What is the biggest difference between us and BUGS?
Probably the biggest difference outside is... well, you guys were right! There are plenty of differences outside - PLENTY! Let us count some of the ways:
| US | THEM | WHO SAID SO |
| 2 legs (Mammals) | 6 Legs (Hexapod) |
R.R. 45,
from Whittier & Gladstone in Kansas City S.R., 5 from Alameda Elementary in Portland, OR A.C.,17 from Columbia High School in White Salmon, WA C.R., 8, from Adrian Elementary School in South Euclid, OH |
| 2 really complex eyes | 2 Compound eyes and often 3 ocelli, or "simple" eyes - they're not always simple!) |
M., 9,
from St. Raphael School in Medford, MA A.C.,17 from Columbia High School in White Salmon, WA |
|
Nose smell breathe |
No nose smell - antennae and feet breathe - spiracles or gills (aquatic) |
|
|
No Antennae But sometimes some pretty unusual hairdos! |
Antennae ("antennas"
is okay, too) Smell, taste, feel, and even Communicate |
A.Z., 13 from Wilson Middle School in Appleton, WI |
|
Bones
on the inside to provide: support for body protection for internal organs site for muscle attachment |
An
exoskeleton on the outside same functions as our skeleton made of protein called chitin (kïtën) |
M.P., 16
from Avoca Central in Avoca, NY M.C., 13 from Hagley School in New Zealand (We think) S., 15 from Palmer, AK R.J., 26 from Bowling Green State University in Ohio |
| No wings | Four wings (with few exceptions) | P.R. (not Mantis), 5, from Anderson Elementary in Yigo, GU(?) |
| Pretty | Ugly | BUGMAN |
| Ugly | Pretty | P.R. Mantis |
| Three main body parts Head Thoracic trunk Abdominal cavity |
Three
main body parts Head Thorax Abdomen |
A.Z., 13 from Wilson Middle School in Appleton, WI |
And there are some pretty big differences inside, too:
| US | THEM | WHO SAID SO |
|
Bones Give structure and support Protect soft body tissues Site for muscle attachment |
No Bones - Exoskeleton on
outside Gives structure and support Protects soft body tissues Site for muscle attachment |
M.P., 16
from Avoca Central in Avoca, NY M.C., 13 from Hagley School in New Zealand (We think) S., 15 from Palmer, AK R.J., 26 from Bowling Green State University in Ohio |
|
Mouth-Esophagus-Stomach- Intestines-Anus |
Mouth-Esophagus-Stomach- Intestines-Anus |
|
|
Blood Carries Oxygen Transports Hormones Takes digested food energy to body tissues Takes wastes from body tissues |
Hemolymph Doesn't carry Oxygen Transports Hormones Takes digested food energy to body tissues Takes wastes from body tissues |
|
| We keep our bodies warm with much of the energy we get from food (that's why we eat so much) | Their body temperature changes based on their surrounding. They need to always worry about staying warm enough (but on hot days, their "blood" is warmer than ours!) |
A.C.,17
from Columbia High School in White Salmon, WA |
| Air goes into lungs through windpipe (Trachea), to lungs, then into the blood and to the body tissues. | Air goes in through the Spiracles, then through tubes called Trachea and directly to the body's tissues - it never goes into the blood (Hemolymph) |
And here are a few other interesting answers.....
S. W. Age: 16 From the Cresset Christian Academy in
Durham, NC said: I think that bugs are more sensitive that us. They can do
thing that we wish that we could do.
T.S. Age 22 From the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC
said: Bugs are gross. I am not. (maybe we should have a vote on the
BUG-Poll!)
L.N., Age: 14 from Robert Frost Middle School in Markham IL said: The difference is that we live longer without food than bugs do because that's how God made us to be different from bugs. And while that may be true both bugs and people, without food or water, would die of thirst before they starved to death! Some insects have been known to live months without food. According to the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records:
Doctors estimate a well-nourished individual can survive without medical consequences on a diet of sugar and water for 30 days or more. The longest period for which anyone has gone without solid food is 382 days by Angus Barbieri (b. 1940) of Tayport, Fife, who lived on tea, coffee, water, soda water and vitamins in Maryfield Hospital, Dunde, Angus from June 1965 to July 1966. His weight declined from 214.1 kg to 80.74 kg.
The longest recorded case of survival without food and water is 18 days by Andreas Mihavecz, then 18, of Bregenz, Austria who was put into a holding cell on 1 Apr 1979 in a local government building in Hochst, Austria but was totally forgotten by the police. On 18 Apr1979 he was discovered close to death having had neither food nor water. He had been a passenger in a crashed car. pg 19.