I wonder if Manduca sees the world like me...

Lesson Overview:  

Students will learn about how manduca see. They will then write a brief story either from the perspective of what an insect.

Subject Area Focus: science & language arts

Objectives:

1. learn about how the manduca sees
2. write from the perspective of multiple insects

Materials:  

• journals
• access to the internet

Procedures:

1. Students should record their daily observations in their journals.
2. Manduca sees color, but not like you or me.
3. At this point, the teacher can use the information presented on the Everything You Want to Know section under the All About Manduca tab. If teacher cannot have access to the internet feel free to copy and paste the information presented onto a Word document and use the print out to help structure discussion. **The use of color in the "How Manduca Sees" is very important. Try to print a color copy ahead of time if there will be no internet access available.
4. First, discuss with the class what Manduca might be thinking, seeing and feeling as it roams around it's container or on a student desk. Re-word these observations in the form of a personal narrative on the board for students to refer back to during their writing exploration.
5. Ask students to take on a new insect perspective. Ask students to write a first-hand account of what the insect sees, thinks and feels from the perspective of:
   - a lady bug looking at a dew drop on a leaf
   - a grasshopper jumping around in the grass in your backyard
   - a maggot eating inside of a rotting piece of fruit
   - a mosquito landing on a person's arm
   - a butterfly getting nectar from the inside of a flower
   
   What are these insects seeing? How does a blade of grass look to a grasshopper? What does a dew drop, a flower or a persons arm look like close up?
   
   Try writing what thoughts the insect is thinking while they move around. For example, where will my feet land after this jump, or where is a good place to look for blood or which flower will I find the best nectar and what does it look like?
   
6. Have students take on one or more of these perspectives in short narrative form. It would help to have pictures of the insects you are asking them to narrate for. Pictures of the environments presented in the prompts. These visual cues might inspire their dialogue. Images that present the insect in action or imply motion are likely to spawn creative thinking.