1. Topic-
Types of Spider Webs
 
2. Content-
Students will learn about the different types of spider webs including: orb, funnel, tangle, and sheet, along with net-casting spiders and trapdoor spiders. Other key vocabulary: Silk, predator, prey
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1. Students will be able to explain why spiders make webs (Anchor Descriptor - S3.B.2.1: Identify and describe characteristics of plants and animals that help with their survival.)
2. Students will be able to explain the features of different types of webs and how the spider uses those features (Anchor Descriptor - S3.B.2.1: Identify and describe characteristics of plants and animals that help with their survival.)
3. Students will be able to identify differences in types of spider webs (Anchor Descriptor - S3.B.1.1: Identify and describe the similarities and differences of living things and their life processes.)
 
4. Objectives-
1. Students will complete the Types of Spider Webs sheet, drawing each type of web as they look up resource images.
2. Students will create a drawing of one type of spider web on black paper with chalk.
3. Students will compose a sentence about their chosen type of web.
 
5. Materials and Aids-
black paper, chalk, white paper (to be made into Types of Spider Webs sheet), pencils, copy of Charlotte's Web, computer with Internet access, projector, or other technology with Internet access, such as tablets.
 
6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1. Teacher will read a selection from Charlotte's Web, from Chapter 5, where Wilbur meets Charlotte and watches her catch a fly
2. Ask students, what did the passage tell you about spider webs? Have a student write down responses on the board.
3. Ask students, what are webs made from? Explain that spiders make several different kinds of silk to build their webs.
4. Ask students, why do spiders make webs?
 

B. Development-

1. Explain that spiders are predators. Ask students to name other kinds of predators.
2. Ask students how other predators catch their prey. Do spiders catch their prey that way?
3. Most spiders wait for their prey and use their webs as a trap. Are there other predators that trap their prey?
 

C. Practice-

1. Have students pass out white and pencils. Explain that the class will be looking on the Internet for pictures of the different kinds of spider webs.
2. Have the class divide their white paper into 6 boxes, one for each type of spider web.
3. Begin with Orb spider webs. Using technology with Internet access, search for images of orb spider webs (if using tablets, this activity can be done in small groups, providing each group with the list of six web-types). Ask students if they look familiar. Ask students to point out the shapes they see and to draw their own version of the web on their paper.
4. Continue with funnel webs, then tangle webs, and sheet webs.
5. Explain that the last two sections are for spiders that use their webs in a different way. Net-casting spiders make small webs and throw them at their prey.
6. Trapdoor spiders use their silk to build their trapdoor at the top of a tunnel and leap out to surprise their prey.
 

D. Independent Practice-

1. When students have finished all six boxes of their Types of Spider Webs sheet, ask students to pick one type of spider web. They will be drawing this type of web with chalk on black paper and writing a sentence about that particular type of web. Their sentence must name the type of web and describe how a spider uses it. (ex: A spider hides in the back of a funnel web to catch its prey.)
2. Have students work independently on drawings and sentences.
3. Collect work when completed.
 

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

1. Students can work with a partner to complete the Types of Spider Webs sheet.
2. Assistive technology can be used to view the images being used as examples, to complete the types of spider webs sheet or to draw and type the chosen spider web and sentence.
3. Students may dictate their sentence to the teacher.
4. Students who finish early can complete another drawing and sentence about a different type of web.
 

F. Checking for understanding-

1. Evaluate the types of spider webs sheet for completeness and distinction between the types of webs.
2. Evaluate the drawings and sentences for distinct features. Did the type of web chosen for the drawing match the type in the sentence? Did the child include the type of web in their sentence? Did their sentence describe how a spider uses the web?
3. Display the completed drawings and sentences. Share a few of the drawings and sentences and explain how strong sentences were descriptive.
 

G. Closure-

Share a few of the drawings and sentences with the class.
 
7. Evaluation-
Completion of spider fact book at the end of the unit, which will include some of the web drawings and sentences, as well as the types of spider webs sheets.
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)