Virtual Invertebrate Encounter

Virtual Arachnid Encounter

There’s more to tarantulas than meets the eye! Meet a tarantula live on-camera and make observations to find out what makes them arachnids, then satisfy your spider curiosity with lots of Q&A in this fun, student-directed session. 

Virtual Insect Encounter

Insects are more than just creepy crawlies! In this program, students are introduced to an insect on camera. Then, student scientists design their own well-adapted insect and take the lead through inquiry, asking questions about the animal that set the direction for the remainder of this fun, back-and-forth session.

Curriculum Standards Supported:  

Colorado Academic Science Standards

• LS09-GR.PreK-S.2-GLE.1 Living things have characteristics and basic needs  
• LS09-GR.K-S.2-GLE.1 Organisms can be described and sorted by their physical characteristics  
• LS09-GR.1-S.2-GLE.2 An organism is a living thing that has physical characteristics to help it survive  
• LS09-GR.2-S.2-GLE.2 Each plant or animal has different structures or behaviors that serve different functions  
• LS09-GR.3-S.2-GLE.1 The duration and timing of life cycle events such as reproduction and longevity vary across organisms and species  
• LS09-GR.4-S.2-GLE.1 All living things share similar characteristics, but they also have differences that can be described and classified  
• LS09-GR.4-S.2-GLE.3 There is interaction and interdependence between and among living and nonliving components of systems  
• LS09-GR.5-S.2-GLE.1 All organisms have structures and systems with separate functions  
• LS09-GR.6-S.2.GLE.1 Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms, populations, and entire species  
• LS09-GR.7-S.2-GLE.1 Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely than others to survive and have offspring in a specific environment 
• LS09-GR.8-S.2-GLE.1 Human activities can deliberately or inadvertently alter ecosystems and their resiliency  
• LS09-GR.8-S.2-GLE.2 Organisms reproduce and transmit genetic information (genes) to offspring, which influences individuals’ traits in the next generation  
• LS09-GR.HS-S.2-GLE.2 The size and persistence of populations depend on their interactions with each other and on the abiotic factors in an ecosystem  

Next Generation Science Standards  

• K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.  
• 1-LS1-2. Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.  
• 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.  
• 3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles, but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.  
• 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.  
• 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.  
• 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.  
• MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.  
• MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.