FREE Middle School Curriculum: Hungry Pests Invasive Species
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The opinions and text are all mine.
Download the Hungry Pests Middle School Curriculum HERE!
If you want a hands-on project all you have to do is step outside of your classroom or backdoor and you’ll find hundreds of bugs! My kids have always been huge bug fanatics and have spent hours outdoors and on the road catching critters and studying them.
The USDA-APHIS has an incredibly stellar national standards-based middle school curriculum (grades 6-8) available for FREE called Hungry Pests, which you can download here! It has 53 pages (4 lessons) absolutely packed with printable handouts, cards, tips, and more.
I was extremely impressed with this curriculum, which is also based on national science standards. It’s really eye-catching, has SO many activity suggestions, and allows students a cool look into an invasive world on a large scale.
Invasive pests destroy our trees and plants, disrupt our environment, threaten our food supply, eliminate jobs and cost the United States billions of dollars. It’s astronomical what these little bugs can do! Unfortunately the everyday actions of people everywhere are contributing – people don’t even realize they are helping to spread these invasive pests and diseases!
This free curriculum will help not only identify the 19 pests but also highlight the damage they cause, how we are contributing to the problem, and how we can make a difference!
My family has spent a lot of time searching and researching bugs, since it’s one of my boys’ favorite activities to do. I was surprised that we only knew of 3 out of the 19 invasive “Hungry Pests” species in the list! And 2 we came across this summer!
The Emerald Ash Borer is one bug that’s causing a lot of problems near us in the Midwest. Every campground we go to we have to be careful where we have purchased our firewood, from so that we don’t spread these pesky critters. If you’re in a pesky area, consider having someone from your local DNR to come in as a guest speaker to your classroom!
Another invasive pest we came across this summer while we were in Michigan was the Asian Longhorned Beetle. We actually found these beetles on two different ends of Michigan – it was the first time I had ever seen them! I was intrigued by their antennae and had no idea they were an invasive species!
If you’re a middle school teacher, parent, or homeschooler, I highly recommend checking out these free resources from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. They are high-quality and packed with so many resources.
Make sure not only to download this free curriculum, but there are also funny videos, printable pest flashcards, a comic strip, and plenty of other resources available.
Download the FREE “Hungry Pests Invade Middle School” Curriculum here!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The opinions and text are all mine.
