Spiders: Why the bad reputation???

Suggested Grade: Kindergarten

By: Sarah Lyne

What makes a spider a spider?

What do spiders do, anyway?

Do we really need them?

Do we have to be scared of all of them?

…Ever wondered about any of these questions. Well if you haven’t before, start thinking about them now. You are going to have a chance to find the answers to these questions and more as we discover what the deal is with spiders and why people hate them?

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Introduction:

Spiders are everywhere, right? Well you and your friend Sally Scaredalot find this one out the hard way. You two are going into the kitchen for a little snack, but when you get to the cookie jar there is a spider resting right on the lid. It’s a daddy longlegs! All those long skinny legs just make your skin crawl. What are you supposed to do? Both of you scream and turn and run away. You both still really want those cookies so you decide to get to the bottom of the spider scare. Should you and Sally just give up your cookie dreams, or is there still hope? Finding out a little more about spiders might help you two decide what to do.

Your challenge (should you choose to accept it…and why wouldn’t you??? You want those cookies right???):

Find out what the big deal is with spiders. For you and Sally to make a decision about whether or not to go for the cookies even with the daddy longlegs there, you are going to have to get some information on spiders first. In learning about spiders answer these questions:

1. What makes a spider a spider? What do all spiders have?

2. What good things can spiders do for us?

3. Are most spiders dangerous to humans? What are 2 types of spiders we should stay away from?

4. What are differences among spiders?

5. Was what you saw really a spider? Why or why not?

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The Journey:

Look at these websites to answer those questions. Have an adult read the information on the websites to you and record the answers as you find them.

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/spiders/spiders2.htm

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/spiders/daddylonglegs.htm

http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef622.htm

http://insected.arizona.edu/spiderinfo.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/arachnids/spider/Spiderprintout.shtml

To get even more information on spiders, use a search engine like http://www.google.com and type in “spiders and kids”.

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Your Report:

Now that we have had fun answering out spider questions we can finally make a decision as to whether or not to go for the cookies. Will the daddy longlegs you and Sally saw hurt you? Write the answer down on the piece of paper where you took down the answers to our other questions. Along with your answers, draw a picture of a spider, making sure that it has all of the things that make spiders, spiders.

YOU’RE DONE!!!

If you have any comments or suggestions I would love to hear them. You can email them to me at slyne@uvm.edu. Thanks!