Insect Trap Designs

This year, for the first time, I had my environmental science students design insect traps. They worked in groups to select their trap designs, create a budget and materials list. They also did some initial investigations on which type of insects would be attracted to each trap and why.

After setting the traps, students evaluated their trap designs. There were obvious improvement to be made, and some groups had time to try some improvements. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to do this well. (That will be changed next year!)

Too windy on the trail!

At the end, students created posters to evaluate their trap designs, and report what insects were collected from their traps. These posters were displayed next to their entire insect collections at Family Science Night. I wish I had better pictures!

I really enjoyed this project. Next year I will emphasize why each trap works for certain insects as a way to emphasize insect adaptations, anatomy, behavior, etc!