Author: Dan Rubinoff

SUBJECTS ADDRESSED: Biology or Environmental Science

LESSON PURPOSE OR GOAL:

The purpose of this module is to increase student awareness of biodiversity by defining the term and allowing them to do comparative biodiversity surveys. Students will learn to use an internet key to identify insects that they have caught in two different habitats. They will then compare the biodiversity of the two areas they have sampled and discuss the implications of the difference in diversity. Students will use the internet, vocabulary appropriate to the topic and will write reports using the scientific method and critical thinking skills. In advance of this module students will have used the insect Anatomy module which will familiarize them with internal and external structures that will be refered to in the internet key used in this module.  

APPROX. CLASS TIME NEEDED:

This module is a curriculum unit that may take anywhere from a 3 days to two weeks.

MATERIALS:

• multiple internet capable computers
• insect collecting material (nets, bug boxes, forceps, microscopes - optional)

PROCEDURE:

• Teacher will read to students regarding instructions for and goals of Biodiversity project. TIME: 20 minutes
• Students will collect at least 20 insects per habitat using nets and jars in at least two different habitats (creekside, open meadow, wooded lot, etc. - shorter versions of this module could visit just one site).
• Students will keep field journals of what insects they saw, what the insect was doing when they caught it and details like weather and location that they will refer to in their final report. TIME: (depending on proximity of habitats an official field trip may be required) two hours-all day field trip.
• Insects may be prepared in a scientific fashion or identified in the collecting jars (depending on depth teacher desires). TIME :2 hours
• Back in the classroom students will use the CityBugs insect key and terminology learned in the Anatomy module to identify the insects they have captured. TIME: 2-3 hours
• Students will compile comparative lists for the sites they visited and may do simple statistics to determine significance of results. TIME: 1 hour
• Students will write a report in which they describe the two areas they sampled and the kinds and abundance of insects they found in the site, including the number of species found in both areas. They will use traditional scientific methodology to describe their hypotheses, observations and conclusions. Finally they may extrapolate from their data and discuss the implications of their findings-why was an area less or more diverse? what could we do to make an area more diverse? Is that necessarily a good thing? (unique species may only exist in low diversity areas), and other issues that students found important from their findings. TIME: (varies on homework assigned and depth of investigation) 2-4 hours.

ASSESSMENT:

By reviewing student reports instructors will be able to assess the use of new vocabulary, scientific methodology, and internet expertise the students have acquired. A before and after “Test your knowledge” webpage will be designed for each module whereby students would be required to answer questions about what they have learned and a score calculated based on their answers. As a method of encouragement student knowledge could be assigned to an insect order based on the number of correct answers, ie very high scoring students would be “Lepidoptera” (butterfly) class entomologists, lower scores would be “Aphids” , etc...pictures of each insect would appear on screen with the students scores.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Create a virtual bug collection on the web page with digital photos and information on bugs collected at each participating school site. Each school can have its own drawer. Students can compare bugs found in different parts of Oakland. Potential expansion of this virtual bug collection (via e-mail) could happen with schools around California and even US or other countries, each having a drawer of their own.