Teachers Guide to "Microarthropod Variation and Taxonomy"

This activity allows students to gain experience in arthropod classification using dichotomous keys. Specimens for this activity should be collected using Berlese funnel methodology outlined in the previous activity, Microarthropod Collection and Examination.

Grade Level of Participants

This activity works well with students in grades 6-12. Teachers may want to restrict younger students to use of John Meyer's "Kwik-Key to Soil-Dwelling Invertebrates." Teacher's of upper level students may want to go beyond classification keys like Meyer's, which classifies only to the order level.

Duration Of Activity

2-4 days. Using only Meyer's "Kwik-Key to Soil-Dwelling Invertebrates" for classification (components A and B) and restricting students to a single day of web searching for the write-up of component C will require two days. Expanding the activity to include search for and use of classification keys at the family level will require another day. Finally, an additional day will be required if students will be making web pages regarding their component C findings.

Curriculum Connection

This activity integrates well into class coverage of topics including ecology, organismal diversity and field methodology. Component C integrates particularly well with any HTML/web page construction activities occurring in computer science or computer literacy classes.

Linkage to National Science Standards - AAAS Benchmarks

The following AAAS Benchmarks are addressed through "Microarthropod Collection and Examination". Each knowledge or skill benchmark below pertains to students in grades 9-12. Each knowledge or skill benchmark is presented by topic chapter number and section, section title and section benchmark. The entire text of the AAAS document can be accessed at Benchmarks On-Line.

By the end of the 12th grade, students should be able to

• Make and interpret scale drawings.
• Write clear, step-by-step instructions for conducting investigations, operating something, or following a procedure.
• Participate in group discussions on scientific topics by restating or summarizing accurately what others have said, asking for clarification or elaboration, and expressing alternative positions.

Materials Needed

Computers with Internet connections (1 per pair of students)

Web Page Design Software for Studies Performing the Web Page Construction Component of C

Binocular Microscopes (1 per pair of students)

Binocular Microscope Light Source (gooseneck desk lamps recommended if the binocular microscopes lack internal light sources)

Plastic Petri Dishes (1 per pair of students)

Colored Construction Paper (1 package for all of your classes)

Special Requirements

None.

Commentary on Subject Matter

The procedure for this activity is straightforward. Teachers may want to refresh their own backgrounds by reviewing the "Kwik-Key to Soil-Dwelling Invertebrates" and the Apterygota (Protura, Diplura, Collembola and Thysanura) using an insect classification guide such as How to Know the Insects by Roger Bland. It is not essential that the teacher be able to identify everything that the students encounter, and is often more fun when the teacher works with the students in these determinations. Teachers should also be somewhat knowledgeable of the web design program students will be using if the students will be posting their assignments as web pages. Most of these programs are very similar to word processors in their organization and structure.

Commentary on Instructional Approach(es)

Instructional approach is outlined in the activity. The section above entitled "Duration Of Activity" discusses variations of this assignment and the duration of those variations.

Assessment

Assessment of the components comprising "Microarthropod Variation and Taxonomy" can take a number of forms.

Teacher's opting to limit their student activity involvement to use of the "Kwik-Key to Soil-Dwelling Invertebrates" for identifications should assess informally as they move through the classroom, helping students as needed. This abbreviated form of "Microarthropod Variation and Taxonomy" lends well to scientific write-ups using the standard format specified by the teacher.

Classes optiing to pursue classification to the family level, instead of the order level classification of the "Kwik-Key to Soil-Dwelling Invertebrates," can easily and efficiently be assessed in the manner discussed in the paragraph immediately above.

Teachers opting to add the web-based study of selected arthropod orders component to their classroom activities should assess that component based on detail and organization, compliance to the format suggested in the student version of the activity, and bibliography or citation compliance to the format used in that particular class.

Pertinent Online Resources

Classification of Bugs: A Guide to the Classes & Orders of Insects and Other Arthropods (http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/class.htm)

Well organized site with excellent descriptions and graphics. This site covers a broader array of arthropods than do most.

Compendium of Hexapod Classes and Orders (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu:8050/course/ent425/compendium/index.html)

Alphabetical and phylogenetic listing of commonly found arthropods (primarily insects). Teachers may want to review general information for many of these organisms prior to the activity.

Entomology for Teachers (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent591k/)

Online resources for a class, this resource contains numerous links to web pages dealing with different aspects of arthropod biology and impact of arthropods on people.

Tree of Life (http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html)

Still in development, should be a very useful phylogenetic resource once completed.

Understanding Arthropod Classification (http://members.aol.com/YESedu/arthrocl.html)

Very basic overview presented by the Young Entomologists' Society.