Focus on Insects Focus on Insects Focus on Insects Focus on Insects ♦ Whether you have a terrestrial or an aquatic ecosystem to explore, you will find a helpful lesson in these pages. Ralph Garono of Earth Design Consultants, Inc. teaches Corvallis High School students how to collect and identify aquatic insects. Benton Soil and Water Conservation District Making Ripples Newsletter Making Ripples Newsletter Making Ripples Newsletter Making Ripples Newsletter SEPTEMBER, 2009 SEPTEMBER, 2009 SEPTEMBER, 2009 SEPTEMBER, 2009 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 Inside this issue: Inside this issue: Inside this issue: Inside this issue: Collecting Insects 2 Bugs in the Classroom 2 Spotlight: Caddisflies 3 Water Quality Indicators 3 Insect Resources 3 Kids Day for Conservation 4 Web Corner 4 Upcoming Events 4 OSU’s BugZoo 4 Community Building for Water Quality B enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants are available for the ‘09-‘10 school year for funding major or minor efforts in natural resources education in Benton County. The deadline for application submission is 5 pm, Monday October 5, 2009. The grants are AVAILABLE to ALL AVAILABLE to ALL AVAILABLE to ALL AVAILABLE to ALL EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! If you want to engage students in the study of natural resources, we want to help you fulfill your dreams! Successful applications focus on some aspect of natural resources conservation and benefit students in Benton County. Please take advantage of this opportunity to enhance your educational offerings, especially if your request will help Benton SWCD reach new audiences. Our funds are limited, but we will be glad to partially fund efforts, so don’t be shy to apply! Apply for a Conservation Education Grant TODAY Last year, grant recipients requested between $100 and $5500, and received awards between $100 and $3000 for projects including native plants, a wood chipper, field guides and tools. To request a grant application, call Heath at 541- 753-7208 , e-mail [email protected], or download an application from our website: www.bentonswcd.org/teachers/ Please Note: Corvallis School District employees must use the Grant Accounting Checklist and receive approval for the application prior to submission. Contact Cindy Dagesse (cindy.dagesse@corvallis.k12.or.us) for more information. Insects All Around the School Grounds W hether your school has a stream, pond, garden, woods or just a building and parking lot, arthropods are living nearby, waiting to be studied. It’s fun and rewarding to teach science using arthropods: they are easy to find and interesting to observe; they can be used to meet standards and benchmarks including life science and science as inquiry. You may use these little friends to determine water quality, explain systems of classification, explore life cycles and demonstrate ecological principles. Insects can easily be used to explain the concepts of structure and function, camouflage, and interdependence of plants, animals and environment. Whether you teach kindergarteners or high school seniors, arthropods will help you meet your teaching objectives. That’s why this issue of Making Ripples is dedicated to arthropod lesson ideas and resources.
Transcript
Focus on InsectsFocus on InsectsFocus on InsectsFocus on Insects
♦ Whether you have a
terrestrial or an aquatic
ecosystem to explore, you
will find a helpful lesson in
these pages.
Ralph Garono of Earth Design Consultants, Inc. teaches Corvallis
High School students how to collect and identify aquatic insects.
Benton Soil and Water Conservation District
Making Ripples NewsletterMaking Ripples NewsletterMaking Ripples NewsletterMaking Ripples Newsletter
Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:
Collecting Insects 2
Bugs in the Classroom 2
Spotlight: Caddisflies 3
Water Quality Indicators 3
Insect Resources 3
Kids Day for Conservation 4
Web Corner 4
Upcoming Events 4
OSU’s BugZoo 4
Community Building for Water Quality
BBBB enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants enton SWCD Conservation Education Grants are available for the ‘09-‘10 school year for funding major or minor efforts in natural resources education in Benton County. The
deadline for application submission is 5 pm, Monday October 5, 2009. The grants are AVAILABLE to ALL AVAILABLE to ALL AVAILABLE to ALL AVAILABLE to ALL EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! EDUCATORS working in BENTON COUNTY! If you want to engage students in the study of natural resources, we want to help you fulfill your dreams! Successful applications focus on some aspect of natural resources conservation and benefit students in Benton County. Please take advantage of this opportunity to enhance your educational offerings, especially if your request will help Benton SWCD reach new audiences. Our funds are limited, but we will be glad to partially fund efforts, so don’t be shy to apply!
