Water striders ... amazing aquatic acrobats or ferocious predators? Introduce life science scholars to these tough little insects using an engaging video. The narrator explains the strider's ability to walk on water and how it uses this skill to take advantage of less-agile insects.

Concepts

water molecules, surface tension, predators, predator-prey relationships, properties of water, insects, animal adaptations

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Add the resource to a unit on animal adaptations
• Use the video to illustrate insect anatomy and behavior

Classroom Considerations

• Give younger learners some insight on the properties of water molecules and hydrogen bonding to help them understand how surface tension works

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Video takes viewers up close to see how the water strider catches and eats its prey
• See the strider at the microscopic level to understand how the tiny hairs on its body keep it from breaking the water's surface
  

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.6.2 SL.7.2 SL.9-10.2