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Creepy Crawly Critters in Your Backyard: Environmental Interpretation Program

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Creepy Crawly Critters in Your Backyard: Environmental Interpretation Program Creepy Crawly Critters in Your Backyard: Environmental Interpretation Program Last Revised: November 13, 2006 Program Architects: William Gosnell ([email protected]) Lincoln Larson ([email protected]) Alina Ruiz ([email protected]) Program Overview: This program is designed to provide a framework that will help children observe, explore, and understand wildlife and ecosystems in their neighborhood. The program consists of three separate 90 minute lessons, each emphasizing the unique biology and ecological importance of underappreciated animal taxa (invertebrates, amphibians, and reptiles) through live animal encounters and other educational activities. Purpose: Students will learn to appreciate invertebrates, amphibians, and reptiles, and be able to identify how these animals interact with humans in local and global ecosystems. Implementation: We designed this program for 3rd – 6th grade students, but the activities serve as guidelines that can be adapted for younger or older audiences. While each individual day can function as an independent lesson, we recommend that the program is implemented over the course of three weeks. This repetition will allow ample time for reflection and reinforce important take-home messages regarding conservation and the environment. The program was designed for a group of approximately 20 students and 4 staff, but these numbers may vary. Due to the nature of the activities and live animal interpretations, however, we recommend that the student:staff ratio not exceed 10:1. Please contact the Program Architects or the State Botanical Garden (contact below) for more information. The program was originally created for use in the State Botanical Garden’s after-school enrichment program at Oasis Catolico Santa Rafaela (North Athens, GA), but can be implemented anywhere. Program materials (listed in the outlines) will be stored at the State Botanical Garden under the direction of Anne Shenk: Anne Shenk, Director of Education State Botanical Garden of Georgia [email protected] 706-542-6158 For additional information regarding outreach opportunities at local schools, contact: Scott Connelly, Eco-Reach Coordinator, UGA Institute of Ecology [email protected] 706-255-5155 Important contact information for live animal providers appears below and in the individual lesson outlines: -Invertebrates: University of Georgia Entomology Club: Aubree Roche, Insect Curator ([email protected]) Nathan Lord, 2006 President ([email protected]) Marianne Robinette, Outreach Coordinator ([email protected]) -Amphibians/Reptiles: University of Georgia Herpetological Society (UGHS) Dr. John Maerz, Herpetology Professor ([email protected]) Andrew Durso, 2006 President of UGHS ([email protected]) Scott Connelly, Eco-Reach Coordinator ([email protected]) Content Standards: The “Creepy Crawly Critters in Your Backyard” program content supports the following curricula modules for the State Botanical Garden’s Garden Earth Naturalists Program: 1. Food Production 2. Pest & Disease Control 3. Pollination 4. Soil & Recycling 5. Warehouse (Biodiversity) 6. Water Purification And meets the following Georgia Performance Standards for Science: 3rd Grade Concepts: -habitats -soils -pollution/conservation -Georgia wildlife 4th Grade Concepts: -ecosystems -food web -adaptation/survival 5th Grade Concepts: -classification 6th Grade Concepts: -interactions: human impacts on Earth Acknowledgements: The Program Architects would like to thank the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, the Oasis Catolico Santa Rafaela, the UGA Entomology Club, and the UGHS for their cooperation with this project. Creepy Crawly Critters in Your Backyard Day 1 – Invertebrates (90 minute program) Materials: Posters: Insects have... poster and words, Invertebrate ID poster and animal pictures, Inside an Earthworm poster, Watch Out! Poster Handouts: Common Invertebrate Field Guide Props: leaf litter and rock for soil mixture, multiple insect products (see list below), bug boxes and magnifying glasses (available at State Botanical Garden). Animals: all animals provided by the University of Georgia Entomology Club, contact: -Aubrey Roche, Insect Curator ([email protected]) -Nathan Lord ([email protected]) -Marianne Robinette ([email protected]) Hook (5 minutes): Show kids a tarantula. Ask them what they notice about the spider. How does it make them feel? Are there spiders like that in our neighborhood? How is the spider different from us? Spiders, like many creepy crawly critters we see every day, are invertebrates. Intro (5 minutes): What is an invertebrate? Break down the word (in = not, vertebrae/vertebrate = relating to backbone). An invertebrate is animal that does not have backbone, or