• http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/charlotte/index.htm
  A particularly charming example of how an interest in spiders can be used to generate reading, research, and art projects by second grade students at Pocantico Hills School.

• http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/spiders.html
  Excellent collection of web sites that involve spider curricula

• http://www.abcteach.com/Spiders/SpidersTOC.htm
  Free printable sheets for students, teachers, parents. Ideas and activities about spiders that include handouts, forms for simple spider art, research, and stories.

• http://www.accessexcellence.com/TSN/SS/wolf_spider/intro.html
  Introduction to Wolf Spiders: Wolf spiders, members of the family Lycosidae, are common and abundant in many different habitats and can be an excellent animal to keep alive in the classroom for studying behavior. This guide is an introduction to wolf spiders and how to study them. It is designed to provide the information necessary for getting started on research projects, and it is a resource for finding additional information.

• http://members.aol.com/YESedu/rearing.html
  Suggestions on how to keep live insects and spiders at school.

• http://score.kings.k12.ca.us/lessons/spiders.html
  Lesson plan for using dichotomous keys with 2nd or 3rd grade classes, as well as a good list of web links for references.

• http://www.sciencespiders.com/TheScienceSpiders/spiders.htm
  Experiments, projects, and web links about spiders.

• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/classroom/quiz/spiders.shtml
  Simple quiz about spiders and their body parts

• http://sln.fi.edu/qa99/spotlight5/
  Web links about spiders

Why Limit Yourself to Spiders?

Here are two science education programs to use monarch butterflies as the basis for scientific inquiry. Both have teacher manuals with well developed curricula:

• http://www.monarchlab.umn.edu/Teachers/teachers.html
  Monarchs in the Classroom’ is an outstanding program which provides training for teachers and curriculum suggestions for the classroom involving monarch ecology, behavior and evolution. “Why monarchs? Monarchs are familiar, well-loved insects that provide students and teachers with a comfortable, non-threatening experience with living organisms. Their easily-observed life cycle brings diverse and exciting science concepts to life, and their large size makes it easy for students to handle all life stages. Working with living organisms in the classroom engages students and allows them to practice observation, measuring, hypothesis-making and evaluating skills. Using monarchs is especially appealing because it captures the interest and attention of all students, not just those with an “aptitude for science.” The goal of the program is to involve citizen scientists in real research on monarch butterflies. There are projects that are targeted from K – adults. Monarchs in the Classroom has a well developed Teachers Manual, as well as extensive support products (including live caterpillars and posters) at reasonable prices. Good links.

• http://www.learner.org/jnorth
  Journey North is a science education program that uses the Internet to track migration and signs of spring. Students in classrooms across North America share their own observations of the changing seasons while tracking the Spring Migration. The site includes excellent spring and fall lesson plans on monarch butterflies, as well as other migrating animals. Online and hardcopy Teacher Manuals available.