Season: Spring

Unit Title: Animals and Pollinators

Possible sources of Integration: science, social studies
Key Words: Pesticide residue, integrated pest management, cover cropping, crop
rotation, companion planting, pollinators
Link to Content Standards:
SCHS-S3C1-01: Evaluate how the processes of natural ecosystems affect, and are
affected by, humans.
SCHS-S3C1-03: Assess how human activities can affect the potential for hazards.
SCHS-S3C3-02: Describe biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors that affect
human populations.

Brief Summary of Unit (including curriculum and unit goals):

Animals and pollinators help the garden grow. It is important to be able to identify these
other life forms that influence the success of the garden, and work to create habitat to
invite these beneficiaries into the garden. This unit provides the students with a brief
introduction to the various animals and insects who inhabit the garden. Students will
understand the dangerous affects of pesticide use and learn the alternative strategies of
integrated pest management. They will also learn the importance of pollinators and make
a list of plants to attract more pollinators to the garden.

What enduring understandings are desired?

Students will understand:

 Pesticide use not only affects the environment (land, soil and water), but it also
affects our own bodies and other animals and insects consuming sprayed produce.
 There are many different alternatives to using pesticides, termed integrated pest
management.
 Pollinators are critical to food production and need to be protected from various
threats.

What essential questions will guide this unit and focus teaching and learning?
 What is pesticide residue?
 What is IPM?
 Who are our plants pollinators?
 Why are pollinators important?
 What can we do to increase pollinator populations?

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?
Students will know:
 Key terms: Pesticide residue, integrated pest management, cover cropping, crop
rotation, companion planting, pollinators
 Alternatives to pesticide use including the cultural, mechanical, and biological
pest management strategies.
  What plants attract which pollinators and why pollinators are important to the
garden.

Students will be able to:

 Research native plants and make recommendations for the garden.
 Exercise greater consumer knowledge in the grocery store in the interest of their
personal health.
 Implement IPM strategies in their garden.

What evidence will show that students understand?

Performance Tasks (summarized)

 IPM Scenario cards: Students will test their knowledge of integrated pest
management and make recommendations for different scenarios.
 Pollinators and Plants: Students will research native plants and make a plant list
to attract pollinators to the garden.
Quizzes, Tests, Prompts, and Work Samples (summarized)

 n/a
Unprompted Evidence (e.g., observations and dialogues)

 Teacher observations of students during work on the performance tasks.

 Participation in class discussions and reflection questions.
 Supermarket Sweep

Objective:
 To learn about the amount of pesticides on our foods

Standards:
 SCHS-S3C1-01
 SCHS-S3C1-03

Materials:
 Supermarket Sweep food cards
 What’s in Your Food? worksheet

Directions:
1. Divide the class into two teams. Each team is going to have to go shopping for a
meal that they are preparing for the class. The goal is to purchase items that they
think will be the healthiest meal that they could serve.
2. They will need to choose enough food to serve everyone. So if they want to make
a pizza, they will need to choose more than one tomato card.
3. When they have finished shopping let each group explain their meal and why they
think it is healthy.
4. Hand out the Pesticide Residue worksheet and have each team tally their
purchases. They should record the number of items they bought in the quantity
column, and multiply that by the numbers listed in the residue column. They
should then add the total.
5. The team with the lower number wins the supermarket sweep for preparing the
healthier meal. The total number represents the amount of pesticide residues
(measured in parts per million) that each student ate during the meal.
6. What is a pesticide? What is a pesticide residue? Much of the food we buy at the
supermarket has been treated with various chemicals. These chemicals leave a
residue on the food that in turn we eat. Some crops have more residue than
others. Hand out the What’s in Your Food? worksheet.

