As the autumn weather began to get colder, our concern for the small crawling and flying creatures of the school garden sparked an idea. What if we could make a winter home for the insects and arachnids to use as protection during the cold winter months?
The task posed an exciting problem to solve and we got to work on blueprints right away.
During the design process, many questions came about the materials we would need and the needs of particular invertebrates. We decided to search for a local entomologist who might be able to answer some of our questions. Dr. Swann from the University of Calgary wrote us back and gave us lots of useful information! Below is a copy of the email we received (his answers are in blue):
Can we make the hotel out of sticks?
Yes, make it big enough to put lots of leaves in to act as insulation. Insects use things like leaf litter like we would fibreglass insulation.
How will our bug hotel attract the insects make them want to stay inside?
Insects will want to hibernate in a dark and cool place, they will find it if you put it outside along the edge of the building where leaves tend to naturally accumulate
Will we need a door?
No just an opening of some sort that will let them in but not so big that the leaves inside blow out
How big do we need to make it for all of the bugs that need to fit inside?
I'm not entirely sure because I've never made one either but I'd suggest about 30cm cubed
Where do they prefer to sleep?
Insects prefer someplace that is dark and slightly moist --they don't want to dry out nor do they want to wake up too early because it is warm. So they want things cool but not extremely cold eg.
-20C is too cold
What kinds of beds do they need?
Dry leaves and grass are great because of the insulation value
Do they need water?
No because they will mostly be hibernating/sleeping for the whole winter but they also don't want it to be bone dry.
Do we need more than one room inside? One for the invertebrates that get along and one for the creatures who eat each other?
No you don't because most insect that use your house will be hibernating. Insects that don't hibernate are very neat. You might want to look up 'rock crawlers' on the internet. They are native to the rockies, love the cold, running around in the space between the ground and snow all winter and are one of the few groups of insects I've never caught. My goal for this spring is to catch some when they start running around on the top of the snow when it starts to melt in late March/early June in K-country (you have to have collecting permits to catch insects in provincial and national parks and I have one for out there)
To begin the building process, we worked in small groups to build prototypes out of cardboard. Each group explored, tested and retested the stability of their structure, as well as its potential to meet the needs of various invertebrates and their winter behaviours.
Most of our groups decided to make separate rooms for different species. We also added natural elements to our models which makes the structure easier to camouflage and more inviting for the small creatures to use.
During the design process, many questions came about the materials we would need and the needs of particular invertebrates. We decided to search for a local entomologist who might be able to answer some of our questions. Dr. Swann from the University of Calgary wrote us back and gave us lots of useful information! Below is a copy of the email we received (his answers are in blue):
Can we make the hotel out of sticks?
Yes, make it big enough to put lots of leaves in to act as insulation. Insects use things like leaf litter like we would fibreglass insulation.
How will our bug hotel attract the insects make them want to stay inside?
Insects will want to hibernate in a dark and cool place, they will find it if you put it outside along the edge of the building where leaves tend to naturally accumulate
Will we need a door?
No just an opening of some sort that will let them in but not so big that the leaves inside blow out
How big do we need to make it for all of the bugs that need to fit inside?
I'm not entirely sure because I've never made one either but I'd suggest about 30cm cubed
Where do they prefer to sleep?
Insects prefer someplace that is dark and slightly moist --they don't want to dry out nor do they want to wake up too early because it is warm. So they want things cool but not extremely cold eg.
-20C is too cold
What kinds of beds do they need?
Dry leaves and grass are great because of the insulation value
Do they need water?
No because they will mostly be hibernating/sleeping for the whole winter but they also don't want it to be bone dry.
Do we need more than one room inside? One for the invertebrates that get along and one for the creatures who eat each other?
No you don't because most insect that use your house will be hibernating. Insects that don't hibernate are very neat. You might want to look up 'rock crawlers' on the internet. They are native to the rockies, love the cold, running around in the space between the ground and snow all winter and are one of the few groups of insects I've never caught. My goal for this spring is to catch some when they start running around on the top of the snow when it starts to melt in late March/early June in K-country (you have to have collecting permits to catch insects in provincial and national parks and I have one for out there)
To begin the building process, we worked in small groups to build prototypes out of cardboard. Each group explored, tested and retested the stability of their structure, as well as its potential to meet the needs of various invertebrates and their winter behaviours.
Most of our groups decided to make separate rooms for different species. We also added natural elements to our models which makes the structure easier to camouflage and more inviting for the small creatures to use.
These are some of our reflections about designing and building our models:
"It was easy to decide who was going to do what.
It was not easy to tape it together. I had fun." ~ Ivy
"First I made the instructions to the bug hotel. It didn't really work out.
Everyone did different things and it was difficult for me.
I made an elevator for slugs and snails even if they are icky.
It's a bug hotel!" ~ Xander
"It was easy to decide who was going to do what.
It was not easy to tape it together. I had fun." ~ Ivy
"First I made the instructions to the bug hotel. It didn't really work out.
Everyone did different things and it was difficult for me.
I made an elevator for slugs and snails even if they are icky.
It's a bug hotel!" ~ Xander
"I learned that insects need to be on different levels. I also learned bugs have to be in different rooms. It was fun when we painted! ~ Landon
"We used a lot of tape. It was challenging. It was fun. It was hard though. ~ Landyn
"I learned that cardboard is strong. I learned that working together works.
I liked painting. I liked helping. ~ Eisy
The last step in this inquiry into the world of invertebrates is to create the bug hotel that will go into the school garden as a permanent structure. We are so excited to connect our learning to the real-world! Come by the school to see more documentation of this learning - and the bug hotel, of course!
