This year, your students will serve as stewards of the ladybugs in their schoolyard to increase the number of ladybugs on the school grounds because the presence of ladybugs can indicate to us the environmental health of our school grounds.

Students will contribute data to the Lost Ladybug Project and engage in activities to figure out how many ladybugs there are currently, where they tend to be, and under what conditions. After conducting repeated searches of the school grounds for ladybugs, students will use their findings to draw conclusions about the condition of the school environment. Using ladybugs as an indicator species, students will compare their findings with those from other locations to get a sense of conditions across the state and what environments are more attractive to ladybugs than others.

The data you collect in your schoolyard and comparisons you make between your data and those of other areas in your state will help you explore these questions. We have provided support later in the year to address these questions, but it is helpful to discuss them with your students early on (and even post them in your classroom) so that they have them in mind as they participate in the Lost Ladybug Project. Note that how you collect your data may matter as you answer this question, i.e. if you have different numbers of students collecting at different times and in different locations on your school grounds every time you collect, it may impact your results. As you explore the overarching questions, it is useful to also consider how you collected your data on any given day as this will help you interpret your findings.

Name that Ladybug!

Show students the pictures of ladybugs and ask them to choose one to name. They can name them however they would like but need to provide reasoning for the name they choose. Have students share their names for each ladybug and then read the story of the 9-spotted ladybug (another version: Dylan & Jaime and the LLP) from the Lost Ladybug Website.

Can you spot the difference?

Look at the pictures of ladybugs on the slides provided and try to find what is different about each image.

Explore your school grounds

Take time with students outside simply exploring your school grounds beyond your typical perimeter. Are there rocks or logs to look under (view from 0:20-1:10 of this video to provide guidance on how to safely look under logs/rocks)? Meadow or fields to walk through? Piles of leaves? Bushes or flowers to explore? Allow students time to discover these various habitat features of your school grounds to build some background for the map you will be creating later in this month’s activity.

Data entry on the Lost Ladybug Website asks for spotter information, location, the collection date, and specific habitat information where the ladybugs were found (see screenshot 1). Additional information for data collection is optional but always helpful for data records and, whenever possible, should be included (see screenshot 2).

Use the Lost Ladybug Data Recording Sheet (PDF, editable form) as you begin to search for ladybugs. It would be helpful to start recording this information to upload it to the Lost Ladybug website during next month’s activity. It is critical that the spotter’s first and last name always be entered as the teacher’s name even if the data being reported are from observations students made at home. In future monthly activities, data from previous searches will be referenced. Having the same spotter name for all observations associated with a class will make it easier to access the data needed for data analysis activities.

Be a hero, record a zero! Students may be disappointed if they don’t find ladybugs; however, understanding the value of zeroes may encourage students to remain engaged. Zeroes are often not thought of as important data points; however, they are valuable data to scientists and should be recorded whenever possible. Without a zero, scientists would not know if an observation took place. With a zero, scientists know that an observation was made and the zero can be included as observation data.

For example, if your class has not found ladybugs while out exploring, it would still be helpful for the Lost Ladybug data collection to know this information. You would simply only fill out the first screen of the data entry, and select “no” for “Did you find any ladybugs” in the last question. Include reporting zeros as part of your data collection routine. When reporting such data it is important to indicate where and how you searched so that it is possible to use these data to evaluate the absence of ladybugs in that location.

Tips and Notes for Designing a School Grounds Map

• Create a basic outline of large structures/landmarks on a sheet of gridded chart paper (this will serve as the class map). For the student map there are two choices:
  • Take a picture of the chart paper map, print in black and white, and make individual copies for each student. OR
  • Recreate the outline on graph paper and make individual copies for all students.
  • Note: Be sure to create a coordinate plane when using gridded chart paper for the class map and on graph paper if you are recreating the class map for the individual maps to increase the precision of data collection and provide opportunities for students to work with ordered pairs as part of NC.5.OA.3.
• Be sure the basic outline class map uses a single color. Different colors will be used later when completing ladybug searches. In the future, a particular color may be associated with each search to help track when particular ladybugs were located.
• Be sure that the map designates center points for each area that takes up significant space (sidewalk, playground, basketball court, soccer field, school buildings, etc.). Then, students can use the center point of each larger area as a reference when sharing ordered pairs.
  Create a key to simplify the drawing. Symbols take up less space than entire words, freeing up more space on the coordinate plane for tracking ladybug sightings.
• For each item on the key, try to include one example of its use in the basic outline that can be referenced when outdoors with students.
• When outdoors, help students make connections between what they observe and the aerial view.
• Allow students time to add points of interest and vegetation to their map.
  After spending time outside, reconvene as a class and use student observations to add points of interest and vegetation to the class map.

Example basic outline map

Finding and photographing ladybugs will require some effort to accomplish but will be key to participation in the Lost Ladybug Project. In addition, treat ladybugs with care as they are living specimens. To ensure high-quality data collection throughout the project, while maintaining ethical considerations of live specimens, review the following prior to finding and photographing ladybugs with your students.

Review the suggestions provided on the Lost Ladybug website: How to Photograph Ladybugs

What devices will your class use to photograph ladybugs? Do you have a class set of cameras? iPads? An iPhone? Will you use a clip-on magnifying lens (such as a macro lens) to take an up-close photograph? Do your students know how to use the device to take a photograph?

Ladybugs can either be photographed where found or collected to be photographed later. Photographing them on the leaf or ground where you have found them is safer for the ladybug, yet harder for the photographer. Consider what your class protocol will be for photographing and recording once a ladybug is found. For example, will you collect it in a container to photograph at a later point, or will your students take a photograph right when it is located?

• Unless collecting them to photograph later, try to avoid having students handle ladybugs.  
• What tools are needed for your students to carefully and safely collect ladybugs to photograph at a later point?  Do you have containers with lids to keep them in? It will be important for you to demonstrate how to safely put a ladybug into the container. Once there, where will you place the container so the ladybugs do not die? Do you have a cooler or refrigerator to keep them in until you are ready to photograph them? (Note: It is recommended that ladybugs are kept in a cooler or refrigerator no longer than a few days; in a freezer, no more than 5 minutes. Refer to the “chill out” section of the How To Find, Collect, and Photograph Guide on the Lost Ladybug website for more information regarding safely cooling the ladybugs for photographing.) Once you have finished collecting, what will be your protocols for photographing and releasing them back where students found them? 
• Photographing them in the location you’ve found them is perfectly acceptable (although slightly more difficult) and safer for the ladybugs. Attempt to get as close as possible to the ladybug with your lens, rather than your hand, to try to capture a shot before it flies away. Also consider what device students will be using, and how will they record data about that photograph? It might be helpful to organize your photos by creating a folder on your desktop organized by date and habitat (location) where they were found. If using a camera, you can record the photo number on your data recording sheet to keep track of the photographs. 

Will each student, or small group, have a data recording sheet to keep track of the ladybugs as they are found and where they are found, or will you have one student recording information for the whole class?

Will you enter the data immediately while outdoors, upon return to the classroom, or at a later time? It will be easy to forget to enter the data after time exploring outdoors. Be sure to have routines in place to enter the data on the website so it does not pile up.

Proficient response:

Ordered Pair Error

(see example map above):

Student Response (likely range of student responses): I predict that we will find ladybugs around (13, 38) because the ladybugs might be attracted to the electricity in the electrical boxes.

Missing Information:

Student Response (likely range of student responses): I predict that we will find ladybugs around (18,28) because ladybugs like to be outdoors.