Make a field guide and use it to classify bugs like a scientist at the museum.

Using everyday ingredients and tools from your kitchen cabinet, embark on a hands-on process that prompts you to ask questions, mix compounds, and analyze materials like a scientist at the Museum.

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Materials

- 5 sheets of paper
- Hole puncher
- Shoelace
- Pencil
- Decorating materials (i.e. scrap fabric, paper)

Instructions

Part 1 — How to make a Field Guide
- Fold at least five sheets of paper in half.
- Punch one hole on the center edge of your closed notebook.
- Bring each end of your shoelace over the top and bottom of the book and sew them both through the center hole. 
- Tie a knot and decorate!

Part 2 — How to use your Field Guide
With your new guide in hand, step outside to scour your neighborhood for bugs! Start by looking for clues that a bug may have left behind: a half eaten leaf or a holey branch. Imagine what kind of bug could have done this damage. What kind of teeth did it have? Do you think just one bug did it? Or many? Once you find a bug, use your field guide to draw what you see and write down any interesting details. With enough detective work, you’ll soon have a book full of bugs!

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Producer: Rachel Smith
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Animation Direction: Lisa LaBracio
Stop Motion Animation: Lisa LaBracio
2D Animation: Luca Mancuso
Prop Fabrication: Lisa V. Bergmann, Anna Samo
Narrator: Roselin Lopez
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Production Design: Aurola Wedman Alfaro
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