© 2015 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 31, No. 32
Ladybugs love aphids. Aphids
are among the most common
plant pests.
of
s. All bugs are part
Nature needs insect
nce.
the ecological bala ow plants for food or
When people gr ten eat these plants, and
of
decoration, insects think of insects as pests.
to
le
that leads peop
e pests. Some help
But, not all bugs ar s. When they do that,
er
gardeners and farm eneficial insects.”
“b
people call them
Aphids damage plants by
feeding on them and by
carrying diseases from plant
to plant. One farmer’s field
can host millions of aphids.
Draw the other half of this
ladybug.
Ah, bonjour! Welcome to Café des
Insectes. My name is Claude, and
I will be your waiter today.
Have a seat and use the code in this
menu to discover some delightful facts
about insect eating habits. Bon appetit!
Are you an eagle-eyed reader?
Read the article below and
correct the 12 spelling errors you
find. The first one is done for you.
Some insects help peeple by
pollinating flours and
blossoms. Without pollinators,
there wood be no apples, pears,
cherrys, citrus fruit, nuts,
barries, coffee, melons,
cucumbers, squash or many
A large praying
mantis can eat
a small
Ladybugs sometimes roll over and play
dead if they are disturbed. Many predators
will not eat an insect that doesn’t move.
Find the ladybug that is different.
The female
praying mantis
will eat its
Standards Link: Life Science: Understand that animals have
structures and behaviors that help in growth and survival.
after
reproduction.
The praying mantis is the only
known insect that can turn its
head and look over its shoulder.
It waits for an insect to stray
close, and then snaps it
up with a lightning
grab of its strong
forelegs. It can
move twice as fast as a housefly.
House spiders
can survive
without food or
water for several
other food that depend upon
the pollination of their
Spiders first
paralyze their
insect victims and
then suck out the
blossoms to create froot.
Pollinating insekts are
What is the value for each
bug in these equations? Each
bug has a value from 1 to 5,
and no two critters have the
same value.
When young, praying mantises eat
aphids, leafhoppers, mosquitoes,
caterpillars and other soft-bodied
insects. Later they eat larger insects,
beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and
other pest insects.
estimated to be wurth at least
ate billion dollurs annually to
Standards Link: Math: Solve problems
using mathematical reasoning.
the farming and agriculture
industrees.
These pirates are good
guys. They don’t hurt plants, people or
pets. They don’t eat grain.
They eat insects that eat
grain. Farmers put them
into grain bins to eat the
insect pests. Then they are
easily removed before the
grain is used.
Standards Link: Editing: Edit drafts to correct
spelling and grammar.
Complete the grid by using all the
letters in the word GROW in each
vertical and horizontal row. Each letter
should only be used once in each row.
Some spaces have been filled in for you.
Sta
Vocabula ndards Link:
use anto ry: Understand a
nym
nd
reading s in speaking,
and writi
ng.
How many pirate bugs
can you find on this page?
Something strange is going on in
the garden, and Bug Muldoon,
beetle private investigator, tries to
figure out how the ants and
the wasps are involved.
Unscramble the title of this book.
Then check it out at your local
library this summer!
Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Read age-appropriate text in a variety of genres.
LADYBUGS
PRAYING
MANTIS
APHIDS
DISEASES
CHEMICAL
PIRATE
SPIDER
GRAIN
BALANCE
CROP
HURT
PESTS
DEAD
HELP
Find the words in the puzzle,
then in this week’s Kid Scoop
stories and activities.
U S L A C I M E H C
L E S D I H P A R S
D A E D E R I F E E
U S D L A P R S D C
L I P Y O I A T I N
BENEFICIAL
N T I R B E T S P A
The adjective beneficial
means having a good or
helpful effect on something.
S N C E S U E E S L
G A N I A R G P C A
T M D T R U H S S B
Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognized identical
words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.
Try to use the word
beneficial in a sentence
today when talking with your
friends and family members.
Write Words
Wonderfully
Fact and Opinion
Look through the newspaper and underline
five facts. Next, find and circle five opinions.
Where did you find most of the facts? Where
did you find most of the opinions?
ANSWER: “Swarm, isn’t it?”
Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Identify fact and
opinion in text.
Some bugs are beneficial
to farmers.
Write a sentence in which
most of the words start
with the same letter.
Example: Betty’s brother,
Bill, bought big buckets
of blue beetles.