Peppermint Beetle
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Students explore their sense of smell and discover why smell is important to animals, including beetles and humans.
Objectives
Students will
- Model how animals use their sense of smell to respond to the environment around them.
- Identify the importance of the sense of smell in people’s daily lives.
For the complete activity and more like this, purchase it from Shop.PLT.org as part of the Sensational Trees activity collection and/or find out about professional development opportunities in your state.
Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
My Forest is Green
Follow along a curious young boy who explores the urban forest near his home and describes the shapes, textures, and colors of the plants and animals that live there and encourages young children to observe and appreciate the nature around them.
EE Resources
NGSS Correlations for “Peppermint Beetle”
Download “Peppermint Beetle” NGSS Correlations which includes a guiding question, science connections found in the activity, and explicit NGSS correlations. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) define what students should know or be able to do at the end of instruction. This activity provides students opportunities to explore the three dimensions of science to build... Read more »
Discover Inspiring Women in Science: Linda Buck
We all know Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for pioneering research on radioactivity. But there are many more women scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who have made incredible advances in their fields. Beyond Curie is a celebration of 40 of these amazing women in STEM fields, including 16 Nobel Peace Prize winners.... Read more »
Peppermint Beetle
A National PLT Outstanding Educator from Minnesota, Karen Christenson, created a student page for PLT’s PreK-8 Guide: Activity 3—Peppermint Beetle for use with students in grades K-3. In this activity, students explore their sense of smell and discover why smell is important to animals, including themselves. In the student worksheet, Inquiry is Observing, students are reminded... Read more »
Find Nearby Trails and Parks
AllTrails is a free app that helps users discover the outdoors. Use it to find a hiking path suitable for children, to search for local places to bike or fish, or to plan a national park visit.
Tips for Taking Students Outside
Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center has put together some short, simple, and practical recommendations to help effectively incorporate use of an outdoor classroom. Suggestions include finding an experienced mentor, scheduling a set time for taking students outdoors, and examining learning standards to see what are best taught outside.
How Sensitive is an Ant’s Sense of Smell?
A great EarthSky post for this topic is How sensitive is an ant’s sense of smell?
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