Controlling the Argentine Ant

Unit 4 – Good Critters, Bad Critters

Activity 3 – Controlling the Argentine Ant

Materials & Setup

Class Period One

• Argentine ant range acetates (master, pp. 48-59)
• Overhead projector and screen

For each student
• Student Page “Designing a Control Strategy That Works: Questions From the Discussion” (pp. 60-64)

Instructions

Class Period 1:

1) Ask students to review what they learned during the last activity about where and how quickly Argentine ant populations are spreading within Haleakalā National Park. Have students from the team that worked on that topic provide a quick synopsis.
2) Using Teacher Background “The Spread of Argentine Ants in Haleakalā National Park and Recent Efforts at Control” (pp. 40-43), lead a class discussion on recent efforts to control the spread of Argentine ants in Haleakalā National Park. Use the acetates to illustrate key points.
3) Assign the Student Page “Designing a Control Strategy that Works: Questions from the Discussion” as homework.

Class Period 2:

1) With the entire class, discuss students’ determinations about the effectiveness of the ant control experiment. Review their calculations and talk about factors that might make the results questionable.
2) Ask students to discuss the idea that current control efforts may be simply buying time during which alternative methods of eradication may be developed and tested.
3) Review the entire unit, discussing student questions and ideas.

Journal Ideas

• What can you do to prevent the spread of Argentine ants within Haleakalā National Park?
• What kind of educational program would be effective at helping park visitors learn about Argentine ants and how to stop their spread?

Assessment Tools

• Student Page “Designing a Control Strategy that Works: Questions from the Discussion” (teacher version, pp. 44-47)
• Participation in class discussion
• Journal entries

Media Resources

None.