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Materials:
Baking pan
plasticene/clay
2 sticks
any web spinning spider

Procedure:

Children catch many things while outside. Catch a web spinning spider with a large jar and a piece of cardboard. Once caught, bring it to the room.

Fill a baking dish about half way with water. Take two chunks of plasticene/clay and put at either end of the baking tray. Put a stick in each of the two clay chunks. Be sure that the stick is over the water, and not leaning towards the outer edge of the pan.

Carefully let the spider onto one of the sticks. Since spiders do not like water, the spider will spin a web between the two sticks!

Allow the children to predict what type of web it will spin, and have them record observations in their journal. Be sure to follow up on the children's questions, such as: "What would happen if we put two spiders in the same area?" or "What would happen if we did not use water?"

Many thanks to Valerie Teall for sharing this lesson with me! Need more information? Try the terrific book, "Creepy Crawlies" and the Scientific Method.

E-Mail Amy!