Apply for a Conservation Education Grant TODAY
Last year, grant recipients requested between $100 and $5500, and received awards between $100 and $3000 for projects including native plants, a wood chipper, field guides and tools. To request a grant application, call Heath at 541-753-7208 , e-mail [email protected], or download an application from our website: www.bentonswcd.org/teachers/ Please Note: Corvallis School District employees must use the Grant Accounting Checklist and receive approval for the application prior to submission. Contact Cindy Dagesse ([email protected]) for more information.
Insects All Around the School Grounds
WWWW hether your school has a stream, pond, garden, woods or just a building and parking lot, arthropods are living nearby, waiting to be studied. It’s fun and rewarding to teach science using arthropods: they are easy to find and interesting to observe; they can be used to meet
standards and benchmarks including life science and science as inquiry. You may use these little friends to determine water quality, explain systems of classification, explore life cycles and demonstrate ecological principles. Insects can easily be used to explain the concepts of structure and function, camouflage, and interdependence of plants, animals and environment. Whether you teach kindergarteners or high school seniors, arthropods will help you meet your teaching objectives. That’s why this issue of Making Ripples is dedicated to arthropod lesson ideas and resources.
Page 2 MMMMAKINGAKINGAKINGAKING R R R RIPPLESIPPLESIPPLESIPPLES N N N NEWSLETTEREWSLETTEREWSLETTEREWSLETTER
EEEE ven during flu season, it can be good to “catch a bug,” but only if it’s the insect type! Insects can be caught using a number of techniques that
select for bugs with different niches, or living in different habitats. Catch bugs that live in bushes and trees by using a beat sheetbeat sheetbeat sheetbeat sheet. Place a white sheet (or a specially constructed beat sheet) under the tree or bush to be harvested. Use a stick or a Wiffle Ball bat to beat the branches of the plant. Collect insects that are shaken loose on the beat sheet. A tool for collecting ground crawling bugs is the pitfall trappitfall trappitfall trappitfall trap. Pitfall traps can also be highly technical or constructed from objects found around the house. One method that BSWCD has used is to cut a Gatorade bottle so that only the straight sides and bottom remain. Invert the top and use as a funnel. Place a small Dixie cup in the bottom of the bottle. Dig a hole in the ground with the same diameter as the bottle, and place the trap in the hole so that the top of the trap is level with the ground. Bugs will fall into the trap and won’t be able to escape. Organisms that live in the soil or compost can be forced out of the soil with the use of a Berlese funnelBerlese funnelBerlese funnelBerlese funnel. Cut a 2 liter soda bottle so that the top third can be inverted and placed in the bottom portion like a funnel. Place a scoop of soil or compost into the funnel, then turn on a desk lamp directly above the top of the funnel. The heat from the lamp will dry the soil and make it unpleasant for the organisms, so they will migrate down into the catchment basin below the funnel. Using a bug suckerbug suckerbug suckerbug sucker, pooter, or insect aspirator, is a good way to catch flying insects. These handy contraptions can be constructed by students or purchased on-line. Directions for making bug suckers can be found at the following websites: www.amentsoc.org/bug-club/fun/experiment-pooter.html, or http://www.lemhicwma.org/images/How_to_Make_a_Bug_Sucker.doc, or just Google “how to make a bug sucker”. If you are studying a stream, use a D net (or kick net) D net (or kick net) D net (or kick net) D net (or kick net) to collect invertebrates that are floating downstream. They can also be used to collect organisms that are shaken loose when you or your students kick rocky substrate. Be sure not to kick or disturb gravel that could house a salmon egg nest, or “redd”. If you would like to study pollinators with your students, make bee bee bee bee
bundlesbundlesbundlesbundles to attract orchard mason bees. These nests can be made from
bamboo or by drilling 1/4” to 3/8 “ holes in a block of wood. Place nests
where they are sheltered from the worst weather. Place entrance holes
facing towards east or southeast (to get morning sun). Be sure that the
nest holes are horizontal. Bees emerge & fill nests from March to June.
Find out more at this website: http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/
documents/MasonBee.pdf.