Discussion:
1. The residue levels on the worksheet are representative of the tolerance levels for
pesticide residues as determined by the EPA and USDA. When a pesticide is
sprayed to control a pest or disease, it is estimated that only 5% of the chemical
actually meets its target. The remaining 95% is left in the soil, runs off into the
watershed, or is left on the skin of the fruit or vegetable. These residue levels do
not guarantee that our food is safe because they do not take into account that
people eat more than one item. So while 50 parts per million of residue might be
a tolerated level, in fact most people eat more than one tomato. There is evidence
that these chemicals are stored in the fat cell of our bodies, and have even been
found in breast milk.
 2. In addition to ourselves eating the food, what are other harms of these chemicals?
Consider the workers spraying the chemicals, in addition to the soil, water, and
non-targeted insects and other animals.
3. Discuss the alternatives to this approach. Remind students that they have a choice
in the kind of foods they are buying. Organically certified foods are those grown
without chemicals. Additionally, produce purchased locally, while it may not be
organic, typically has less chemical residue. For one thing, local farmers do not
have to coat their produce with fumigants, which is done with produce traveling a
long way to market to preserve ripeness. Moreover, it is easier to discuss these
issues with a local farmer and neighbor than a farmer on the other side of the
country or world.

*This activity are adapted from The Pesticide Banquet, a lesson in Sara Coblyn’s French
Fries and the Food System. Boston: The Food Project, 2000.
 Pesticide Residue Worksheet
Food Item Residue Quantity Total
Apple Juice 75
Apple 100
Bell pepper 100
Broccoli 25
Cabbage 25
Carrots 50
Cheese 100
Corn 25
Eggplant 50
Garlic 25
Green beans 50
Grapes 100
Jelly 75
Lettuce 100
Butter 25
Mayonnaise 25
Milk 25
Onions 0
Peanut Butter 200
Peach 100
Potatoes 100
Spinach 100
Strawberry 100
Squash 50
Tomatoes 50
Tuna Fish 25
Whole wheat bread 50
TOTAL:

*Residue Levels are measured in parts per million and have be rounded and estimated.
 What’s in Your Food?
% with Pesticides % with 2+ Pesticides
Peaches 97% 87%
Apples 92% 79%
Sweet Bell Peppers 82% 62%
Celery 94% 80%
Nectarines 97% 85%
Dirty Dozen

Strawberries 92% 69%

Cherries 91% 76%
Pears 87% 47%
Grapes (imported) 85% 53%
Spinach 70% 31%
Lettuce 59% 33%
Potatoes 81% 18%
Carrots 82% 48%
Green Beans 65% 39%
Hot peppers 55% 28%
Cucumbers 73% 32%
Raspberries 48% 23%
Plums 56% 10%
Grapes 61% 22%
Oranges 83% 29%
Grapefruit 62% 23%
Tangerines 67% 33%
Mushrooms 60% 22%
Cantaloupe 55% 20%
Honeydew melon 59% 14%
Tomatoes 47% 14%
Sweet potatoes 58% 10%
Watermelon 29% 14%
Winter squash 40% 13%
Cauliflower 72% 8%
Blueberries 28% 10%
Papaya 24% 5%
Broccoli 28% 3%
Cabbage 18% 5%
Consistently Clean

Bananas 42% 2%
Kiwi 15% 3%
Sweet peas (frozen) 23% 2%
Asparagus 7% 21%
Mango 7% 1%
Pineapples 8% 1%
Sweet corn (frozen) 4% 0%
Avocado 1% 0%
Onions 0% 0%

Source: Environmental Working Group

 Integrated Pest Management

Objectives:
 To define integrated pest management
 To learn tools of sustainable agriculture

Standards:
 SCHS-S3C3-02

Materials:
 Sustainable Agriculture Scenario Cards
 Sustainable Agriculture Solution posters

Directions:
Engaging Question:
1. What are some of the problems that can occur as a result of chemical use in the
garden or farm? Over only a few generations, pests can develop resistance to the
chemicals and become super-pests or super-weeds. Chemicals can affect other
insects and organisms that were not the intended target. For example, applying a
chemical to a flowering fruit will affect the pollinators (birds, bees, butterflies,
and the like) visiting that flower. These chemicals are petroleum-based, depleting
a non-renewable resource. They also end up in our soils and waterways, in
addition to the residue that ends up in our bodies. Moreover, this strategy is
expensive.
2. Integrated pest management is one alternative to the use of chemicals. Has
anyone heard of integrated pest management (IPM)?

