Insects All Around Us: A Four-Session Bug Club Lesson Plan For Grades 3-5 Covering the Biology and Importance of Insects in Nebraska

Insects are often overlooked in science curricula when talking about conservation due to the surrounding fear and disgust regarding insects. This disgust not only permeates the mindsets of students, but also teachers, which leads to a hesitance to incorporate an insect-based curriculum or club into a lesson. In response to this, I have created a four-session club curriculum that can be used across four two hour long sessions spread out across four weeks. The goals of this club are: to explain the key traits of insects and arthropods, differentiating the two groups; to explain and define the basic stages of insect metamorphosis along with the two types of metamorphosis; to define the key roles insects play in the environment; and to highlight important Nebraskan insects, along with the various routes students can take in order to help preserve native insect populations in Nebraska.