We typically think of ghosts and goblins on Halloween, right?
Plenty of creepy creatures really roam our world and cause a similar type of fright all year long. For some of us, when you know you’re in the presence of a spider, but you don’t know where it is, you might be slightly afraid. For those that dare, try to find the spider in the web below:

Photograph by Matjaz Kuntner
Would you keep looking if you knew the creature that built that web was this orb spider?

This week, have your students take a look at National Geographic Education‘s insect collection to learn about the creepy crawlers that some of our explorers have encountered in their travels. Have them imagine what it would be like to explore a shadowy place, fully aware—or not fully aware!—that something with fangs, like this deadly funnel-web spider, may be lurking nearby. Talk about bravery, and how even these creatures deserve respect, awareness, and protection. They’re a part of the ecosystem, too!

Photograph by Nick Moir, MyShot
Getting bitten by a funnel-web spider sounds very scary! But it would also be scary to encounter this small creature: a vampire bat!

Photograph by Bruce Dale, National Geographic
But, remember that not all spiders and bats are scary—most are harmless to humans. Take this tarantula, for example. Its larger-than-life appearance in movies and books has given us plenty of reasons to fear its hairy legs and monstrous body. But really, this creature is just as scared of us as we are of it.

Have some fun with your students this week, when ghosts and goblins are on their minds. Weave in some lessons about the real things that creep us out! What other lessons about the natural world can you bring into your classroom during Halloween?
TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT
Nat Geo Education collection: Insects
Nat Geo Education article: Small Spiders, Big Mysteries
Nat Geo Education spotlight: Funnel-web Fangs
Nat Geo Education photo: Bloodthirsty Creatures
National Geographic collection: Tarantulas
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