Sustainable Agriculture Scenarios:

1. Divide class into small groups and give each group a gardening scenario card. As
a group they need to come up with an integrated pest management plan to get rid
of the pest without having to use chemicals. Though they do not yet know the
IPM strategies, this will test their creativity.
2. Their plan is written on one of the solution posters that you should tape up to the
blackboard. They need to decide which plan is best for their situation—there may
be more than one that applies.
3. Give the groups a few minutes to discuss and then go around and present to the
class. What until after the discussion to give the correct answers.

IMP Lecture:
1. Let’s break down the three words. What does integrated mean? Using many
different methods together. What does pest mean? Bugs and life that cause harm
to our plants. What does management mean? Controlling or handling a
situation. All together this means using different methods together to control a
pest problem. IPM is an ecological approach to reduce and eliminate the use of
pesticides and chemicals in a garden.
2. Brainstorm examples of possible IPM strategies that the students might already
now: cover cropping, crop rotation, physical barriers.
3. IPM is a customized pest management program. Instead of applying broad
techniques to different problems, such as chemicals and fertilizers, IPM is specific
to the problem and crop.
4. IPM strategies can be broken down into three categories: cultural, mechanical,
and biological:
Cultural IPM Strategies:
 Maintaining the health of the garden soil and plants to prevent
insect problems to begin with is the first step of IPM. Plants that
are under stress suffer more quickly and severely for pest
infestations. How can we maintain the health of our garden?
o Healthy soil and proper water drainage
o Crop rotation—Moving crops around the garden each year
will help to build the soil and “trick” the pests. Some crops
add a certain nutrient to the soil and take another nutrient
from the soil as they grow. By rotating the crops, the plants
are helping on another by adding to the soil nutrients that
another plant may need.
 Planting appropriate varieties—crops that are adapted to a
particular place will not need chemicals to support their growth.
 Companion planting—this is the practice of intercropping plants
that are beneficial to one another. One plant provides something
the other plant needs and vice versa. For example, corn, beans,
and squash are historical companions. Corn provides a natural
pole for bean vines to climb. Bean vines also help stabilize the
corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the
wind. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from
approaching the corn and beans. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots,
improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to
the following years’ corn. The shallow-rooted squash vines
become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing
soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall
crops’ chances of survival in dry years.
 Keep things neat—pull weeds that are a potential source of food
and habitat for pests. Clear the garden of piles of debris, which
also serve as good cover and hiding places for pests.

Mechanical IPM Strategies:

 Hand picking—simply spending time in the garden and hand
picking any pests is one sure way to kill them. Collect these bugs
in a jar and feed them to the garden chickens or neighboring birds.
 Hose plants off with water—be careful, as this technique might
burn some plants in the summer sun.
 Spray plants with soapy water—this is particularly effective with
aphids. Aphids breath through their skin. The soap reduces the
 surface tension of the water so that it will not bead, and effectively
suffocates the aphid.
 Sticky traps
 Row covers—thin, polyester fabric is often used to cover plants.
This allows for sun and water to pass through, but provides a
barrier for insects.
Biological IPM Strategies:
 Use other living creatures to control insects and pests. These
creatures are either predators or parasites:
o Predators—insects that eat other insects: lady bugs and
green lacewings eat aphids; praying mantises eat insects in
general; assassin bugs eat caterpillars
o Parasites—insects that lay eggs on or within host insect and
use that insect for food: parasitic wasp lays eggs in aphid
eggs causing the aphids to form a stiff immobile form
called a “mummy”. The Braconid wasp only lays its eggs
on the hornworm. The eggs feed on the hornworm in order
to hatch, and this eventually kills the pest.
5. IPM can also involve the use of pesticides, though this is carefully timed and
controlled to maximize effectiveness and minimize risk. This does not apply for
organic growing.

Discussion:
Revisit the scenario cards. Knowing what you know now, would you recommend any
different strategies to the problems? What strategies can we employ in our garden?

Build Bat Houses:

A single bat can eat up to 1,000 insects in an hour! Build bat houses to attract bats
who will eat pests.

http://www.eparks.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/bats/bat_house.asp

http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/bathouse.cfm
 Scenario Cards

Case #1
You are gardening at your home one day and discover that all the leaves on your tomato
plants have been chewed. You search the plants for an insect and find dozens of green
caterpillars called tomato horn worms on all your plants. What do you do to get rid of the
pest?

