Lauren Jennings

Lea Martin

GS 4401

Children’s Literature Assignment

Cricket Lesson

Fiction Book

The Very Quiet Cricket by: Eric Carle

  • The Very Quiet Cricket is about a tiny cricket that is born and meets a big cricket who chirps his welcome. The little cricket wanted to answer, but wasn’t able to make a sound. As the cricket continued on his journey he met other insects and wasn’t able to make a sound to answer the “Good morning” they were greeting him with. Finally the cricket matures and meets a female cricket and the little cricket is able to rub his wings together and this time chirp the most beautiful sound that she had ever heard

Non-Fiction Books

Chirping Crickets by: Melvin Berger

  • Chirping Crickets is a very informative book that teaches about crickets and how they are able to chirp and that only male crickets can chirp. The book includes information about different types of crickets and where they are found. The book includes how to tell the temperature by counting a cricket’s chirps. The book also includes an activity using thick paper and a nail file to make a sound like a male cricket. The book has some great illustrations to help children really understand and identify with the text.

Crickets and Grasshoppers by: Elaine Pascoe

  • This book is broken down into three parts which concentrate on how crickets are musical instruments, how to keep or collect crickets, and information about investigating crickets and grasshoppers. The book is full of photographs that vividly display different types of crickets and shows important details on crickets. The book includes different activities to share with students including one where students investigate if crickets like to live together, and what colors crickets are most likely attracted to.

What’s the Difference? Insects by: Stephen Savage

  • This book compares many different types of insects including habitat, color, food, method of transportation and temperature. The book explains how crickets are able to leap huge distances to escape danger and how they are able to hide. The book also explains various ways to attract a mate and explains how male crickets make sounds to attract females.

North Carolina Standard Course of Study

2nd Grade Science

Competency Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations and build an understanding of animal life cycles.

Objectives

  • 1.01: Describe the life cycle of animals including:
  • Birth
  • Developing into an adult
  • Aging and death
  • 1.02: Observe that insects need food, air and space to grow.
  • 1.03: Observe the different stages of an insect life cycle.
  • 1.04: Compare and contrast life cycles of other animals such as mealworms, ladybugs, crickets, guppies or frogs.

2nd Grade Language Arts

Competency Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.

Objectives

  • 2.02, 2.05, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08

Background Information

  • Crickets chirp almost everywhere---parks, woods, fields, lawns, along country roads, and even inside your house
  • Male crickets are the ones that chirp by rubbing their front wings together
  • Male crickets stay in one spot to attract females to them
  • Female crickets lay eggs inside the ground, the eggs look like tiny yellow bananas
  • In the spring the eggs hatch into nymphs. A nymph is lighter in color than an adult cricket and doesn’t have any wings
  • As nymphs mature they become adult crickets creating an incomplete metamorphosis
  • Like all insects crickets have 3 pairs of legs that they use to jump or fly away.
  • Thousands of different kinds of crickets live around the world
  • Field crickets are the most common---they are dark brown or black in color
  • Many crickets hide during the daylight hours, but at night they are active---eating, fighting, and mating.
  • Some cricket enemies include spiders, mantises, birds, lizards, and snakes
  • Although crickets like to sing to each other, most crickets are solitary and prefer to live alone.
  • Most crickets like to live near leaves where they can hide
  • Crickets prefer natural-colored objects that are close to their own color and to the color of dried leaves and grasses.

Science Activity

Materials:

  • The Very Quiet Cricket by: Eric Carle
  • Crickets
  • Clear containers or aquariums for crickets
  • Crickets in baking cup houses (see attached sheet and page 33 in Crickets and Grasshoppers)
  • Observation sheets
  • Fact books on crickets
  • Assessment Sheets

To begin read The Very Quiet Cricket by: Eric Carle to the entire class. After reading, briefly ask children what they know about crickets and engage in a short discussion before asking students to observe crickets. Also ask children to name some animals (fly, ant, ladybug, mosquito, and beetle) that they think are insects and why they might be insects (invertebrate with bodies divided into three parts; they usually have three pairs of legs, two pairs of wings and antennae).

Next students are going to be scientists and observe crickets and the cricket habitats with the baking cups:

Crickets

  • Make sure that students know to look for body parts (head, legs, and wings), movement, size, color, sound etc.
  • Students will observe the crickets in their groups and write things they observe on their observation sheets.
  • While observing we will ask different questions such as “What color is it? Does it make noise? Can you see different body parts?”

Crickets in Baking Cup Habitats

  • Students will observe the location of the crickets in the baking cup habitats.
  • After observing students can also manipulate the baking cup habitat to see if the crickets will move around when we take a second look later in the discussion.

After observing bring class back together and ask, “What were your observations?” After discussing the class’s observations we will share some of our own observations and facts about crickets.

After discussing facts with the class students will once again see what the crickets in the paper cup habitats are doing and describe what is happening in the habitat.

The final part will be students answering the questions on the assessment sheets. Encourage students to try and answer questions based on information they remember, but also let students know that if needed, they can references the paragraphs on the paper. Also reiterate the life cycle diagram on the sheet so that students know and can visualize the incomplete metamorphosis (the baby cricket comes out of the egg looking like a smaller version of the adult).

Assessment

Students will be assessed during the lesson based on their ability to observe and how well they are paying attention to the observation chart and recording size, color, movement etc. The teachers will be monitoring students during this time to assist them and keep them on track.

Students will be assessed after the lesson based on their ability to answer the questions on the assessment worksheet. This sheet is based on information from the books and discussion that students will be introduced to through the instruction.

Resources

Activity from Crickets and Grasshoppers by: Elaine Pascoe (Nature Close-up)

Cricket Observations

Briefly write or draw in the chart below your observations of the crickets.

Size
Color
Movement
Body parts
Sounds

Crickets

Crickets are insects that chirp almost anywhere. Crickets chirp in parks, woods, fields, lawns, and even inside your house. Male crickets are the ones that chirp by rubbing their front wings together.

Female crickets lay eggs inside the ground. The eggs look like tiny yellow bananas. In the spring the eggs hatch into nymphs. As nymphs grow up they become adult crickets creating an incomplete metamorphosis.

Like all insects cricket have 3 pairs of legs that they use to jump or fly away. Most crickets are dark brown or black in color. Many crickets hide during the daylight hours, but are active at night.

Some cricket enemies include spiders, birds, lizards, and snake. Most crickets like to live near leaves where they can hide. Crickets prefer natural-colored objects that are close to their own color and to the color of leaves and grasses.

  1. Where are two place crickets chirp? ______
  2. Does the female or male cricket make the chirping noise?

______

  1. How many legs do crickets have?

______

  1. Where do crickets live?

______

Do Crickets Like to Live Together?

Crickets often chirp in groups, calling back and forth to each other. Do the crickets actually like to live together, or do they prefer solitary living quarters? Make a prediction based on what you have read about these insects. Then find out if you are right by doing this activity.

What to Do:

  1. Cut a small “doorway” from the rim of each paper bake cup.
  2. Place the cups upside down in the cricket home. Crickets will tend to go inside the cups to hide.
  3. Check the cups from time to time, lifting each one to see how many crickets are inside.

Results: Each time you check the cups, write down the number of crickets you find under each one. Repeat the activity, moving the cups to different locations in the cricket home.

Conclusion: Did your crickets crown in together, or did they prefer “single rooms”? What do your results suggest about the way crickets live in the wild?