Summary
A cockroach can be squished nearly flat and scurry away unharmed. Deep Look tests a roach against a press and reveals the flexible, jointed exoskeleton that lets its body squeeze through cracks and bounce back.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A cockroach's hard-but-flexible outer shell -- its exoskeleton -- can bend and splay without breaking. That structure lets the roach flatten into thin gaps and shrug off a squeeze.
- What is it about a cockroach's body that lets it survive being squished?
- How does being able to flatten help a roach in its habitat?
- Why is a flexible shell better for a roach than a stiff, brittle one?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: exoskeleton, structure, flexible, survive.
Try it: Try to slide a stiff card and a bendy card through a narrow slot. Write why a flexible body helps a roach fit through cracks.