Answer—hand pick, introduce beneficial wasp.

Case #2
Each year you plant potatoes in the same garden bed at your house. Each year hundreds
of Colorado potato beetles attack your plants and eat the leaves, leaving you with a poor
potato harvest. What can you do to get rid of the pest?

Answer—rotate the potatoes to another part of the garden next year.

Case #3
Grasshoppers are invading your garden!!! They are multiplying by the hundreds! You
have tried hand-picking them, but they are too fast and hop away from you, plus there are
just too many and you don’t have enough hours in the day to catch them all. What do
you do to get rid of the pest?

Answer—row cover to act as a barrier between grasshopper and plant. Also introduce
birds that like to eat grasshoppers into the garden.

Case #4
The corn in your garden is short and immature when your neighbor’s is ready to harvest.
There is no evidence that a pest is eating the corn and it is getting enough sun and water.
You determine that the problem is poor soil. What can you do to improve the soil, and as
a result, improve the growth of your corn?

Answer—companion planting, plant beans to add nitrogen to the soil

Case #5
The weeds are taking over your garden beds. They are growing taller than your corn and
you can keep up with weeding them all. What can you do to suppress the weed growth?

Answer—companion planting, plant squash and other like plants to suppress the weed
growth, heavy mulching around plants.
COMPANION
PLANTING
BENEFICAL
INSECTS
PHYSICAL
BARRIERS
 CROP
ROTATION
 Animals in the Garden

Objective:
 To know the animals that live in and around the garden
 To understand the purpose of domesticated animals in the garden
 To discuss some of the conflicts that arise between the urban and wilderness
interface

Standards:
 SCHS-S3C3-02

Materials:
 Pollinator ID Cards
 Stephen Buchmann and Gary Nabhan, “Holding the Globe in Our Hands,” in The
Forgotten Pollinators (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1996), 131-143.
 Pollinator and Plants Worksheet
 Plant books

Directions:
Engaging the Question:
1. Brainstorm a list of wild animals that live in the area. Gophers, prairie dogs, elk,
deer, foxes, snakes and birds
2. Discuss the relationship between the animals and the garden. What problems and
benefits do these animals pose? Gophers burrow tunnels underground and
damage plant roots. Snakes are natural predator to gophers. Prairie dogs also
burrow tunnels, called towns, and like to munch on garden plants. They took are
prey to snakes. Elk and deer also like to snack on garden foods. Foxes are
generally more interested in garden animals (chickens, ducks) and tend to leave
plants alone. Birds can eat fruit bearing bushes, but, like bats, birds will also eat
insects.
3. Brainstorm a list of garden/farm animals. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, pigs, sheep,
horses, cows, cats, dogs.
4. Discuss the ways these animals contribute to the garden’s ecosystem. What roles
do they play in the garden? A chicken will eat garden insects and soil bugs and
lay eggs or provide meat. As they scratch the ground for bugs, they effectively till
the soil, laying valuable manure fertilizer in the soil along the way. All animal
manure is of great value to the soil. Cats and dogs can serve as garden
protectors, deterring and even catching gophers, mice, and other pests.

