About the Project

         This project started the summer of 2018 when Professor Larissa Vrededoe decided to share her love for insects with her daughters fifth grade class at Branch Elementary. Professor Vredeove is an entomology professor at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo who has been sharing her love for the natural world with the Central Coast for many years. She found a love for science in middle school, through fun and engaging hands-on experiments, and wanted to give students at Branch Elementary school that same experience. She worked hard to create an experiment and process for raising these insects, that would later be expanded upon.

       The next summer. Professor Vredevoe, hired two student research assistants through the Bill and Linda FROST fund to help her further develop the project. Corrine Miller and Samantha Sorensen,  Liberal Studies students, were chosen to work with her and spend the summer of 2019 tinkering with the experimentation process and creating lesson plans to align with Next Generation Science Standards for 3rd and 5th grade students. 

        The Milkweed Bug Experiment continued into the fall of 2019, as Corrine and Samantha began teaching and fine tuning their lessons for their senior project, with the help of Anne Marie Bergen at Cal Poly, Lauren Casci at Fairgrove Elementary School, and Jenna Johnson at Branch Elementary School. Winter of 2020 Samantha Sorensen and Maya Sahai taught the 3rd grade lessons a second time with Stefanie Trumbo at Grover Heights Elementary School with her 2nd and 3rd grade combo class. Professor Vredevoe remained a mentor for these students, helping them along the way make her dream into a reality!

To learn more about the Bill and Linda Frost fund:  https://cosam.calpoly.edu/frost-fund