Some preparation is required each time you use the kit. Doing these things before beginning the module will make daily setup quicker and easier.

1. PLAN AHEAD FOR GETTING INSECTS
Some of the insects used in the module can be obtained from local sources. We encourage you to do this, as it will be more economical and ensure healthier insects.

Delta Education sells coupons for all four of the insects used in this module. Coupons for the different insects are available separately, so you can perhaps get some insects locally and purchase coupons for others. A coupon provides enough insects for one class using the Insects and Plants Module. Because each coupon is redeemed separately, you receive the insects on the schedule that you plan. It is important that you plan ahead. Allow 4 weeks to receive your insects once you send in the coupon. You can also redeem your insect coupons by faxing them to Delta at 1-800-282-9560.

Mealworms, larvae of the Tenebrio beetle, can be purchased from local bait shops and pet stores. Purchase 200 large golden mealworms. Order the extra-large golden mealworms (they will pupate quickly).

NOTE: Don’t order “giant” or “king” mealworms. These large mealworms are interesting but require a very long time to complete a life cycle.

Milkweed bugs must be purchased from a biological supply company. Purchase a culture of about 50 eggs. The milkweed bugs used in this module were specifically bred for classroom use, and they eat sunflower seeds, not milkweed seeds. Be sure to start from eggs.

Silkworms can be purchased at a number of biological supply houses. Order 50 eggs. You may know a colleague who collected eggs last year and has some to share. You can save the eggs that the moths produce for next year’s class by storing the eggs in the refrigerator.

Painted lady butterflies can be purchased at a number of biological supply houses. Purchase fi ve to ten larvae. The larvae arrive in a small cup with a supply of food medium that looks a lot like guacamole. The larvae should stay right in the little cup until they pupate.

2. PLAN FOR INSECT FOOD
Each kind of insect will need a different kind of food. The Getting Ready section in each investigation provides all the details. Plan ahead to make sure you have the appropriate food.

• Mealworms and adult beetles eat wheat bran and need a source of moisture (carrot, apple, potato).
• Milkweed bugs (at all stages) eat raw, shelled sunflower seeds provided in the kit.
• Silkworms eat fresh mulberry leaves; lots of them! The first 10 days the larvae will need young tender leaves, but after that the larvae will eat any mulberry leaf you can provide. Keep leaves in the refrigerator.

Getting fresh leaves in the late fall and winter months is nearly impossible as the mulberry trees are deciduous. If you are doing the Silkworms investigation in the winter, there is an alternative food. With every order of silkworm eggs you will be sent a half-pound of dry silkworm chow. Preparation requires hot tap water and a heat-source such as a microwave oven or stove-top. Water is mixed with the dry powder and then brought to a boil. The resulting mixture is poured onto a sheet of cling wrap, cooled, wrapped, and stored in the refrigerator. When firm, the silkworm chow can be sliced and fed to the hungry larvae. The cooked silkworm chow can be stored in the refrigerator for 1–2 months if kept in an airtight container. Each bag of the dry powder comes with detailed instructions on the back of the package.

But remember, if you are raising silkworms in the spring, summer or early fall, fresh leaves are the best food source.

• Painted lady butterfly larvae eat a medium shipped with them. To raise a second generation of larvae, fi nd a source of fresh mallow or hollyhock leaves.
• Painted lady butterfly adults eat sugar water or juice from oranges.

3. CONSUMABLE MATERIALS
A number of items in the kit are listed as consumable (cotton balls, seeds, zip bags, and rubber bands). All these materials can be purchased from local sources, but replacement packages for this module are available from Delta Education. The kit comes supplied for two class uses.

4. PROVIDE A LAMP FOR WARMTH
Insects’ life cycles are greatly influenced by temperature, as described in the background of each investigation. If your classroom is cold, provide an incandescent lamp with a 60–75-watt lamp to provide warmth so they will go through their life cycle more quickly.

