Dime cómo comes y te diré quién eres: Una experiencia didáctica para conocer los aparatos bucales de los insectos

This is an educational proposal for elementary school students based on the use of ana- logies and play activities as educational tools for the study of insect mouthparts and their functions. Through it, we sought to promote knowledge of the different kinds of insect mouthparts in relation to their feeding habits, to spark students’ curiosity, and to encourage their observation skills at macro- and microscopic scales. By using analogies, relationships among the different kinds of mouthparts and elements commonly known by children were established. For a detailed observation of mouthparts’ structures, magnifying glasses were used. Finally, a relay race where students played the role of insects was performed employing the objects that had been used in the analogies.