|
|||
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| ||
Anatomy
|
| ||
| Roll your mouse over a photo of a tarantula. Identify the major body parts and their function.
| |||
 |
Examine a tarantula. Read about its appearance, habitat, food sources, methods of defense, and how to take care of a tarantula as a pet. Watch videos of a tarantula defending itself and escaping from a new cage.
| ||
|
Using photos of Halloween toys, test your knowledge of spider anatomy. Get a reward, an interactive crossword puzzle.
| ||
|
Cook-up some treats and report your findings on the Spider Diner’s Survey. Treats include Chocolate Spiders, Spider Cookies, Veggie Spiders, Spider Message Cookies, and Caramel Spiders.
| ||
|
Report your reaction to the various Spider Treats. Rate the treats, from 1 to 5 stars, on taste, ease of cooking, and overall recommendation. Check out other diner's opinions in our Spider Survey Results. Decide what you would serve at Anansi’s Restaurant.
| ||
 |
|||
|
Life Cycles
|
| |
| Follow a spider through the various stages of its life cycle. View a gif of a Garden Spider making an egg case. Learn the steps followed by a Garden Spider in making an egg case. Don't miss the Jumping Spider's courtship dance!
| |||
| See how much you know about a spider’s life cycle. Get a beautiful photo of a Garden Spider as a screen saver.
| |||
| Make a spider house from common objects, popsicle sticks, or leftover flooring. Place the spider house in your yard and report your success in attracting an eight-legged creature.
| |||
| Report on your spider house. Tell us about its shape, size, and location. Identify the spider that lives there. Make a recommendation about the best place to locate a spider house. Check out other spider house builders' results too! Receive a reward for you work.
| |||
|
|||
Spider Webs
|
| ||
| Become a spider architect. Select the best type of web to use for catching specific prey in specific locations. Solve 5 problems and receive a reward!
| |||
| Watch a movie of an orb weaver spinning a web. Learn the steps of web building. Capture an orb web and create ”natural art” you can keep.
| |||
| Examine electron microphotographs of silk and silk making organs. Learn why humans want to make artificial silk.
| |||
| Test your knowledge of spider silk. Succeed and and you’ll get a downloadable Spider Survival T-shirt transfer that you design yourself.
| |||
| Go on a web safari. Identify various types of common webs and their location. Then go to Safari Survey and tell everyone how you did!
| |||
| Report the results of your web safari - types, location, and numbers of various webs. Make predictions about the best place to find certain webs. Check out other safari surveyors' results. Receive a reward for your work!
| |||
|
|||
Spider Survival
|
| ||
| Investigate how spiders defend themselves. Check out the web line of defense and become a mimic.
| |||
| Play hide and seek and camouflage spiders.
| |||
| Bring out the venom, fangs, and hair. Go on the offense and protect yourself from predators. Watch a video clip of a wolf spider catching its prey and a tarantula kicking hairs.
| |||
| Search the web to find and describe the most unique adaptation which a spider uses for purposes of defense.
| |||
| Test your survival knowledge. Get a spider t-shirt transfer that you design yourself for a reward.
| |||
|
|||
Spider Species
|
| ||
| Learn about the 13 common spiders (and close relatives) found in Virginia. Investigate their appearance, habitat, food sources, and defense mechanisms.
| |||
| Check out the clues; how fast can you identify the spider? Get a Mathematics and Science Center transfer as a reward.
| |||
| Virginia has a state flower, bird, and even fossil - but no spider. Nominate your choice. Give your reasons. Imagine you are a member of the Virginia General Assembly. Examine the data and determine which spider you would select for state spider. Receive a spider math puzzle as your reward for casting your vote for Virginia's state spider.
| |||
|
|
|||
|
|
| ||
| Read about spiders - poems, legends, and stories from many lands. Get a list of the best books, both fiction and non-fiction.
| |||
| Check out frequently asked questions. Can’t find an answer? Ask an expert and see your question posted.
| |||
| Send us your creative products. See them posted.
| |||
| Find definitions of the special words used in describing and studying spiders.
| |||
| Take a tour of The Spider Room, located at the MSiC. Take a tour of our on-line Virtual Spider Room, SpiderRoom.info.
| |||
| Learn how the Spider Room came about and the people who created the real and virtual versions.
| |||
| Learn how you can create a Virtual Spider Room in your classroom using the web and Spiderology Kit (available from MSiC). Prepare your students to visit The Spider Room.
| |||
| Enroll your students in Anansi’s Classroom. Investigate the world of spiders and learn important VA SOLs related to adaptations, camouflage and defense, life cycles, food chains and webs, and properties of materials.
| |||
| Learn the sources of the many beautiful photos and movies found throughout the site. Investigate our top choices for learning more about spiders.
| |||
|
|||
