Teaching Integrated Pest Management in the Classroom—Environment and Ecology Lessons

Elementary School Environment and Ecology Lessons

The following IPM lessons are based on environmental and ecology concepts. Most lessons are in PDF form.

K-1

• Maples, Mosquitoes, and Me!
  cards

• Leaves, Legs, or Neither (Differentiating between plants and animals)
  cards

• Sharing the Planet (Humans roles as earth’s caretakers)
  puzzle  

• Staying Alive (Prey adaptations to avoid predators)
  cards  

• People Need Plants (Plant parts and the importance of plants in out diet)
  cards   handout

• Some Seeds Grow Weeds (Weeds vs other plants, plant life cycles)
  cards  handout  

• Merrily We Move Along (Plant growth and methods of seed travel)
  handout 

• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Importance of insects on earth and harmful/helpful insects for the environment)
  cards   board 

• Ladybugs to the Rescue (Insect body parts, predator/prey relationships and diversity of life on earth)
  poster 

2-3

• Safety in Numbers (Biodiversity, relative populations of various plant and animal groups and cause and effect of current extinction pattern)
  cards     handout   overhead1    overhead2 

• Let the Sun Shine In (Sunlight importance for plants, green plants importance for other living things)
  handout  

• Weed Wise  (Weed survival and weed's role in the environment)

• Nature's Bug Zappers (Nature provides natural predators to control over population)
  card    handout   overhead

• Bug Busters (Bats help control insect populations and food chains)
  handout    overhead1     overhead2

• If You Can't Run, Hide! (Predator/prey relationships and pray hiding techniques)
  handout 

• Danger, Destruction Zone (Wetland ecosystems and negative effects of chemicals)
  cards  

4-5

• Everybody is Somebody’s Lunch (Connections between living things, food webs and chains)
  lesson   overhead   handout1   answerkey1   handout2   answerkey2   cards1   cards2

• Extreme Makeover (Life cycles, life stages, life spans)
  lesson    handout    answerkey   assessment    cards

• Flag on the Playing Field (Pred/prey relationships, prey avoidance behavior, biological controls)
  lesson   handout 

• Planet of Plants (Interdependency of plants and animals, plant diversity in many environments)
  lesson   overhead   handout1   handout2   cards   assessment  

• Presto, Chango (Process of photosynthesis, importance of green plants for other living things food source)
  lesson    handout1   asnwerkey1    handout2   answerkey2  handout3    answerkey3

• Six Bugs You’ll Learn to Love (Beneficial insects, human views of insects)
  lesson    handout1   handout2   handout3    answerkey3    cards 

• Butterflies, Mealworms and Beetlemania (Metamorphosis, butterflies and mealworms, connections to using beetles as biological control agent for purple loosestrife)
  lesson    handout1    handout2    handout3   supplement1   supplement2   assessment   cards  

• DDT – Doing Deadly Things (Impact of chemical pesticides in an ecosystem)
  lesson   handout1   handout2   handout3   handout4   cards  assessment1   assessment2

• Of Loraxes and Wumps (Studying pollution through fiction and experimentation)
  pdlesson    handout1   handout2    handout3

• The Choice is Yours (Environmental problems that impact people, plants and wildlife; “ecological footprints”; behavioral changes to reduce impact on the environment)
  lesson    handout   assessment1    assessment2   assessment3  

Pennsylvania State University Elementary Integrated Pest Management Lessons

• Create a Soil Aggregate (Explain and visualize the many organisms in the soil and how they contribute to the soil structure)
• Food Chains Are Not a Necklace! (Food chains)
• Life Cycles: A Never-Ending Story ( Life cycles for butterflies, frogs and white-tailed deer)
• Organic/ Regenerative Farming vs. Conventional Farming (Reducing pesticide use with other methods of farming)
• Weeds- Wild and Wonderful (“weeds” that were commonly used by our ancestors)
• View all Pennsylvania State University Elementary IPM Lessons here

Michigan State University Elementary Urban IPM Curriculum

• Activity 2: Create an Animal (Explores roles and components of habitats)
• Activity 4: In Search of Life (Students explore the school to find living things and categorize them into groups)
• Activity 10: All About Rodents (Life cycles, habitats, etc. that make rodents pests)
• View all Michigan State University Elementary IPM Lessons here

Iowa State University IPM Pilot Program

• (K-2) Arthropods at Home: Spider, Isopod or any Arthropod (Arthropod habitat needs)
• (K-2) Little Me in a Big World: Ants (Life of ants, how they overcome obstacles)
• (3-4) Habitat Breakdown (Organisms, habitats and habitat elements)
• (3-4) Web of Life (organisms and ecosystem connections)
• (5-6) Beautiful Butterflies – Activity Centers (Habitats, ecosystems, organism modifications, and organisms survival techniques)
• (5-6) The Sweet Connection (Bee and plant relationships)
• View all Iowa State University Elementary IPM Lessons here

Cornell University, New York State Integrated Pest Management Program: Teaching IPM

Browse the list below to find lessons of interest and then find the corresponding lesson on the host website above.

• Green Science: Composting for Better Soil (Teach students all about composting and start your own composting project at your school)
• Green Science: Experiment #1- Sun, Water or Both? (Experiment with plant requirements for growth)
• Green Science: Experiment #2- Bean Sprouts (Experiment with plant requirements for growth)
• Green Science: What do Plants Need for Growth? (Plant growth requirements)
• Land: Earthworms on the Job (Earthworm biology)
• Land: Erosion (Soil erosion)
• Land: Soil is Important (Soil ecology)
• Land: Taking Care of the Land (Maintaining soils for agriculture)
• Land: Water Quality (Water cycles, water quality)
• Land: What is Soil? (Basics on soil)
• Land: What’s in soil, anyways? (Soil ecology)
• Land: What’s Living in my soil? (Soil ecology)
• Plant Science: Grow an Indoor Salad Garden (Comparing indoor and outdoor plant requirements)
• Plant Science: Photosynthesis (Plant anatomy and Photosynthesis)
• Plant Science: Plants as Living Things (All about plants)

[Photo: (hardwood stand) Brian Lockhart, Bugwood.org]