Lost Ladybug Project
9 Lessons
The Lost Ladybug Project aims to map the current distribution of ladybug species across North America to better understand how and why populations of native ladybugs on the continent have declined.
Citizen scientists find and photograph ladybugs, submitting them to the project website with basic information, or data, including date, location, the photos, a suggested identification, etc.
LLP
Getting Started
What will LLP help me teach?
The concept map illustrates how the concepts addressed in the monthly engagements relate to one another and concepts outside the scope of the project.
Where can I learn more about these concepts?
The linked content resources for teachers are intended to deepen teachers’ knowledge of the concepts addressed in the monthly engagements.
What additional student resources are available?
The media guide offers digital and print resources that can be used to integrate LLP into literacy instruction and provide extension opportunities.
Considerations for Outdoor Learning
It would be helpful to think through the following considerations and questions and share clear expectations with your students prior to going outside.
LLP
Class Objectives & Outcomes
Understand the interdependence of plants and animals with their ecosystem
Compare the characteristics of several common ecosystems, including estuaries and salt marshes, oceans, lakes and ponds, forests, and grasslands.
Classify the organisms within an ecosystem according to the function they serve: producers, consumers, or decomposers (biotic factors).
Infer the effects that may result from the interconnected relationship of plants and animals to their ecosystem.
Compare daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions (including wind speed and direction, precipitation, and temperature) and patterns.
LLP
Monthly Engagements
In the LLP sequence of activities, students work to answer an overarching question: Are patterns of seasonal variation in dominant species consistent across the state? In addition, the materials position students as stewards of the ladybugs in their schoolyards.
1: August & September
Students orient to LLP, begin looking for ladybugs, and map where they are found in their schoolyard.
2: October
Students use a field guide to identify differences among ladybug species and begin sharing their data with others through LLP.
3: November
Focus on building student understanding of the role of ladybugs in an ecosystem.
4: December
Students make sense of variations in where ladybugs have been found.
5: January
Students look for patterns data they have collected to make sense of ladybugs’ practice of overwintering.
6: February
Students examine their own data and others’ data to make sense of patterns native versus non-native species and consider environmental conditions.
7: March
Students look for patterns of seasonal variation in their ladybug sightings.
8: April
Students compare data with their partner schools, focusing on what attracts ladybugs to certain habitats.9: Culminating Activities
Involves student presentations of findings to an authentic audience.