Students help construct our very own Rotting Log Habitat. We learned that a habitat is a place where an animal or plant naturally lives. A habitat provides water, food, shelter, and safety for its organism. We read A Log's Life and learned all about how animals, insects, and plants all use a rotting log. After reading A Log's Life, we learned about the different insects and bugs that will be living in our Rotting Log Habitat. Then came the fun part! We built our Rotting Log habitat together using the ELMO to project some of the critters. In our Rotting Log Habitat, we have millipedes, bess beetles, crickets, pill bugs, and tenebrio beetles along with pieces of rotting log, moss, and soil. We will continue to make scientific observations of our rotting log inhabitants!

Let's Learn a Little More...

Millipedes

Millipedes are often called ‘thousand leggers’ but they actually only have from 40 to 200 pair of legs. The can coil in a ball for protection. Millipedes are mostly active at night. They move very slowly but are good at digging.

Habitat: Live in moist, dark areas like under bark, logs, leaves, or rocks.

Look for: Long, cylindrical, 2 main sections (head and segmented trunk)

Diet: Decaying plants

Pill Bugs

Also known as the wood louse or the roly-poly bug. They are not an insect, but an isopod. An isopod is a bug with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed legs. They do not have a backbone. Pill bugs are eaten by many animals. They protect themselves by rolling into an armored ball.

Habitat: Live in moist areas, often living in soil and under decaying leaves, rocks, and dead logs in a forest

Look for: 3 basic body parts – head, thorax, and abdomen; 7 pairs of legs; light brown or dark gray

Diet: Eat decaying plants and animals and some living plantsc

Bess Beetles

Bess beetles are insects with a head, thorax, and abdomen, 3 pairs of legs, and one pair of antennae. They make homes by chewing tunnels in the logs. When Bess Beetles are disturbed, they produce a squeak by rubbing their forewings against their abdomen.

Habitat: Live under the surface of the ground, in trees, gardens, rotting logs, or wood piles.

Diet: Feed on microorganisms that live in decaying wood

Crickets

Crickets are jumping insects. Male crickets make a loud chirping sound by rubbing their wings together. They have really big back legs, which help them leap up to three feet. Many crickets are nocturnal and are most active at night.

Habitat: Live under rocks and logs in fields and meadows

Look for: a small black or brown insect with long antennae

Diet: dead insects, fungi, and young plants