Some of the simplest tools for insect collection include forcepsforcepsforcepsforceps and paintbrushespaintbrushespaintbrushespaintbrushes. Critters that can’t get away quickly can be gently lifted and placed in containers for study and observation. Try this method when studying insects found on decaying logs or under rocks. It’s also helpful for sorting aquatic insects.
Catching Arthropods Bugs in the Classroom:
Lifecycle Studies
TTTT he study of lifecycles is one
of the Oregon Department of Education’s Elementary School Standards.
A number of on-line catalogs offer insect larvae and cages for growing insects in your
classroom. Here are some ideas for using crickets, ant lions and butterflies with your students.
1) Crickets: Have students observe crickets in the
classroom. All the crickets won’t be chirping. Make hypotheses about why
some chirp and some don’t. Read The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle, a book about the sounds insects make and the reasons why. Insects make sounds to
find mates and to identify other members of the same species. Students will then practice these
insect skills for themselves: fill enough small, opaque canisters with different objects (like rice,
pennies, gravel) so that you have at least 4
groups of “rattles”. Hand these out to the students and have them find the other members
of their “species” by shaking their canisters as they move through the room. To follow up, make
Eric Carle style insect art with the class, focusing on insect anatomy. Visit this website for great
ideas: www.eric-carle.com/catexchange.html. 2) Ant Lions: Studying ant lions makes inquiry an
adventure! Ant lions are the larval stage of the doodlebug. They can remain in this larval stage
for up to three years. Ant lions create pits and hide in the bottom of their pits to capture prey.
Use the ant lion lesson plan found at http://cropandsoil.oregonstate.edu/gk12/
lessons_insects.htm. Students will practice making hypotheses and testing those hypotheses
based on observations of ant lion behavior.
3) Butterflies: Butterflies are a beautiful way to study metamorphosis. They change
visibly and completely between the four stages of their life cycle: egg,
larva (or caterpillar), pupa (or chrysalis) and adult (butterfly). Plant a
butterfly garden on your school grounds, or order a butterfly kit on-line if you
want to observe the butterfly lifecycle any time of year.
Where to get them: Order crickets from Carolina
Biological Supply Company (www.carolina.com/), butterflies and terraria from Acorn Naturalists
(www.acornnaturalists.com/) or from the Butterfly and Nature Gift Store (www.butterfly-gifts.com/), or ant
lions from antlionden.com.
AAAA quatic macroinvertebrates, or water-dwelling spineless creatures visible to the naked eye, can be
found in any local body of water. They aren’t just fun to observe, they can be used as indicators of water quality! Aquatic macros are typically divided into three categories, based on their sensitivity to the level of pollution. The categories are: Pollution Sensitive, Somewhat Pollution Tolerant, and Pollution Tolerant.
If you only find aquatic worms and leeches, two examples from the Pollution Tolerant group that can live in very poor quality water, then the stream may be in bad shape. However, if stoneflies and mayflies-which can only live in high quality water-are present, then the stream’s condition is much more promising! Visit our website (www.bentonswcd.org/teachers) to download a lesson plan and charts to use for an in-
the-class or in-the-field activity.
Studying Water Quality with
Aquatic Macroinvertebrates
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Let us know what we can do to help you study arthropods with your Benton
WWWW hat indicates clean water, spins a web, builds a case, and designs jewelry? Only the larva of the order Trichoptera can do all those things! Commonly referred to as caddisflies, about 1200 species live in North America. These amazing little creatures spend anywhere from a
few months to several years (most of their lives) in the larval stage. Five groups of caddisflies exist: 1)net-spinning: these critters build cases from mineral and organic components with nets spun from silk positioned at the opening to catch food as it floats downstream. 2)free-living: green, brown or grey, these larvae use their hooked pro-legs to attach directly to rocks. 3)tube-case: the most common group builds cases out of minerals or organic matter and carry their cases with them. Check the internet for tube-case caddis jewelry! 4)saddle-case: cases built with fine gravel are dome shaped and must be replaced as the larvae grow. 5)purse-case: these tiny larvae are also called microcaddis, and are free-living until their fifth developmental stage, or instar. In Benton County’s healthy streams, tube-case caddisflies abound. Since they require high levels of oxygen, their presence can be used as an indicator of stream water quality.
