Insect communication and behaviour
CONCEPTUALInsect communication and behaviour: bees perform a waggle dance to tell hive-mates where flowers are. Ants lay pheromone trails for others to follow. Fireflies flash light patterns to find mates. Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings. Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles across continents. How insects 'talk' without words.
Mastery Evidence
- Describe at least three ways insects communicate such as the bee waggle dance, ant pheromone trails, and firefly light signals
- Explain what information a bee conveys through its waggle dance, including direction and distance to flowers
- Describe the monarch butterfly migration and explain why it is remarkable in terms of distance and navigation
Assessment Prompt
“Can [child] explain how bees tell each other where to find flowers, how ants leave invisible trails, or how fireflies use light to send messages?”
Prerequisites2
- Social insects: ants and beeshardAges 7—9
- Incredible insects: record-breakerssoftAges 7—9
Show full prerequisite tree
- Social insects: ants and bees hard
Must understand social insects before studying their sophisticated communication systems
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before comparing how they move
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before studying insect anatomy in detail
- Incredible insects: record-breakers soft
Record-breaker fascination sets up interest in extraordinary behaviours like migration
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before comparing how they move
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before studying insect anatomy in detail
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