5. PLAN FOR DISPOSING OF INSECTS
If you are successful, you will end up with lots of healthy insect cultures. It is not recommended that you release any of the insects that you culture. They would probably not survive, yet any organism not native to your local environment might upset the local ecological balance. Organisms can be terminated by putting them in a freezer for a day. Insects that you collect from local areas should be returned to their natural habitats.

6. PURCHASE SOIL
Purchase a 4-liter (4-qt.) bag of potting soil for each class using the module. Look for packaged soil that is high in humus.

7. BASINS AND PLANTER TRAY
The one 8-liter rectangular basin (not clear) in the kit is used to dispense the soil to students. The one plastic tray in the kit holds 32 small planter cups with drainage holes. The two clear plastic basins (6-liter) are used to culture the mealworms.

8. WISCONSIN FAST PLANTS
Brassica rapa seeds for Wisconsin Fast Plants are very special seeds available only from biological supply companies and through Delta in the FOSS replacement-part catalog. The seeds are packaged in quantities for two class uses. To order more seeds, refer to the FOSS replacement-part catalog.

The Brassica rapa seeds were developed at the University of Wisconsin and are widely used in education at many levels. There is a phone hotline in Wisconsin for teachers who are using the seeds and have questions about their growth or need more information for extension activities. That hotline is 1-800-462-7417. The website is www.fastplants.org.

It’s a good idea to test the seeds if the packages have been opened or if the date on the package is more than 2 years old. Plant five of each kind of seed in separate planter cups with soil according to the instructions in each folio. You should get 80% germination. If less than four seeds of any kind sprout, order new seeds.

9. LAMPS AND FRAME
Brassica plants need continuous light throughout their life cycle. A fluorescent lamp fixture with two cool, white bulbs and a stand is included in the kit. Inventory the parts and practice setting it up as described in Getting Ready for Investigation 2, Part 2.

10. TWO SIZES OF VIALS
There are two sizes of vials in the kit. The smaller one is called the 7-dram vial and it is used exclusively in Investigation 2 to water the brassica seeds in the planter cups. There are 20 7-dram vials in the kit. The larger vial is the 12-dram vial and there are 50 of them in the kit. The larger vial is used as a home for the mealworms, as a shelter for the milkweed bug eggs, and as a water fountain in the milkweed bug habitat and butterfly cage.

11. SCIENCE NOTEBOOK SHEETS
There are a number of recording techniques used throughout this module, and one of them is the science notebook. You will need to make copies of science notebook sheets before each investigation. See Getting Ready for Investigation 1, Part 1, for ways to organize the science notebook sheets for this module. If you use an overhead projector, you may want to make transparencies of a few sheets to help students get oriented to them.

12. INSECT POSTERS
The kit contains laminated life-cycle posters for the insects studied. There are additional paper copies of these posters in the teacher masters, nos. 19–32. Use these to replace the laminated posters if they are damaged or lost. You can also make copies of the stages posters, cut the organisms out, and place them on the insect time lines (see the Interdisciplinary Extensions in each investigation).

13. PREPARE WORD BANK AND CONTENT CHARTS
As the module progresses, add new vocabulary words to a word bank; add content learned and questions still to be answered to a content chart. Use a fl ip chart or tape chart paper to the wall to display new words, concepts, and questions throughout the module. Suggestions for adding to these charts are in the Wrapping Up section in each part.

14. PREPARE LIFE-CYCLE CHARTS FOR EACH INSECT
The content chart (What We Learned) lists what students have learned about each insect—their structures, behaviors, and changes. The wrap-up discussion for the last part of each investigation involves making a separate chart on a large piece of paper—a life-cycle chart of the structures and behaviors of the insect at each stage. The class completes one summary life-cycle chart for each insect. Prepare a summary chart for each of the insects the class will study in the module, but don’t write in the names of the stages on the chart initially. That should be done with the class.

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FOR FOSS REPLACEMENT PARTS CONTACT DELTA EDUCATION
THE AUTHORIZED FOSS MATERIALS SUPPLIER
1-800-258-1302 PHONE 1-603-886-4632 FAX

 

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