Exposure to a vigorous and engaging science program in elementary and middle school is key to encouraging students to continue their education in science and mathematics.  However, early science education is often compromised by limited time, teacher training, and availability of equipment and /or facilities. Commercial kits can aid teachers in bringing hands-on activities into the classroom, but in many cases teachers do not receive the appropriate training in how to use them.  The end result is that elementary science education is often superficial, and lacks the hands-on component that defines science in the real world.

Using locally abundant insects and plants, along with basic laboratory supplies, we have developed several hands-on classroom activities that require minimal preparation and maintenance by the teacher, yet provide the students with opportunities for careful observation, detailed data collection, and thorough analysis, leading to a deeper understanding of ecological principles.  Lessons can be adapted to different grade levels, from K to college, with students having more or less responsibility for set-up, development of hypotheses, data collection, and analysis. 

For example, one lesson explores the relationship between plants and herbivores, and in particular the concepts of diet breadth and host specificity, using locally collected caterpillars and plants. Caterpillars are offered a choice of host and non-host plants, and students record the caterpillars’ initial and ultimate choices, as well as the location and amount of any feeding activity. Other lessons explore the relationship between plants and pollinators, and predators and their prey.  

Results/Conclusions

As an example, when 23 monarch larvae where allowed to choose between milkweed (host) and two non-host leaves, 14 ultimately ate a leaf, and 100% of the feeding occurred on milkweed.  With younger students, the astonishment that all of the caterpillars chose one kind of leaf led to a discussion of host specificity, and lively brain-storming about what kinds of cues the larvae might be using to recognize a host plant. Older students, after graphing and statistically analyzing their data, designed and conducted a series of follow-up experiments to assess the importance of leaf shape, color, and chemistry. We present this lesson plan and several others, with suggestions for age appropriate activities, as well as ideas on how to obtain local plants and insects.