Mini Beast Reports

Mini Beast Reports compiled by individual students or in collaborative groups are also on display during the Science Project Based Learning.

Below are few reports compiled by students about the mini beasts which they captured, observed and cared for while in captivity.

Mini Beast Report On Worms – By Jeremy Koyama and Kanau Kanah
When we heard that there was an upcoming project were we had to build a model of a selected mini beast my friend and I started planning on what to do and how to do it. In the end both of us decided to make a model of a worm.

Who helped prepare for my materials?

When we wrote down a rough plan on how we were going to build a model of a worm, we started considering things like materials, quantity, time it will take, and who would get to bring what.
We finalized our list and decided to bring the following:
 Scissors
 Lots and lots of news or scrap paper
 Masking tape
 Paint
 Wire
 Pliers
 Paint brushes

Accurate information about my observations over the period of time

We discovered that worms like to eat organic food like:
 Fruits
 Fruit pilings
 Damp bread crumbs
 Tea bags
 Rotten vegetables
 Twigs and leaves

And they don’t like meat and dairy products like:

 Ox and palm
 Cheese
 Yogurt
 Milk
 Tulip meat
 Tined meat and fish

What I learnt
 We learnt that worms appear at night and work all day. When they appear at night they make little casts and when the sun comes up they go back into the soil and continue working.
 A worm has no arms, legs or eyes.
 There are about 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.
 Worms live where there is food, moisture, oxygen and desired temperature. If they don’t have these things, they go somewhere else.
 Worms are cold-blooded animals.
 Worms can eat twice their weight each day
 They keep the soil fertile so plants can grow


Our Reflections about the project
My partner and I really enjoyed working on this project. Even though it took longer than expected but we managed to finish before the presentation date. Working on the model was extremely challenging and exciting. Overall I think my partner and I did a good job.


NAME OF MINI BEAST: Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar – By Lola Fisher and Aleksanne Mawe

HOW DID WE PEPARE FOR THE PROJECT?
I prepared for the project with a few materials namely:
- A strainer bowl
- A basin
- A bit of soil
- Leaves for the caterpillar to eat (give fresh leaves daily)

We both got a lot of help from each other. Aleksanne got the materials and I got the caterpillars and when we finally got our materials, we both started on our mini beast observation.

WHO HELPED US PREPARE THE MATERIALS?
Aleksanne got home and she asked her mother to use a few kitchen wares for the observation. I went back home and started looking for a caterpillar but she found at least eight caterpillars. When Lola came to school with the caterpillars we researched on what type of caterpillar it was and then we both found out that the caterpillar was a Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar. Then we started observing the live mini beast and started feeding it daily.

WHAT WE LEARNT?
We learnt that looking after a live mini beast in captivity is hard and they are fragile and we had to look after the mini beast really well or else it would die after a few days. We also learnt that the live mini beast is really dangerous to the skin.

WHAT WE DISCOVERED ABOUT THE LIVE MINI BEAST?
We discovered that when you touch the caterpillar or its cocoon, you will get rash. The mini beast may shred its skin a few times because it’s growing. The caterpillar eats a lot of leaves and normally caterpillars only eat the leaves they are hatched from.

OUR REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE PROJECT
Aleksanne and I had a lot fun while observing the live mini beast. It was great learning all types of facts about the caterpillar which we looked after.





NAME OF MINI BEAST: DRAGON FLY – By Godfreeman Kaptigau, Keith Hau and Andrew Mapai

How did we prepare for the project?
At the beginning of this project we decided to choose spiders as the mini beast to work on. It all went well. We, filled in our personal observation sheet, fed and kept the spiders alive. But when the constructing part came we weren’t able to construct a spider so we changed to building a dragonfly.

Where or who did we get help from?
We got information on spiders and dragonflies. Thanks to the books in the class library, the computer especially programs like the Internet and The Children’s Encarta, and our prior knowledge. For constructing we used our own materials and some other materials from other groups. For the label of the constructed Dragonfly, technology plan, this report and our personal A bug’s life version we used the computer to type it out.

What have we learnt from this Project?
We have learnt much from doing this project especially facts on dragonflies. We learnt that dragonflies are hard to catch/see and also very hard to keep. Like all/most insect it has wings, six legs, a head, thorax and abdomen .We learnt that a dragonfly’s life stages go like all flies (eggs, larva, pupa, and adult). We also learnt that the baby of the dragonfly is called a nymph. The part leading to the final stage (adult) is when the dragonfly climbs out of the water on to a reed, its skin splits open (sheds its skin) and it becomes an adult. Lastly we have learnt that they are called dragonflies because their head looks like a mythical dragon and they are related to flies.

What have we discovered?

