Note to teachers: 

Since this is an introductory lesson, it is the shortest of the 8 lessons. If you would like to combine lesson 1.1 and 1.2 feel free to. Combined these lessons take approximately 50-60  minutes to complete.

NGSS Standard:

Objective:

Students will be able to set up a habitat for their milkweed bugs and raise them to adulthood from an egg. They will be able to care for their insect colony for the duration of the project and observe the impact that temperature change has on the organisms.

Materials

Per Class:

• 2 Insulated containers
• 2 LED light bulbs
• 2 Hanging Lantern Cords
• 1 Extension cord
• 1 Large pack of Cotton Balls
• 1 Large Bag of Sunflower Seeds
• Milkweed bug eggs
• 24 Hour Plug-In Timer

Per Instructor

• Plastic Deli Container with Breathable Lid
• 2 Plastic Portion Cups
• 1 Plastic Pipette
• Paper Towel
• 20 Milkweed Bug Eggs

Per Table Group:

• Plastic Deli Container with Breathable Lid
• 2 Tin Lasagna Pans
• 2 Plastic Portion Cups
• 1 Plastic Pipette
• Paper Towel
• 20 Milkweed Bug Eggs
• 4 Small Paintbrushes

Per Student:

• Milkweed Bug Journal

Prep

1. Print out or have ready your copy of the slides with the teacher notes under each slide.
2. Print out one "Milkweed Bug Journal" per student.
3. Place 10 eggs in each of the plastic deli containers.
4. Place a piece of tape on each of the breathable lids. This is so that the students can write their table group name and "cool" or "warm" with sharpie on their containers.
5. Use a knife to cut an "x" on the top of the small plastic portion cup lids for the water . The students will be soaking and then feeding the cotton through the "x" (image shown below).
6. Set out one Lasagna Pan per table group and place 2 plastic deli containers with breathable lids , 4 plastic portion cups with 2 lids, 2 cotton balls, a sharpie, and a pipette in each. Set aside
7. Find a clear corner for the two coolers near an electrical outlet
8. Label one box "cool" and the other box "warm"
9. Attach the LED lightbulbs to each container and plug them into a 24-hour plug-in timer. Set the timer to springtime conditions, with 16 hours of light.
10. For the cool box, leave the lid completely off of the container. For the warm box keep the lid partially on the container.
11. Fill a couple large cups with tap water and a few large cups with sunflower seeds. Set aside to be used by the students when they need to fill up their food and water cups.

Procedure:

Introduction:

5 Minutes: Insects

1. Have students brainstorm as a class what kinds of insects they interacted with in the past. Write responses on the board.
2. Have students talk with an elbow partner about the following questions:

• What's your favorite insect and why?
• What have you seen insect's doing?

Explanation:

10 Minutes: What are Milkweed Bugs

1. Show a short video showing Milkweed Bugs in their natural habitat to introduce the experiment. This is linked in the slides.

  2. Continue your introduction of Milkweed Bugs with slides.

  3. Explain the experiment to students and demonstrate how they will be taking care of their insects each week, by changing out the food and water.

  4. On the slides, explain the roles to the students. If you are using the "role tags" (link to print under Resources) then let the students know that they will receive a new role each time they take care of their insects. The first day the Escape Watch will be responsible for writing the teams name on the lid of the bug container. The roles are listed below:

• The Waterer
• The Feeder
• The Supplier
• The Escape Watch

  5. Pass out "role tags" to each group.

Activity:

Students will be set up with the materials and will begin set up their habitat with their table group.

15 Minutes: Set Up

1. The "Supplier" will bring the supplies that are already pre-prepared in a lasagna tin to their table.
2. The "Waterer" will put a cotton ball in each of their 2 of their plastic portion cups and then wet them.
3. The "Feeder" will fill the remaining 2 plastic portion cups with 10 sunflower seeds.
4. Students will put one water and one sunflower seed cup into each container.
5. The "Escape Watch" will label one container "cool" and the other "warm". Have them label their table group name as well.

Left Image: This is what students trays will look like.

Right Image: This is what the Milkweed Bug's habitats should look like

Closing:

5 Minutes: Clean-Up

1. When the students are done have the "Supplier" return the trays to the front of the class and place their bug containers to the appropriate warm and cool coolers.
2. The students will then take off their "role tags" and the instructor will collect them.
3. Before ending the lesson, let students know that for the next 4 weeks they will be working with these bugs, maintaining their habitat and running experiments. They will learn more about this the following week.