Student Worksheet

Identifying Invertebrates - Activity Instructions

Part A: What are invertebrates?

Step 1.

In this activity, you will be looking at invertebrates. You may already know what invertebrates are; if you don’t, that’s ok, you’re about to find out all about them!

Look at the two questions below and have a go at answering them in your workbook (it doesn't matter if you get the answers wrong; the aim is to just have a go):

What is an invertebrate?
What is a vertebrate?

Step 2.

Watch the following clip:

Vertebrates & Invertebrates | What are Invertebrates? | What are Vertebrates? (https://youtu.be/LsyF1nyXA3c)

Step 3.

Return to your original answers and make some amendments based on what you saw in the clip. How would you now describe invertebrates and vertebrates?

Step 4.

Now think about the following question:

Are people vertebrates or invertebrates?

Explain your answer in your workbook.

Have a feel around under the skin of your head, your back and your arms - can you feel anything hard that might be a bone? (We hope so!!!)

This means that people are vertebrates. Can you think of any other animals that might be vertebrates? How can you tell that they might be vertebrates? Record your ideas in your workbook (Tip: start by thinking about any pets you have or know of).

Step 5.

Now think about the following question: If vertebrates have a backbone and a bony skeleton on the inside, what might an invertebrate have? You could have a think about animals you might find in your yard (or even your house!) while you read the following:

Invertebrates are animals that don’t have a backbone or a bony skeleton. Some invertebrates are soft and squishy, such as jellyfish or octopus. Some have a shell to give their soft bodies some protection, like a snail. Others have a skeleton on the outsides of their bodies; this is called an exoskeleton. This helps to protect their soft, squishy insides, a bit like armour. But unlike armour, they can’t just get the next size up when they grow; instead, they have to shed the old exoskeleton and grow a new one. Insects are invertebrates that have an exoskeleton.

Step 6.

In your workbook, create a table with two columns, adding the heading ‘invertebrate’ to one column and ‘vertebrate’ to the other.

Open up the Animal Images.

Without looking at the answers on the final page of the animal images document, work through the images and record whether you think they are invertebrates or vertebrates on the table you created. You could do this with the help of an adult.

You can then check your answers using the final page of the document. How did you go? Were you surprised or confused by any of the animals? You could keep a record of these; you could conduct some more research into these animals at another time. You could also talk to an adult about the animals that tripped you up and why you are confused by them.

Part B: Where can we find invertebrates?

Step 1.

Think back to the images featured in the animal images document. Which of these do you think you might find in your yard or at the local park?

You will now go outside and look for and observe invertebrates. You will need some drawing materials, such as a pencil, a rubber, some paper and a clipboard or a workbook.

Before you go, talk to an adult about where you’re going and how you will practice caution and care when observing invertebrates - you don’t want to get stung and you don’t want to harm any invertebrates.

Step 2.

When you get outside it’s a good idea to take a few minutes to settle into your outdoor space. When we’ve been inside for a while it can take a while for our minds and bodies to adjust to the outdoors. You could settle in spending a minute or two to observe the world around you using your senses: what do you hear, see, feel and smell? Are any of these observations related to invertebrates (e.g. bee or a fly buzzing around, an ant walking around)?

Step 3.

Now hone your senses onto a spot where you think there might be an invertebrate, such as a log, a flowering plant or some leaf litter.

When you find something, grab your drawing materials and start drawing the invertebrate you’re observing. You might need to move quickly because some invertebrates move quickly!

Your drawing doesn’t need to be expertly drawn but you should try to draw as many details of the invertebrate that you are observing. You can also make notes/labels to support your drawing.

You could try and record details like:

The colour of the invertebrate
How many legs it had
Whether you could see any mouthparts of antennae
The shape and structure of the animal (e.g. head, thorax, body for an insect; foot and shell for a snail)
How big the invertebrate is
Where you saw the animal
What it was doing.

You could draw two different invertebrates with different body structures. For example, you could draw one ant and one snail. Or you could draw a bee and a caterpillar. Or a slug and a woodlouse.

Step 4.

Once complete, you could talk to an adult about what you observed. If you drew more than one invertebrate, talk about what was different and similar between the two animals.

Part C: Why are invertebrates important?

Step 1.

Once you have completed your invertebrate drawing and sharing, watch the following clip. This clip features the voice of Jess Marsh who is a scientist who studies invertebrates:

Jess Marsh, Kangaroo Island Invertebrate Scientist - The importance of invertebrates (https://vimeo.com/537480061)

Step 2.

Working with an adult you are are now going to think about how you could help invertebrates by improving invertebrate habitats.

If you have a backyard you could:

Create an invertebrate zone - Select an invertebrates zone at your school. This should be somewhere that doesn’t get disturbed too often (it might even be behind a building where there are few visitors). Place some old logs in the zone, along with leaf litter and bark. Think about planting one or two native flowering plants to attract native invertebrate pollinators, like native bees or wasps. Avoid placing a dish of water in the zone as they may fall in and drown - instead, you could make sure your invertebrate zone is watered regularly and the leaf litter isn’t disturbed so that the leaf litter doesn’t dry out. You could add a little fence and a sign to inform people what you’re doing.
Build an invertebrate house - Make transportable invertebrate houses out of small cardboard boxes or milk cartons. Cut a small entrance into the box and place it in the garden, add a stick to the top to stop it from blowing away. Alternatively, take an old ceramic pot, turn it upside down and prop one side up with a rock to let the invertebrates in and out. Students can take their houses home for their own yards.

If you have a balcony you could:

Create an invertebrate zone in pots - If you can’t manage a full invertebrate zone, you could always create your invertebrate zone in a couple of pots, keeping them close together, sheltered and watered. Avoid placing a dish of water in the zone as they may fall in and drown - instead, you could make sure your pot is watered regularly and the leaf litter isn’t disturbed so that the leaf litter doesn’t dry out. Again, add a sign to let people know what you’re doing.
Build an invertebrate house - Make transportable invertebrate houses out of small cardboard boxes or milk cartons. Cut a small entrance into the box and place it in the garden, add a stick to the top to stop it from blowing away. Alternatively, take an old ceramic pot, turn it upside down and prop one side up with a rock to let the invertebrates in and out. Students can take their houses home for their own yards.

If you don’t have a balcony or backyard you could:

Create a poster to let your family know about the value of invertebrates and what you should do if you find one in your home. You could tell them:
- Spiders are your friends! As long as they are not venomous they are harmless and even helpful as they will eat the other insects (like flies and mozzies) that come into your house
- The flies that come in are harmless and will be dinner for the spider!
- Mozzies are genuinely a pain but mostly harmless, apart from an itch
- Cockroaches are just gross and can spread disease so you should probably get rid of them
- If you want to get rid of any insects, it’s best to avoid the spray - these sprays kill the good bugs as well as the bad. The best thing to do is to try and catch by holding a plastic tub over them and sliding a piece of paper over the opening of the tub to seal the invertebrate in. You can then take it outside to release it.

Some resources to support the creation of your poster:

Identifying Invertebrates (home learning)

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