Tarantula Diagram to fill in the parts and color the tarantula. Students will read and explore the life cycle and species of tarantulas.

1. URL Address is: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tarantulas/
2. This site is in the National Geographic Archives now. It will first show a tarantula coming out of its burrow to eat an insect. You then need to click on the burrow to bring up the tarantula. At this site the children can click on the tarantula and the anatomy will appear. Here the children can copy the parts of the tarantula onto the diagram and then color.

Student Activity Two Huntin' 'n' Crunchin' Tarantulas

Students will read about a tribe of Indians in Venezuela who hunt tarantulas for food Venezuelan Indians and Tarantulas

1. The URL Address is: http://www.anglia.tv.co.uk/survival/surv2.html
2. This is a wonderful story written by Cathy Mason and photographed by Nick Gordon from Survival Anglia, Ltd. This site is a story about Venezuelan Indians who hunt and eat tarantulas. You can order a copy of the brochure containing this story by sending a SASE to Community Education Officer, Anglia Television, Anglia House, Norwich, England NR1 3JG.

Student Activity Three My Creepy Crawly Pet

Students will watch a small quicktime movie of a tarantula Watch Out! and then read about having a tarantula as a pet I Make A Good Pet

1. The URL for the quicktime movie is: http://www.desertusa.com/july96/du_tranmov.html
2. The URL for the pet site is: http://www.ex.ac.uk/bugclub/
3. The quicktime movie is very short and shows a tarantula walking. At the Bug Club site the children must click on "bug pets" and then at that site they need to scroll down and click on "tarantula". This will bring up the site about having a tarantula for a pet. The bug club site itself is a membership site for a fee but you can read about the pets for free.

Performance Standards

Evaluation for performance:

• Tarantula Diagram
• Notes written in Notepad or Microsoft Word and printed


Additional Sites

1. http://inetc.net/Tarantulas/ Information on Tarantulas
2. http://checkware. simplenet.com/tools/vote0.hts Take a vote about which tarantula you like


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