skeleton inside their bodies. Are we invertebrates? No, feel your spine. Is a dog an invertebrate? A horse? A fish? etc. (Show example skeletons if they’re available). Today, we’re going to meet some different types of invertebrates and learn: 1. how to recognize insects in your neighborhood 2. how insects and other invertebrates help us To do this, we’re going to split into two teams of scientists. Team 1 – Invertebrate Investigation (25 minutes): Materials: insect specimen boxes and live invertebrates, Insects have... poster and words, Invertebrate ID poster/animal pictures/answer key Purpose: Learn to observe, identify, and appreciate cool features of invertebrates. Intro: Have you seen any invertebrates in your neighborhood? There are millions of invertebrate species on earth. Because the group is so large and diverse (use insect specimens boxes to illustrate this if they’re available), scientists break up the invertebrates into smaller groups, or classes. In order to understand these animals, you have to be able to observe (define if necessary). Scientists make observations every day. In this station, you’ll become entomologists (insect scientists) that observe and identify cool invertebrates. Can you name some types of invertebrates? Here’s a detailed list of possible answers: -insects -echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins) -mollusks (snail, clam, octopus) -have a soft body (often a shell), muscular foot and/or tentacles -annelids (earthworm) -have a long segmented body with tiny leg-like appendages on every segment -arachnids (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites) -have eight legs and 2 body parts (cephalothorax, abdomen), no antennae, simple eyes, biting/piercing jaws -myriopods (millipeds, centipedes) -more than 18 legs -crustaceans (crayfish, crabs, shrimp, pillbugs) -segmented body with hardened shell, 7+ legs/appendages, 2 pairs of antennae, breathe through gills (mostly found in water) Are all invertebrates insects? No, but insects are the largest group of invertebrates (over 1 million species and more are discovered every day). Did you know that social insects represent 20% of the entire animal biomass on Earth? If you had a giant scale and weighed all the humans on earth and all the ants, the ants would be much heavier! Insects can be found everywhere, including Antarctica! Let’s think about the features that make an insect an insect. Activity 1: Review characteristics common to all insects using Insects have... diagram. Insects have: -6 jointed legs -exoskeleton -3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen) -a pair of antennae on head -compound eyes Split kids into mini-groups and give each group a set (3-5) of invert pictures. Tell them that, in order to qualify as true entomologists and touch live invertebrates, they have to people to tell an insect apart from other invertebrates. Have them decide if their animals are insects or not, then work together as a class to determine which inverts belong in which category on the Invertebrate ID board. If time allows, you can review all major the invertebrate classes. Once the challenge is complete, move on... Activity 2: Meet some invertebrates. Work together and decide if each animal is an insect or not. Discuss cool facts (refer to insect providers) and answer any questions. Specific inverts available may vary, but might include: -bess beetles -scorpion -vinegaroon -hissing cockroaches -praying mantis (with feeder crickets – great way to illustrate food chain) -Chilean rose-haired tarantula Take home message: Carefully observing animals helps us learn more about them. Insects are cool, not scary! Team 2 – Benefits of Insects (25 minutes): Materials: worms, millipedes, leaf litter and rock for soil mixture, multiple insect products (see list below), Inside an Earthworm poster, Watch Out! poster Purpose: Kids recognize the importance of insects in our everyday lives. Intro: Invertebrates may be small, but they help us in many ways. Can you think of any? -pollination -pest control -food chain -decomposition In this station, we’ll discover many ways insects are important to humans. Activity 1: Insect Product Relay: Split into two teams, and arrange about 10 items on a table. One at a time kids run over, pick out an item they think comes from insects and return to their group. (Run carefully, one dropped item = forfeit). Make the kids justify their choices and establish connections to the insect world, then reveal the true answers. Be careful, some are very tricky. Insect product options include: -strawberry preserves (bees and other insect pollination) -honey (bees) -jello (red dye additive carminic acid (ice cream, candy, yogurt, etc.) comes from crushed scale insects that live in Central/South America -silk tie (silk from silkworm cocoons) -leather belt (tannic acid from insect galls used to make leather) -orange (bees and other insect help with
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