Jump to:
- Lesson Plans: Elementary
- Lesson Plans: Middle School
- Lesson Plans: High School
- Lesson Plans: General/All Ages
- References and Other Resources
- Entomological Equipment and Supplies
Why reinvent the wheel? We've listed a few great links for lesson plans (and other entomologically-themed resources) here.
The items below are from science fair projects that won the Entomological Foundation's science fair project competition (discontinued in 2015), as well as lesson plans contributed by our member scientists.
Elementary School
- The ABCs of Entomology: Mouthparts Mayhem
- Can you Engineer an Insect Exoskeleton?
- Insect Life Cycle Wheel. Make a working wheel demonstrating the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis
- Maggot Art. Fun activity painting pictures with live maggots to learn about fly life cycles
- What pollinator are you? Dichotomous key to several types of pollinators that can be played on the floor
- Smell Me if You Can: insect communication activities
- Are Insect Pollinators Choosy About Colors?
- Pests Say Out! Smelling your way to a Healthier Garden
- Biodiversity Counts: Set of activities exploring biodiversity and using calculations to demonstrate biodiversity.
- Bug Chat: Activity learning about insect communication through scent and sound
- I Walk the Line: The Termite Activity Revisited
- Pests and Beneficial Insects Game
- What's in your backyard? Download introduction (PowerPoint slides) and handout
Middle School
- Adventures with Arthropods: Eco-friendly lessons for middle school. NGSS aligned lessons, plus tips on keeping arthropods in your classroom
- CSI Orlando: A-Who-Done-It Mystery Told by Insect Larvae
- ID That Skeeter: Activity providing information on the biology and importance of mosquitoes to human health
- Banished Beetle: Group of activities on insect collection, identification, and conservation centered on the endangered American Burying Beetle
- School of Ants Citizen Science Project
- Why Are Aquatic Beetles & True Bugs Found Only in Freshwater?
- I Walk the Line: The Termite Activity Revisited
- University of Kentucky Curriculum Guides
- Mealworms from Farm to Table: entomophagy and insect farming
High School
- Data Nuggets: Standards-aligned activities to bring real data into the classroom
- Do Different Seed-Eating Animals Choose Different Types of Seeds?
- How Does Plant Richness Influence Arthropod Richness and Abundance?
- Honey Bee Behavioral Ecology: Does Floral Color or Size Influence Pollinator Visitation?
- Do Human Activities Negatively Influence Insect-Parasitic Nematodes in the Soil?
- The Best Scent Attractant for Drosophila melanogaster
General/All Ages
- Monarch Resources Guide (25 resources for activities on Monarchs, K-12)
- School IPM Lessons and Resources from the Maine Department of Agriculture (K-12)
- Pennsylvania State University IPM Lesson Plans and a Self-learning module (K-12)
- Project Learning Tree: Insects
- Virtual Reality Instruction
Other Resources:
- Looking for an entomologist near you? Check the list of Entomology Departments.
- American Entomologist 2016 Open Access Special Collection, "Resources for Teaching Entomology"
- ESA Discover Entomology brochure
- NSTA Insect Lesson Plan Collection
- Ag in the Classroom
- 4H Teaming with Insects Curriculum
- Kansas School Naturalist back issues
Entomological Equipment and Supplies
- Carolina Biological Supply, 2700 York Road, Burlington, NC 27215
- Wards Science, P.O. Box 92912, Rochester, NY 14692