© 2015 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 31, No. 35
Are you an eagle-eyed reader?
Read the articles below and
correct the nine spelling and
grammar errors you find.
The first one is done for you.
Biggest Bugs
By Nellie Fly
he motto for the
Olympic Games
is “Citius, Altius,
Fortius.” That’s
Latin for “Swifter, ”
Higher, Stronger.
And while bugs e
aren’t invited to th
Heaviest
Olympic Games,
they are capable
of some amazing
abilities. For their e
size, they really ar
world champions
at speed, strength
and distance!
Australian tiger beetles are
the fastest running insects
known. One of the fastest was
clocked at 2.5 meters per second (5.6 miles per hour).
They run about 170 times their body length per second.
If I could travel 170 times
my own body length per
second, how far would I be
able to run in a second?
Some insect are longer. Some
are wider. but the Goliath Beetle
holds the record for biggest
insect because of its wate.
The Goliath Beetle can grows
to be 4.5 inch (11.43 cm) long
If you’re 4 feet
tall, 680 feet
per second!
Of the 1,830 varieties of fleas, the champion jumper is the cat
flea. It has been known to leap to a height of 34 inches.
That would be like a person leaping over 1,000 feet! Relatively,
fleas take off with greater acceleration than the Space Shuttle!
tropical forests and eat tree sap
A frog can jump 20 times its body length. A kangaroo can
jump 4.5 times its body length. A kitten can jump 3 times
its body lenth. A flea can jump 150 times its body length!
and fruit.
Longest
Contraction
Action
Dash through the
newspaper and find
ten contractions.
Write the two
words that make up
the contraction.
Beware! Some
possessive nouns
may look like
contractions. Don’t
let them fool you!
Is a rhinoceros beetle
stronger than an elephant?
Bug” from the rain forests of
Borneo. The largest specimen
ever recorded be in the Natural
History Museum in london. Its
boddy length is 12.9 inches. Its
total longth, including its legs,
is 20 inches!
Standards Link: Editing: Edit work for correct
spelling and usage.
Complete the grid by using all the
letters in the word SWIFT in each
vertical and horizontal row. Each letter
should only be used once in each row.
Some spaces have been filled in for you.
Standards Link: Word
Analysis: Identify separate
words in a contraction.
Standards Link: Life
Science: Animals have
structures that help in survival.
lthough he knows everything
about spiders, Spider Storch
is a terrible runner. He’s afraid he’ll
ruin the Third Grade Olympics for
his teammates. Will he?
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.
RHINOCEROS
SWIFTER
FORTIUS
HIGHER
STRONGER
SPACE
CHAMP
SPEED
GAMES
DASH
FLEA
BODY
LATIN
SPIDER
FROG
Find the words in the puzzle,
then in this week’s Kid Scoop
stories and activities.
R E G N O R T S R E
E S E M A G H R C O
H S R C D S E S H R
G G P L A T I N A E
I O B E F P R A M D
H R E I E A S E P I
K F W B O D Y L E P
R S U I T R O F S S
S O R E C O N I H R
Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognized identical
words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.
SWIFT
The adjective swift means
moving very quickly.
The beetle is a swift
runner.
Try to use the word swift
in a sentence today when
talking with your friends
and family members.
Bug Games
Superlative Scavenger Hunt
ANSWER:
“One – two – flea – GO!”
Standards Link: Word Analysis: Understand and use
comparitive and superlative forms of adjectives.
The longest insect is a “Stick
Standards Link: Data Analysis: Interpret information on a graph.
An elephant can
carry up to 25%
of its own
weight on its
back. The rhinoceros
beetle can carry an amazing
850 times its own weight!
That would be like an
elephant carrying
850 elephants on
its back.
Find three pictures of people smiling in
today’s newspaper. Label them “happy,”
“happier,” and “happiest.” Find three pictures
of people or animals looking strong. Label
them “strong,” “stronger,” and “strongest.”
Goliath Beetles live in Africa’s
Read the following facts. Then complete the chart.
If someone could travel at the rate of
680 feet per second, how many feet would they travel
in one minute?
Surprisingly, for its size, the
rhinoceros beetle is much
stronger than an elephant.
and weigh up to 3.5 ounces.
Make up a game in
which the players are all
bugs. What is the object
of the game? What are
the rules?