Advanced Arthropod Studies Curriculum

Introduction

The Advanced Arthropod Studies Curriculum is intended as a supplement to arthropod study and activities students typically encounter in high school level biology, ecology and environmental science classes. Assuming students have a good grasp of basic arthropod biology, this technology-based curriculum allows students to pursue areas that go well beyond those typically encountered in textbooks. Each component may be used individually or may be integrated with others in whatever way is most meaningful to individual teaching situations. These activities lend equally well to cooperative or independent learning situations. All of these projects require use of the Internet-based resources as the major resources in gaining further knowledge. The projects comprising this curriculum are not aimed at any specific ability level or learning style. Each project is tied to real-world knowledge, not memorization and abstractions. Many of the projects have a myriad of project extensions. Please feel free to share any extensions that develop in your particular teaching situation with Dave Stone (stone2@uni.uiuc.edu), who will be glad to incorporate and share them within this site.

Project Origin

The Advanced Arthropod Studies Curriculum arose from a class project for an online University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate class in the online Curriculum, Technology and Education Reform (CTER) M.Ed. program. The first major modification of the curriculum occurred when it became associated with the education component of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign BeeSpace project

Project Goals

The major goals of this project center around dissemination of arthropod-based activities which go beyond those typically encountered in a typical classroom. Activities making up this curriculum are:

  • Technology-based
  • Authentic (students use the same tools used by scientists)
  • Interactive (involve communication between students and some include communication with practicing scientists)
  • Distance Independent
  • Globally Accessible
  • Learner Controlled
  • Self-contained
  • Easily Navigated (Point and Click)
  • Tied to American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Project 2061: Benchmarks for Science Literacy. More information about these standards can be found at AAAS Benchmarks Online and Blue-Prints Online.

    • Curricular Units

    Microarthropod Collection and Examination | Microarthropod Variation and Taxonomy | Quantitative Study of Arthropod Ecology | Scientific Proposal Writing Using the Bugscope Model | Introduction to Online Scientific Journal Articles

    Advanced Arthropod Studies Curriculum-Related Resources

    Activity Connections to AAAS Benchmarks

    Alignment of AAAS Benchmarks With Advanced Arthropod Studies Curriculum Activities

    Please contact David M. Stone (stone2@uni.uiuc.edu), Teaching Associate at University Laboratory High School, Urbana, IL, with any questions, thoughts or feedback regarding this site.

    Last modified 7/11/05.