Pill Bug

🎓 Audience

Education: Grade(s) K, 1, 2, 3, 4, Homeschool/Family, Learning Pod, Library Patrons

 🐾 Topics

Language Arts/English, Literacy, Reading, Science, STEM

🗂️ Format

• Introduction and Prior Knowledge: Introduction to pill bugs, where participants share any observations they made, things they wonder, and what they hope to learn about these animals.

• Segment 1 - Story Time: We read Next Time You See a Pill Bug together, with  opportunities for the learners to demonstrate their comprehension through interactive dialogue.

• Segment 2 - Invertebrate Investigation: After the story, we take a close-up look at live animals, including pill bugs, shrimp, and crabs. Then we jump into a fun learning segment that builds thinking skills, boosts reading and speaking confidence, and gets everyone curious about science. You’ll also get a chance to ask your own questions live.

• Segment 3 - Q&A Session: We conclude with an interactive Q&A session about pill bugs, their crustacean cousins, and deepen their understanding.

🎯 Objectives

1. Observe and describe the physical features and behaviors of pill bugs.

2. Compare pill bugs to other crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs.

3. Engage in a discussion about invertebrate adaptations and habitats.

4. Develop curiosity and confidence in asking science-related questions.

✏️ Standards this program supports

Common Core

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.1.RI.1 -- Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.2.RI.1 -- Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RI.1 -- Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.RI.1 -- Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.K.RI.1 -- With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Next Generation Science Standards

• LS1A 3-5 -- Structure and function

• LS1B 3-5 -- Growth and development of organisms

• LS1C K-2 -- Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms

• LS3A K-2 -- Inheritance of traits

• LS4D K-2 -- Biodiversity and humans

Ocean Literacy Principles

• • Ocean Literacy Principle #5 – The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

  • Ocean Literacy Principle #6 – The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.

UN SDGs

• • 14 - Life Below Water

Lexile Framework

• 900L

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS)

• SC.K.L.14.3 – Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do. Application: Students compare pill bugs to other crustaceans, noting similarities and differences in body parts and behaviors.

• SC.1.L.16.1 – Make observations that plants and animals closely resemble their parents, but variations exist among individuals within a population. Application: Students observe pill bug features and discuss how individuals may look similar but still vary in size, shape, or behavior.

• SC.2.L.17.1 – Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival. Application: Students identify and compare the needs of pill bugs to those of other animals and humans.

• SC.3.L.15.1 – Classify animals into major groups based on physical characteristics and behaviors. Application: Students learn that pill bugs are crustaceans and invertebrates and how they differ from insects and other arthropods.

• SC.4.L.17.2 – Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them. Application: The program discusses how pill bugs contribute to decomposition and nutrient cycling in their habitats.

• SC.4.L.17.4 – Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment. Application: Students explore the role of decomposers like pill bugs and how human activities may affect their ecosystems.

☑️ Evaluation Link

When answering these questions, please focus on the quality of the content and not the technology. You can answer anonymously. After clicking Did the program take place?, choose if you are you an Educator or Parent.

• cilc.org/ContentProvider/Evaluation

• Abdomen – The rear section of an arthropod’s body, where many internal organs are located and movement is supported.

• Antenna – A feeler-like body part that helps animals like pill bugs sense their environment.

• Arthropod – An invertebrate with a segmented body, jointed legs, and an exoskeleton; includes insects, crustaceans, and millipedes.

• Behavior – The actions or reactions of an animal, such as curling into a ball for protection.

• Camouflage – A way animals blend into their surroundings to avoid predators.

• Crayfish – A freshwater crustacean related to lobsters, included in comparisons of crustacean relatives.

• Crustacean – A type of animal with a hard exoskeleton and jointed legs, including pill bugs, lobsters, and shrimp.

• Decomposer – An organism that breaks down dead plants and animals, returning nutrients to the soil—pill bugs help with this.

• Egg – The first stage in many animals’ life cycles, including pill bugs.

• Exoskeleton – A hard outer shell that supports and protects an animal's body.

• Gill – Body parts that some crustaceans (like pill bugs) use to breathe—pill bugs need moisture to keep theirs working.

• Insect – A different type of invertebrate than pill bugs; insects have six legs and three body parts.

• Invertebrate – An animal without a backbone, including pill bugs and insects.

• Lobster – A marine crustacean with claws, related to pill bugs through their shared classification.

• Millipede – Long-bodied invertebrates with many legs, often confused with pill bugs but not crustaceans.

• Molting – The process of shedding an old exoskeleton to grow a new one.

• Observe – To watch closely and gather information—students do this with live animals during the program.

• Pill bug – A small land crustacean that curls into a ball as a defense mechanism.

• Pincher – The grasping claws found on crustaceans like lobsters and crabs.

• Pouch – A body part some animals use to carry or protect eggs or young.

• Roly-poly – A nickname for pill bugs, describing their ability to curl into a ball.

• Segmented – Describes bodies made of repeating parts, like the body of a pill bug.

• Shell – A hard covering found on many invertebrates; pill bugs have a shell-like exoskeleton for protection.

• Sow bug – A close relative of the pill bug that doesn’t curl into a ball.

• Woodlice – Another name for pill bugs; land-dwelling crustaceans with segmented bodies and hard exoskeletons.

🌐 Websites

• emilymorganbooks.com

  • 📑 Science and Reading Activities

  • 📑 Teaching through Trade Books: Roly-poly Pill Bugs

📚 Books & Publications

• Next Time You See a Pill Bug by Emily Morgan

• A Pill Bug's Life by John Himmelman

📰 Mote News

• Deep sea isopod (Bathynomus giganteus)

🖥️ Videos

• Read Aloud: Next Time You See a Pillbug

• Roly Polies Came From the Sea to Conquer the Earth | Deep Look