Discover Insects

Insects are everywhere. In fact, there are more insects than any other type of animal on earth. This is true no matter how you measure their numbers – in terms of individuals or species. One scientist calculated that for every person on earth, there are about 200 million insects alive at any one time. More than 75% of all the named animal species are insects and there are millions of insect species yet to be discovered, named and classified!

Learning Guides

Below are free learning guides to jump-start your nature discovery!

Exploring Rainforests 
Exploring Coral Reefs 
Coral Reef Nature Notes 
Coral Reef Coloring Sheet
Hummingbird Food Plants for Bay Area Landscapes 
Que es un Artropoda
The Importance of Insects and Their Arthropod Relatives

Insect Activity Sheets

Insect Coloring Sheet
Ecosystems & Insects Lab
Classifying Arthropods
Bugs in the System Recipes
Backyard Biodiversity
Federally Endangered and Threatened Species of Arthropods
Insect Safari/Bilingual English/Spanish
Common Bay Area Butterflies and their foodplants

Insect Fact Sheets 

Insect Fact Sheet Sources
Anise Swallowtail Butterfly/Bilingual English/Spanish
Buckeye Butterfly
Mission Blue Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly/Bilingual English/Spanish
Honey Bee
Western Bumble Bee Pocket Guide
Eastern Bumble Bee Pocket Guide
Bumble Bee Pocket Guide  
Everyman's Guide to Carpenter Bees
Everyman's Guide to Mason Bees
House Cricket/Bilingual English/Spanish
Yellow Mealworm Beetle/Bilingual English/Spanish
Jerusalem Cricket 
Termites
Madagascar Hissing Roach 

Other Arthropod Fact Sheets
American Brown Recluse Spider
California Tarantula
Calisoga Spider
Orb Weaver Spiders
Western Black Widow
Sowbug, Pillbug/Bilingual English/Spanish
Scorpion
Millipedes/Milpies bilingual

News Articles about the Insect Discovery Lab 

Insects and the World Under Your Feet

"Learning to Love Insects"   Time for Kids, 2010 
“Center targets kids before bugs ‘uncool’” Contra Costa Sun, 2006
“Getting Creepy for a Cause” SF Chronicle, 2005
“Tiburon Pupils Bug-eyed Over Insects” Marin Independent Journal, 1999