| With state funding in short supply, Tennessee’s
rural elementary teachers often have less than $50 a year to buy
resources to create engaging lessons for their students. That’s
why Drs. Jerome Grant and Paris Lambdin of the University of Tenenssee
want to introduce teachers to some teaching aids that are plentiful,
available everywhere, and above all free!
What are they? Insects. What else would you expect from two professors
in the university’s Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology?
Over the past two years, Grant and Lambdin have welcomed 56 teachers
to “Insects in the Classroom: A Summer Workshop for K-4
Educators,” expertly converting those who were “bug
phobic” into fans. They have especially recruited teachers
from rural East Tennessee counties that receive very little funding
for science education.
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IPM
FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLS |
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| Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) can help create healthy indoor environments
for children. read
more |
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Workshop participants learn how to capture insects, make an insect
collection, create lesson plans built around different aspects
of insects, and do experiments with insects.
“They also get lots of goodies—that’s a real
draw,” said Grant. Each participant receives a set of teaching
tools, including videos, books and posters, valued at $350.
Many of the workshop participants have become so infected with
“the bug” that they returned to school and shared
their newfound ideas with the entire teaching staff. As first-grade
teacher Alice Golden said, “Although we are financially
impoverished, we are richly blessed with insects and our students
can gain a rich background in science.”
When insects are the topic, Dr. Paris Lambdin, left, can count
on rapt attention and lots of questions. Madagascar hissing cockroaches
are particularly popular.
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