We discovered that
• Dragonflies almost have the same properties of a helicopter
• Dragonflies are born in water
• Dragonflies are hard to catch
• They fly very fast (are the fastest flying insects)
• They have large eyes like all flies

Reflections
When we did this project we found out lots of things about dragonflies. We personally feel that this project was very beneficial for all students in our class. This project helped us to realize that “time doesn’t wait for anyone”. We also realized that “teamwork is very important” the next time we have a group project we’ll try to improve on these two areas.


Mini Beast Report on the spider: By Alcindo Uware and Benjamin Kare
Last term our class studied on mini-beasts, my friend and I selected spiders. We prepared ourselves by getting our materials together, finding the spider and looking for the right place to keep it.

Observation days. Observation times. Feeding behavior. Changes noticed. Movements observed. Amount of water consumed/ changes of water. Amount of food consumed/ notes on new food placed. Additional observation noted in terms of growth.

Thursday: 2:30pm: Did not eat anything yet. Since 2:30pm, stayed still until 7:00pm. Jumping everywhere.We don’t know yet if it drinks water.We gave it a Gecko, but it did not eat it. Did not even grow 1cm.

Friday: 8:00am: Wanted to eat.Began to go even black. Made webs everywhere.Gave it water again but it did not consume it. Gave it 2 dead flies and it ate them.I think it grew or maybe not.

Saturday: 1:45pm Did not feel like eating. Its skin began to go slacker.Did not move anywhere, just stayed at one corner. Knew it wouldn’t drink water. Gave it 2 flies again and it did not eat. It died and we had to throw it away.

We got our materials from the house, friends and our parents. We also used some recycled materials and got some from the school workshop.


What we have learnt that:
Spiders belong to a group of animals known as arachnids. Some people mistakenly think that spiders are insects, but spiders differ from insects in many ways. For example, spiders have eight legs instead of the six found in most insects.

We discovered that the spider we caught was a female, because it laid an egg. We didn’t start quite well but on the way we begun to enjoy doing our project. We learnt new things about our mini- beast.

MINI BEAST REPORT ON GRASSHOPPER
BY: GRACE MAIAH AND HADASSAH KIL

HOW DID WE PREPARE FOR THE PROJECT
For this project, first we caught a grasshopper and observed it for some days. Then Ms Ravu asked the class to make models of the mini beasts that they were working on, out of recycled materials. So we brought everything we needed to make a grasshopper. For all the paper work, we did them on the computer. And that includes technology plan, label, a bug’s life version and our report.

WHO HELPED US PREPARE OUR MATERIALS?
For the paint we went to the resource room and got some. We were also short of straws so we asked Kerrie-Anne Kune and she was kind enough to lend us some.

ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR OBSERVATIONS OVER THE PERIOD OF TIME.
OBSERVATION DAYS OBSERVATION TIMES CHANGED NOTE’S MOVEMENT’S OBSERVED
AMOUNT OF WATER CONSUMED/CHANGES OF WATER AMOUNT
OF FOOD CONSUMED/NOTES ON FOOD PLACED FEEDING BAVAVIOUR ADITIONAL OBSERVATIONS NOTED IN TERM’S OF GROWTH,ETC.
DAY.1. 2.OOPM/6.00PM NIL HOPPS AROUND 2CM OF WATER CONSUMED 3 LEAVES & GRASS PLACED IN JAR IT FINISHES FOOD & WATER NIL

DAY.2. 6.30 AM/3.30PM NIL HOPPS AROUND SAME AMOUNT SAME AMOUNT FINISHES EVERYTHING NIL

DAY.3. 7.00AM/4.00PM NIL HOPPS AROUND SAME AMOUNT SAME AMOUNT FINISHES EVERYTHING NIL

DAY.4. 6.30PM/7.OOAM NIL HOPPS AROUND SAME AMOUNT SAME AMOUNT FINISHES EVERYTHING NIL

DAY.5. 2.30PM/6.00AM/7.OOAM NIL HOPPS AROUND SAME AMOUNT SAME AMOUNT FINISHES EVERYTHING NIL


We learnt that:
*A grasshopper is a common name for any of the winged orthopteran insects with hind legs adapted for jumping.
*Grasshoppers are closely related to crickets and male grasshoppers make chirping or stridulating noises similar to those produced by crickets.
*Only adult grasshoppers can fly
*There are lots of species of grasshoppers in the world
*Grasshopper’s can grow up to 13cm long when fully grown.

WHAT WE DISCOVERED ABOUT THE LIVE MINI BEAST

We discovered that:*If we break the hind legs of the grasshopper, it has less effort of escaping
*Grasshoppers roam around in the day and hide in the night
*And the grasshoppers need lots of water to survive
6. OUR REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE PROJECT

P: We learnt a lot about the mini beast that we were working on. And got some new ideas about how to care for the mini beast
M: We were not able to get pictures of the mini beast that we were working on.
I: We enjoyed caring for the mini beast and making models.