Name: ______Core: ______Date: ______

I’ve Got the Geometry Bug!

Background Information

Geometry is found everywhere in nature. The insect world provides a nice study of geometry. Insects constitute between 70 and 80 percent of all known animals. Ever since the Carboniferous period (200,000,000 years ago) insects have dominated animal life form. During this early time, dragonflies sped through the air on wings with a spread of two feet! Throughout time, insects have evolved and changed to meet the demands of their environments. Some insects crawl or hop on land, some fly through the air, and others live in the water.

Various characteristics of insects differentiate insects from all other animals. In an insect's adult form, it has a hard outside skeleton called an exoskeleton, and a body distinguished by three main divisions: head, thorax, and abdomen. It also has one pair of antennae or feelers on its head and three pairs of legs attached to the thorax. Most winged insects have two pair of wings attached to the thorax. There are also minute holes along each side of an insect called spiracles. After doing further research, you will know more about the geometry and purposes of a bug’s body.

Creating your Bug

In this project, you will be creating your own geometry bug. To do this, you will need to look at the parts of an insect's body. Can you see geometrical shapes? The body of an insect has many geometrical properties. In our study of Geometry and Bugs, you are to use your imagination and your knowledge of insects (including that from your research packet) to create a fantastic geometry bug. Your bug should use a lot of geometrical shapes and be colorful and unique since our bugs will only live in our room and your imaginations. You may use any type of materials to make your bug - let your imagination be your guide. The bugs are to be made entirely out of geometrical shapes and contain the characteristics of insects. Your finished bug should fit into a cube with a 10" side and if your bug has wings, its wingspan should not be larger than 24". Make sure that if your bug is to fly that you include a way to hang it from our ceiling. If it is to crawl up the wall, there should be some fairly easy way to attach it to the wall, etc.

Communicating your knowledge

After you create your bug, you need to write a story about it - "A day in the life of my Geometry Bug ". It should be at least three typed and spell checked paragraphs, double-spaced, and use a normal font size (12 pt.). Be sure to include the following information...

·  Give it a name - hopefully something geometrical!

·  Identify the shapes and geometrical properties that you used in creating your "geometry bug".

·  Tell why the bug has the geometrical shapes that you gave it for each of its parts.

·  Describe where it lives, how it moves, and what it would eat, etc.

·  Explain what geometrical challenges it faces.

Criteria: / 4: Amazing Job / 3: Pretty Good / 2: Needs Work / 1: Not Yet
Did you include the major body parts in your bug?
Did you use a variety of geometric shapes?
Is your bug colorful and unique?
Is your bug’s body no more than 10” and/or is the wingspan no more than 24”?
Is your story typed with 3 paragraphs?
Does your bug have a geometrical name?
Did you indentify the shapes and properties used to create your bug?
Did you explain why you used the shapes for each of its parts?
Did you describe where it lives, how it moves, and what it would eat?
Did you explain what geometrical challenges it faces?

Unit 4 Geometry Bug Project Rubric