Source: School Library Media Activities Monthly, (6:10, June 1990)

Grade Levels: 4, 5

Subject(s):

• Science/Entomology

Curriculum (subject area) Objectives:
The activity may be incorporated into a science unit on our environment or in a unit on insects.

Resources :

Encyclopedias
Books about Insects

Instructional Roles :
The library media specialist or the classroom teacher may work with students on this particular activity. It may be completed in two sessions or more depending on the speed with which students locate facts for cards and how long they are motivated to play the game.

Activity and Procedures for Completion:

The library media specialist may introduce students to the materials in the library media center that have something to do with the more harmful effects that insects have on humanity. The students may first think of examples of bugs that have bitten them, but should be led to consider other kinds of harm. The library media specialist may prepare a list of insects which do harm to humanity in three ways.

Examples

Spread Disease to Humans and Animals (Yellow)

Fleas--black plague
typhus
trichinosis

Ticks--Rocky mountain spotted fever
typhus
tularemia
lyme disease

Mosquito--Malaria
yellow fever
Lice Cockroach

Damage Trees and Wood (Red)
Gypsy Moth
Cicada
Termite

 Destroy Plants and Stored Food (Green)
Locust
Chinch Bug

Leaf hopper
Grasshopper

The students will have an opportunity to help develop the cards for use in a game about insects that cause harm to humanity. The students will use the list of insects and look up facts which can be recorded on individual cards which will be drawn during the playing of the game.

Each of the students may be asked to look up at least one insect and record several facts about the insect. The information may be recorded using word-processing, run off on paper, and made into cards for pairs of students to play.

Directions:

First help develop a set of cards about the damage done by various insects. Examples are included here. The game board may be copied and colored as shown. The game is played by pairs of students. Each player has five markers. The markers are lined up on the side chosen by each player. The players sit opposite each other. In order to play, a player takes a card from a pile of cards prepared. When the card is drawn, the player reads it aloud and decides what kind of harm the card identifies. Green signifies insects which destroy plants and stored food. Red signifies insects that damage trees (forests) and wood). Yellow signifies insects that bring disease to humans and animals. The player decides which the card signifies and may move straight forward, straight forward to the left or right (to backward or to the sides). If the card is for a disease, the player may move a marker to one space to a yellow square. The objective is for the players to move all their markers across to the other side. The first player to move all of the markers to the opposite side wins.

The students may bump each other if the opponent is in a square directly ahead and the player may move to that color square. The opponent must move the marker all the way back to the back of the board.

Player

Red
            Green Yellow Green Red
 
Green

            Yellow Green Yellow Green

            Yellow Red Yellow Red

Yellow

            Red Green Red Green

Red

            Yellow Red Green Red

Yellow
Player

Sample Cards :
Fleas were the chief agents of the Black Death.
Mosquito repellent may be used to keep the insects away.
The chinch bug was found in a patch of grass.

Evaluation :
The student will collect information about insects from books and encyclopedias to develop and play a game about insects harmful effects on our lives.

Follow-Up :
The student may:

 
• Make up a set of cards for a game which identifies insects helpful to humanity.
• Locate pictures of the harmful insects found in the materials.