Introduce your students to the concept of biodiversity by having them compare the types of insects and trees found in their local forests with those found in tropical rainforests.

Ask students to predict how many different kinds of insects and trees live in a 40' x 40' area of their local forest (compare the area to the size of your classroom). Help the class realize that counting different types of insects and trees is different from counting the total number of insects and trees.

Find a natural forested area to explore with your class and mark with colorful ribbons a 40' x 40' area that is representative of the larger forest. Have students work in pairs and count the number of different trees and insects they find within the designated area. Ask students to share their ideas for how they plan to avoid counting the same item two or more times. Tell students that insects may be found in the air, on trees and plants and on the ground.

Ask students to imagine how many different types of trees and insects they think could be found in the same size area of a tropical rainforest. Tell students to write their predictions.

After students have made their predictions, reveal the actual figures for a typical 40' x 40' plot of tropical rainforest.

Tropical rainforest trees:		50*
Tropical rainforest insects:		312**

* Rainforest areas typically have 10 times more tree species than temperate forest patches of the same size. If students were to find five types of trees in their local forest, the corresponding rainforest figure would be 50.

** One hectare of rainforest may contain up to 42,000 species of insects. This equals 17,004 species in one acre. Scaling down further, a 40' x 40' area contains 1,600 square feet of space, approximately four percent of an acre, which could provide habitat for 312 insects.

Discuss with your class what they noticed about the difference between the number of insects/trees found in a tropical rainforest and their observations of a temperate forest. By comparing their local data with what is known about tropical rainforests, students will begin to appreciate the tremendous wealth of life in the tropics.

Learn more about the incredible diversity of life found in the rainforest.

View the complete lesson, which is adaptable for all grade levels, and download charts that will help your students record their predictions and their findings in the field.

Which one of these two animals is not an insect? If you answered the spider, you are correct.

About 800,000 insect species have been identified, making up 75 percent of known animal life. Insects are found in every habitat on Earth, both marine and terrestrial, where ever food is available.

How do you correctly identify an insect?

• Insects have segmented bodies with three distinct units: the head which is where the mouth, eyes and antennae are located; the thorax which generally contains three pairs of legs and one or two pairs of wings; and the abdomen which contains the reproductive organs.
• Insects have jointed legs.
• Insects have external skeletons, know as exoskeletons.

Use these facts to help your students correctly identify the insects in their local environment in the activity described above.

Find out more about the leaf-cutter ant and the blue morpho butterfly, two of the many insects that inhabit the rainforest.

An entomologist is a person who studies insects. Have your students act as entomologists to identify which species of insect is in the picture below.

Here are some clues:

• These insects are masters of camouflage, using their coloration to blend in with foliage, allowing them to hide from predators and to better stalk their prey.
• They can range from one to ten inches in size, have large heads, small grasshopper-like mandibles, and large leg segments with their middle and hind legs being thinner and their front legs containing spines that they use to capture their prey.
• They can only move the top part of their bodies, which enables them to approach their prey without startling it.
• They have great eyesight and catch their prey with their powerful forelegs, hold it in place, and devour it using their strong jaws. Their antennae are short compared with the rest of their bodies and they have long narrow wings that are folded in a fan-like way over their abdomen.
• They are the only insects that can turn their heads.

Have you identified the insect? Find the answer and learn more interesting facts about this amazing insect.

Target Field Trip Grants are available for K - 12 teachers, principals, para-professionals and other qualified staff to fund field trips for their students. Funds may be used to cover the costs of transportation, ticket fees, resource materials and supplies. Eight hundred grants of $1,000 each will be awarded to applicants in the United States for use during the spring 2007. Applications must be submitted online by November 1, 2006 and should include a description of the field trip and its objective(s), as well as how the trip will benefit the students learning experience.

Nestlé is sponsoring the Very Best in Youth program to recognize young people who are making a difference in their communities. Nestlé will donate $1,000 in the name of the winner to the charity of his/her choice. Winners will also receive a trip to the award ceremony to be held in Los Angeles. Eligible applicants should be between the ages of 10 and 18, in good academic standing and demonstrate how they've helped contribute to their school and community. Deadline for applying is November 1, 2006.

The National Education Association (NEA) Foundation will provide funds to purchase books for public schools in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The Books Across America Library Books Awards are made possible with support from individuals who donated to NEA's Books Across America fund to bring the gift of reading to students affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Funds may be used only to purchase books and other reading materials for public school libraries. Twenty grants of $5,000 each will be provided to preK - 12 teachers or education support professionals in public schools where at least 70 percent of the students are eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program. The application deadline is December 14, 2006.

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