Book Nook Spotlight: Caddisfly Larva
Corvallis Benton County Public Library: keyword search for ‘arthropods’
For Elementary Students
•Incredible Insects (Ranger Rick's NatureScope Series), National Wildlife Federation
•We Like Bugs!, by Jolene Griffith
•On Beyond Bugs! All about Insects, by Tish Rabe
•Creepy Crawlies A to Z, by Louisa Ainsworth
•Under One Rock, Bugs, Slugs and Other Ughs, by A. D. Fredericks
•The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
•The Very Quiet Cricket, by Eric Carle
•The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle
For Middle & High School Students
•Buzzwords, by May Berenbaum
•To Know a Fly, by Vincent G. Dethier
•Spineless Wonders: Strange Tales from the Invertebrate World, by Richard Conniff
•Insects of South Corvallis (poetry), by Charles Goodrich
•Ants at Work: How an Insect Society is Organized, by Deborah M. Gordon
Project Resources
•The Pillbug Project, A Guide to Investigation by Robin Burnett
•Insect Soup: Bug Poems, by Barry Louis Polisar
•Worm Bin Creatures, Alive Through a Microscope (video), Flowerfield Enterprises
•Bottle Biology, www.bottlebiology.org/
Field Guides
•Peterson Field Guide: Insects, by D. Borrer & R. White
•Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects, by R. Arnett Jr. & R. Jacques Jr.
•Golden Guide Series: Spiders and Their Kin, by H. Levi and H. Zim
•Golden Guide Series: Butterflies and Moths, by R. Mitchell and H. Zim
•National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders, by L. Milne and M. Milne
•Young Naturalist's Handbook: Insect-lo-pedia, by Matthew Reinhart
From left to right: adult caddisfly, larval caddisfly, and examples of cases you might see in Oregon streams.
Drawings taken with permission from www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/compendium/caddis~1.html
Stonefly larva
Benton SWCD 400 SW 4th St, Suite A Corvallis, OR 97333 Phone: 541-753-7208 Fax: 541-753-1871 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.bentonswcd.org
We’re on the Web!We’re on the Web!We’re on the Web!We’re on the Web! www.bentonswcd.orgwww.bentonswcd.orgwww.bentonswcd.orgwww.bentonswcd.org
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Event Date/ Time/ Location Fee Who to Contact
BSWCD Native Plant Sale
Order forms available in early November. Place Orders by Jan 23 Plant Pick Up on Feb 7
Educator discount available
Benton SWCD 753-7208 Access order form on-line: http://www.bentonswcd.org/publications/#Newsletter
Kids Day for Conservation October 3 Benton County Fairgrounds
This newsletter is brought to you by Benton SWCD’s Making Ripples Program
Making Ripples ~ Community Building for Water Quality
Insects: Taking a Deeper Look at the World of Bugs: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/em/em8896-e/ How to Collect Insects: www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cwe/wwwtest/collect/HTML/d18.html Butterfly & Nature Gift Store: www.butterfly-gifts.com/ Why Do We Study Insects? www.biodiversityexplorer.org/insects/why.htm “Teachnology” insect resources for teachers: www.teach-nology.com/teachers/subject_matter/science/biology/insects/ Dichotomous key to adult insects: www.amentsoc.org/insects/what-bug-is-this/adult-key.html Insectlopedia: lessons and other insect resources: www.insectclopedia.com/ Orkin website for Kids and Teachers: www.orkin.com/learningcenter/kids_and_teachers_lessonplans.aspx Entomology Teaching Resources: www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/bugconnection/teaching/teaching.htm
How to Make a Bug Sucker : http://gocb.wordpress.com/2006/07/16/make-a-pooterbug-sucker/
Web CornerWeb CornerWeb CornerWeb Corner BBBB ugZoo is an undergraduate club at Oregon State University. Club members belong to different disciplines but share a common
passion for insects. As volunteers, they make presentations on and off campus, to K-12 students and the general public, to enhance awareness about the fascinating and diverse world of insects and their relationships with humans. BugZoo members will be happy to make a presentation for you if their schedules permit! If you'd like to request a presentation or BugZoo activity for your group, please contact: Sujaya Rao: (541) 737-9038 or [email protected]
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