Pollinators:
In addition to wild and garden animals, garden insects are also important in garden.
Pollinators in particular are necessary insects and birds upon which the garden plants
depend.
 Pollinators are either generalists (pollinating many different plants, such as bees)
or specialists (pollinating one specific plant, such as the yucca moth).
 It is estimated that pollinators provide one out of every third bite. They are just as
important to agriculture as moisture, sunlight, temperature, and soil fertility. Over
150 food crops depend on pollinators to produce. This is the equivalent of 30% of
the food we eat.
1. Brainstorm a list of common pollinators and describe their characteristics. Note
the below information was taken from the North American Pollinators Protection
Campaign website: www.nappc.org/curriculum Visit this website for more great
curriculum and background information.
 Honey bee: Social insects who live in colonies in hollow trees or hives;
Some people tend to hives for honey production and to help with
agricultural pollination; Bees carry pollen in pollen baskets on their hind
legs. Pollen also sticks to the hairs on their body; Antennae are very
sensitive to touch and odor; These bees sting only once, as they die when
their stinger is detached from body; Drink nectar, honey, and water
through a long hairy tube called a probiscus; whole colony can live
through winter.
 Bumble bee: Only social bee native to North America; Make nests close to
or in the ground; Large and very furry; Slow and unsteady when flying;
Can collect nectar and pollen from hard to access flowers such as
snapdragons; Can sting more than once; Only queen can live through
winter.
 Butterflies: Fly only during the day when it is warm; Pass through four
stages of development—egg, larva, pupa, adult; In the larva stage they are
recognized as caterpillars and can be destructive to flower gardens and
crops because of their huge appetite; In the adult stage they are harmless
and beautiful; A long tube that can be uncoiled for drinking nectar is called
the proboscis; Some are migratory and travel great distances
 Moths: Fly only at dusk and at night; Attracted to light or white flowers
that are open at night
 Leafcutter bee: A solitary bee; Cuts neat circles in leaves and uses the
pieces to line their nests; Usually will not sting unless trapped; Help
pollinate alfalfa.
 Hummingbirds: Important for pollinating flowers and eating insects;
Bright red, orange and pink flowers are more visible to them than other
colors; Red, tubular-shaped flowers are ideal; Fragrance is not important;
Have the largest brain, heart, energy output, and breast muscles in
proportion to body size of any bird; They feed 5 to 8 times/hour
consuming half their weight in sugar each day.
 Bats: Bats, like moths, do their foraging at night and are also attracted to
white flowers; Pollen clings to their forehead as they reach into the flower
with their long snout and bristly tongue to reach the nectar; The Saguaro
and Agape cactus depend on bats for pollination; They are responsible for
pollinating bananas, cashews, peaches, avocados, mangos and other
tropical fruits and vegetables; There are nearly 1,000 species of bats.
 Beetles: They are clumsy when they fly and can't smell or see colors very
well; They are attracted to flowers that are white or green and either have
 a very strong scent or none at all; They usually pollinate flowers with large
openings where there is plenty of room to land.
2. Tape a pollinator ID card on the back of each student. Students will try to guess
what pollinator they are by asking yes/no questions. For example, do I only go
out at night?
3. Read the excerpt from The Forgotten Pollinators and discuss the decline of
pollinator populations.
 Habitat loss and fragmentation: Pollinators need a variety of native plants
to satisfy their basic food requirements. These plants need to flower at
different times of the season in order to ensure an adequate supply of food.
Habitat destruction and fragmentation disrupts this timing, diversity, and
amount of food available. Moreover, this destruction also threatens
nesting requirements for some pollinators.
 Agriculture practices: Large scale monoculture reduces the plant diversity
for pollinators to choose from. Because only one crop is planted, the
native plants that typically grew along buffer strips between different
fields are eliminated, thus destroying valuable habitat for pollinators.
Pesticides also threaten pollinators. Insecticides and herbicides have the
unintentional effect of poisoning pollinators and killing the forage and
wildflowers on which they depend.
 Non-native species: The introduction of exotic species—either plant or
animals—disrupts an ecosystem and can threaten pollinators. These new
species are now in competition with the native pollinators for food. It is
important to note though that honey bees are considered a non-native
species, introduced from South and Southeast Asia.
4. Next, create a list of plants that should be planted in the garden to attract more
pollinators. Use native plant books and lists to complete the Pollinator and Plants
worksheet.
Honey Bee Bumble Bee

Moth Bat

Hummingbird Leafcutter Bee

Butterflies Beetles
Name: _______________________

Pollinators and Plants

Your task is to create a list of native plants that will attract your particular pollinator.
Look for plants that bloom at different times, offer a diversity of color, shapes and sizes.
Note if your plant offers any other resources to other insect, animals, or humans. Is it
edible, medicinal, or of other significant use?

Pollinator: ________________________________
Growth Habits
Plant Height
Flower Shape Flower Bloom
and Size Time
Plant Flower Color