Lessons & Resources for Educators
Download This Lesson: CAUTION: Chemicals
Brief Description: Students will use this lesson to understand cause and effect by seeing how chemicals can spread through soil as well as endanger plants and animals. They will conduct an experiment, observe, and draw conclusions as to why chemicals should not be the first choice when it comes to controlling pests.
Download This Lesson: Sharing the Planet
Brief Description: Students will be able to identify some of the important roles insects play on the earth as well as identify insects that are harmful and helpful to the environment. Students will be able to graph the different types of insects and play games using a bingo board.
Download This Lesson: What is IPM?
Focus Areas: Pest Control; Science, Language Arts
Focus Skills: evaluating data, making generalizations, forming conclusions
Objective
To understand the purpose and methods of Integrated Pest Management, IPM
Essential Questions
What is IPM?
Essential Understanding
IPM is a program to reduce the use of chemicals to control pests.
Background
Because excessive use of chemicals poses an environmental threat, alternate solutions to pest control are both practical and necessary. IPM makes use of multiple tactics to control pests. These include biological, physical or mechanical, cultural, and regulatory controls. Chemical pest control is used only when less … view full description & alignments
Download This Lesson: Hopper Hunt
Brief Description: Students must be very involved in this lesson where they will conduct a scientific simulation, analyze, and evaluate data. In conducting this simulation students will understand the migration and life cycle pattern of a “key alfalfa pest.”
Download This Lesson: Everybody Is Somebody’s Lunch
Brief Description: Students will research, observe, compare and contrast, and discuss the food chain and how pest management can affect them. They will determine how living things are connected and in what ways as well as the overlap of different food chains and webs.
Download This Lesson: There’s a Wiser Way
Focus Areas: Integrated Pest Management (IPM); Science, Language Arts, Graphic Arts
Focus Skills: summarizing, understanding the main idea
Objectives
Essential Question
How can Integrated Pest Management reduce the use of chemicals in managing pests?
Essential Understandings
Background
IPM offers a scientific approach as well as an alternative to … view full description & alignments
Download This Lesson: Bug Buster
Brief Description: Students will research, observe, and read for information on pest control, and nature’s food chain. Using this information students will understand and recognize that bats and other natural predators help control insect population and in doing so will find a deeper understanding of nature’s food chain.
Download This Lesson: Nature’s Bug Zappers
Brief Description: Students will learn about natural pest management to protect from overpopulation. They will be able to look at the advantages and disadvantages of different types of insects and learn about their life cycles. Students will also be able to act out different scenarios involving insects.
Download This Lesson: Pushy Plants
Brief Description: Students will learn that all living things depend on plants and that plants that “overgrow” will threaten their habitat. They will also learn about invasive and endangered species of plants. Using their new vocabulary, students will play games and talk about methods to control these species.
Download The Lesson: Soil Is Not Trivial
Brief Description: Using facts about the Dust Bowl, students write questions and playa trivia activity focused around the establishment of a national soil conservation program and the importance of soil. Students then explore and/or develop a plan to address a local soil conservation issue.
