Kindergarten arachnologists learned more about spiders and their amazing webs. We drew a spider’s body, careful to draw two body parts (cephlothorax and abdomen), eight jointed legs attached to the cephlothorax, two helper legs (pedipalps), eight eyes, fangs, and spinnerets. Spiders are arachnids, not insects. Insects have six legs, three body parts, antennae, and often wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We practiced drawing orb webs. When I think about orb webs, I picture the planets orbiting the sun. It was fun to place our spider in the web and pretend it was catching flies. Imagine if there weren’t spiders to catch all the insects which make up at least 90% of the animal population!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moved our lab outside and searched for spider webs by spraying them with a fine mist. (This turned out to be great exercise for our finger muscles.) The water sticks to the web, like dew, and makes the webs visible. I also threw some leaves into the web, and we observed how they stick to the  strands. Sometimes, a spider will crawl down and realize the leaf is not food, and throw it out of the web.

Today was Cape Day benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Click here to learn more.

The perfect cape for the day!