Unit 11: The Insect Investigators
In this unit, pupils learn about insects — bees, ants, butterflies, mosquitoes, dragonflies. They read about ant colonies and the life cycle of a butterfly, study homographs, write the life cycle of a dragonfly, and learn comparative and superlative adjectives. They sing 'The Ants Go Marching' and read an excerpt from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. The Insect Investigators (Nurul, Jagjit, Kim Seng, Kinah, Pravin) were investigating a nearby jungle when Nurul received a telephone call from Jelini's sister:
'Please, help me! There is a scary insect in my house. It is flying all over the place.'
Description: four wings, six legs, black body, makes a buzzing sound.
Pupils guess the insect by asking yes/no questions: 'Does it have wings? How many? Does it sting? Is it a butterfly?'
Insects to choose from: butterfly, dragonfly, ant, mosquito, bee, beetle.
The bee is an insect. Pupils say these words and describe other insects:
Body parts: head, thorax, abdomen
A pair of antennae, two compound eyes, two pairs of wings, three pairs of jointed legs
Body covered with fine hair
Pupils describe the mosquito and the beetle using the same guide.
Ants live in large groups called colonies. Each colony consists of three types of ants — the queen, the workers, and the males:
The queen and the males have wings; the workers do not.
A colony usually has only one queen ant. She is the only ant that can lay eggs and is the largest ant.
Worker ants' duties: take care of eggs, take care of newly hatched larvae, gather food, keep the home clean.
Ants use their antennae to find food and to find their way back home.
Ants are omnivorous — they eat both meat and plants.
Soldier ants (bigger, with bigger mandibles) protect the queen, defend the colony, and attack enemy colonies.
Pupils read about how a butterfly grows:
Adult butterflies lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, larvae (caterpillars) come out.
Caterpillars eat a lot of leaves to grow quickly.
When caterpillars grow to full length and weight, they turn into pupae.
Within the pupae, caterpillars change into butterflies.
When butterflies come out, their wings are soft and folded — they rest on leaves until their wings are firm (usually within three to four hours).
Then they fly off to look for food.
Pupils write the life cycle of a dragonfly using these clues:
Adult — eggs — water
After two to five weeks — eggs hatch into larvae
Larvae eat small fishes, tadpoles, and other small water creatures
Larvae do not form pupae
After a few years — adults
Pupae live near the water surface. They do not eat. Adult female mosquitoes lay eggs in water.
Homographs are words with the same spelling but more than one meaning:
| type (kind) | There are many types of butterflies. | |
| type (write) | The clerk types letters every day. | |
| form (become) | Ice forms when water freezes. | |
| form (paper) | He is filling in the forms. | |
| firm (strong) | That chair is not firm. | |
| firm (company) | My father works in a big firm. | |
Comparatives compare two nouns (-er + than). Superlatives compare three or more (the + -est).
| small | smaller than / the smallest | |
| strong | stronger than / the strongest | |
| big | bigger than / the biggest | |
| tidy (-y → -ier) | tidier than / the tidiest | |
| beautiful (more/most) | more beautiful than / the most beautiful | |
| good (irregular) | better than / the best | |
| bad (irregular) | worse than / the worst | |
Pupils sing 'The Ants Go Marching' (to the tune of the song). Verses:
The ants are marching on parade, hurrah, hurrah! And everyone stops to yell 'Hurrah!'
The dragonflies are flying high, hurrah, hurrah!
The grasshoppers are hopping far, hurrah, hurrah!
Pupils also read an excerpt from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice meets the Caterpillar).
All insects have three body parts — head, thorax, and abdomen — and six jointed legs. Most also have a pair of antennae, two compound eyes, and two pairs of wings. Examples: bees, ants, butterflies, mosquitoes, dragonflies, beetles.
An ant colony has three types of ants — the queen (lays eggs), the workers (gather food, care for larvae), and the males. Soldier ants are bigger workers with stronger mandibles that protect the colony.
Comparative adjectives (-er than) compare two nouns. Superlative adjectives (the -est) compare three or more. For long words, use 'more' and 'most'. Some are irregular: good → better → best, bad → worse → worst.
📝 Kosa Kata
An ant colony can have millions of ants, but there is only ONE queen! The queen is the only ant that can lay eggs and is the largest ant in the colony. Soldier ants are bigger workers with stronger mandibles (jaws) — they protect the queen and even attack enemy colonies for food!
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