GET THE BUGS OUT!!!
W HY INSECTS ?
 Easily capture student
attention and interest
 Relevant to lives of
students
 Versatile-can be used
to reinforce wide range
of science concepts and
skills
 Budget-friendly
(inexpensive or free!)
S CIENTIFIC M ETHOD AND
E XPERIMENTAL D ESIGN
 Mississippi
2010
Science
Framework
 Apply inquiry-
based and
problem-solving
processes and skills
to scientific
investigations.
S CIENTIFIC M ETHOD AND
E XPERIMENTAL D ESIGN

Making Observations

Forming Hypotheses

Identifying Variables
(independent, dependent,
controlled)

Experimental and Control
Groups

Writing Clear Procedures

Collecting Data/Graphing
Results

Forming Conclusions
F LOUR B EETLES

Tribolium castaneum (red
flour beetle) and
Tribolium confusum
(confused flour beetle,
black)

Very low maintenance

Cultures can be kept
indefinitely in jars of flour

Need no water, produce
water metabolically
through cellular
respiration
F LOUR B EETLE E XPERIMENTS
 Long-term experiment
on food preference of
flour beetles from Univ.
of KY Entomology
http://www.uky.edu/Ag
/Entomology/ythfacts/re
sourc/tcherpln/flbeetle.
pdf
 The Effect of
Temperature on the
Metamorphosis of Flour
Beetles (complete
metamorphosis, life
cycle varies 7 to 12
weeks)
F LOUR B EETLE E XPERIMENTS

The Effect of Different
Colors on Flour Beetle
Attraction (are flour
beetles color blind?)

Interspecific competition
(when placed together
with limited resources,
does one species of flour
beetle affect the survival of
the other species)

Let students design their
own experiments
(experimental design
template)
A NT L ION L ARVAE
(D OODLEBUGS )
 Order ant lion larvae
from
www.antlionden.com
or collect your own in
sandy areas
 Observation:
Have
students place ants or
flour beetles in the
cone-shaped pit and
watch what happens.
A NT L ION L ARVAE
(D OODLEBUGS )
A NT L ION L ARVAE
(D OODLEBUGS )

Guided inquiry: What
factors affect the size of
ant lion pits?

Students form hypotheses
and design experiments
to test different factors
such as type of substrate
(sand, grits, flour, potting
soil, sugar), depth of
substrate, size of
container, size of ant lion,
etc.
A NT L ION L ARVAE
(D OODLEBUGS )

Most groups hypothesize
that the size of the pit is
determined by the size of
the ant lion or by the
texture of the substance

Use guided inquiry to
have at least one group
test frequency of feeding

Answer: the size of the
pit is determined by how
hungry the ant lion is!
M ADAGASCAR H ISSING
C OCKROACHES

Gromphadorhina
portentosa, native of
Madagascar

2-4 inches at maturity

Low maintenance specimen

Eggs fertilized in egg case
(ootheca) which hatch
inside female’s body
(appear to be live birth)

Adults care for and protect
young
M ADAGASCAR H ISSING
C OCKROACH E XPERIMENTS

The Effect of
Temperature on the
Growth Rate of the
Madagascar Hissing
Cockroach

Nature vs. Nurture
(cockroaches with similar
DNA grow at different
rates based on
environment)

Extension: Is it possible
to “catch-up” from
stunted growth?
M ADAGASCAR H ISSING
C OCKROACH E XPERIMENTS
M ADAGASCAR H ISSING
C OCKROACH I NVESTIGATIONS
 Incomplete
metamorphosis
 Mating Behavior
 Sexual Dimorphism
 Territorial Behavior
 Food Preference
 Other ideas in FOSS
materials
O THER I NSECTS S UGGESTED
F OR EXPERIMENTS
Painted Lady
Butterflies or
Mealworms
(complete
metamorphosis)
Milkweed Bugs
(incomplete
metamorphosis)
E XPERIMENTAL D ESIGN K ITS
WARD’S Using Nasonia
to Teach the Scientific
Method Lab Activity


WARD’S Sci “Ant” ific
Method Lab Activity
Nasonia vitripennis

Harvester Ants
(jewel wasp) and
Sarcophaga (flesh fly)
pupae

Design Experiments to
Study the Behavior of
Highly-Socialized
Animals
Symbiotic relationship
(parasitism)
TAXONOMY
BIOLOGY I


MS 2010 Science Framework
Competency 6. Demonstrate
an understanding of
principles that explain the
diversity of life and
biological evolution.
a. Draw conclusions about
how organisms are classified
into a hierarchy of groups
and subgroups based on
similarities that reflect their
evolutionary relationships.
BIOLOGY II

MS 2010 Science Framework
Competency 5. Develop an
understanding of organism
classification.

a. Classify organisms
according to traditional
Linnaean classification
characteristics (e.g., cell
structure, biochemistry,
anatomy, fossil record,
methods of reproduction)
and the cladistic approach
TAXONOMY
 Insect collections can
be done in spring or
fall
 Have students collect,
pin and classify 30
adult insects from a
minimum of 10 orders
 Equipment, nets and
reusable collection
boxes available at
www.bioquip.com
TAXONOMY

Insect collections are
excellent practice using
dichotomous keys for
identification and
classification

Learn the 10 major orders of
insects to begin and look up
the rest in identification
guides

Great online dichotomous
key to the Top 10 Insect
Orders
http://www.backyardnature.
net/in_order.htm
BUG DAY!!!
F ORENSIC E NTOMOLOGY

WARD’S Critters on
Cadavers: A Forensic
Entomology Lab Activity

Students will first observe
and record how various
factors influence the
development of an insect’s
life cycle, then apply this
information to a crime scene
scenario in order to estimate
the time of death, if the body
was moved, possible
suspect/victim interactions,
and create a timeline for the
sequence of appearance for
each species found on the
body.
M USE
OF F IRE

UMMC Base Pair/SOAR/RBI and
Princeton Satellite Learning Center
Summer Research Institute for Teachers

Application deadline May 31, 2011

5 Modules using Red Imported Fire Ants

http://basepair.library.umc.edu/sri/Moun
ds%20of%20FunMuse%20of%20Fire%20Project.pdf
M USE OF F IRE : M ODULE 1
M USE
OF
F IRE M ODULES
Module 2 Toxicology
Explorer (crickets)
Module 3 Health and
Human Impact of Red
Imported Fire Ants
M USE
OF
F IRE M ODULE 4
“Life Within the
Flame…Using
PCR to
Determine the
Presence of the
Symbiotic
Bacterium –
Wolbachia in the
Red Imported
Fire Ant”
M USE
OF
F IRE M ODULE 5
Microarray
Simulations
Using
Simulated
Red Imported
Fire Ant
Venom
C ONTACT I NFORMATION

If you would like more information about any
of activities in this presentation or the UMMC
Summer Research Institute, feel free to contact
me:

Denise Thibodeaux

Cathedral School, 701 MLK Street, Natchez
MS 39120 (601) 442-2531
Denise.Thibodeaux@cathedralgreenwave.com

Home (601)927-4218 Denise8166@gmail.com