I've got that Geometry Bug!

Bug’s Story

           Hello, my name is Tri-Shapular. You can call me Tri. I am going off to school to learn how to be a better bug. They teach us all about how we are made up and what our body parts are for. It is really very interesting; we learn how we function and what we need to eat to take better care of ourselves. It is just like a human school, but for bugs.

            Here we are at the first day of school. It was more of an individual sort of learning thing today. We learned about the different shapes each of us is made up of. I am made up of three different shapes, a sphere, a cube, and a triangle. They are all important assets to how I survive.

            All insects are made up of three main body parts. The abdomen, the thorax, and the head. I learned that my sphere is my abdomen. It is the largest part of my body, but not necessarily the most important. My cube is my thorax. I guess that it is most likely the most important part of my body. It is the middle part of my body. It is the place where my legs and wings are attached. My triangle is my head. It is where my eyes are. Some bugs have antenna. If I did, that’s where they would be also. I don’t have any, but that is not unusual at all.

            All of my parts have a purpose. We are also learning what all of the parts do and why they do it. My wings, obviously, are for flying. I only have one set of wings. Many other bugs have two sets, but houseflies, mosquitoes, and myself only have one. All bugs have a set of spiracles. Those are the tiny little holes in the head of the bug used for breathing. Those are probably the most important assets that any bug can have. Without those I can not live.

            I learned a lot about what my legs are for. My front two sets of legs are more just for balance and walking. My back legs are the strongest set that I have. They are built for when I have to jump or climb. My hind legs also help me when I take off for flying. The femur is the upper part of my leg structure. It is the strongest of all. The lower part is the tibia. It has different jobs than the femur, and is not as strong, but is just as important to my survival.

            When I got home I go back to the trees in my homeland of Brazil. I fly all the way back there for the winter from my school up north in the lovely land of Bloomington, Illinois. I like to sip the nectar out of all the trees where I live. I can do this easily because of the shape of my mouth. My mouth is pointed to help me lap and pierce the liquid from the trees. It is very convenient. Mosquitoes eat in the same way that I do along with butterflies.

            If you hadn’t noticed both sides of my body are exactly the same. They both have half the abdomen, thorax, and head. Each side has one eye and one wing. Also each set has three legs. If I were to be cut in half both sides would be identical which means that I am symmetrical.

            I really enjoy learning all of this in school. It helps me to better understand myself, and how others are the same and different from me. Thanks to what I have learned, I now know how to take care of others and myself. You can not properly care for yourself without completely understanding what you need to take care of. I hope that I have given you a better understanding of the day in the life of a bug!

                                                                                                                        ~Tri

Project Description
Research Questions
Student Work