DISCUSS:
How do you think mosquitoes could be dangerous?
Hint...
Could sucking blood have something to do with it?
Why do you think there are more mosquitoes in tropical places?
DISCUSS:
Given what you’ve learned about mosquitoes and their life cycle, what are some suggestions you would give people to help them avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes after a rainy spring?
In this lesson, students investigate mosquito life cycles and habitats and discover the role of mosquitoes in carrying diseases such as malaria. In the activity, Bug Off!, students evaluate the merits of different solutions for getting rid of mosquitoes at various locations in a town. Students design a solution to help the town deal with an abundance of mosquitoes resulting from a very rainy summer.
Preview activityBug Off! Backyard worksheet | 1 per student |
Bug Off! Picnic Area worksheet | 1 per student |
Bug Off! Playground worksheet | 1 per student |
Problem Solver’s Sheet worksheet | 1 per student |
We suggest students work in pairs so they can share their ideas with a partner. Homeschool students can work on their own.
We have provided three Bug Off! worksheets, each picturing a different location in town. In a class, we suggest giving students a choice of which site they’d like to work with. You could also choose to have everyone come up with a solution for the same site. If students finish early, you can have them work on other sites so they can think of multiple solutions to the mosquito problem.
Student slideshow: English | Spanish
Teacher printout: English & Spanish
In this reading, students learn how some mischievous people at Mystery Science made a "fruit salad" while thinking like plant scientists.
In this reading, students learn about two scientists who study wild sunflowers.
For a limited time, view archived reading extensions here.
Take a (really) close-up look at the mosquito’s bite. (Warning! You may want to close your eyes for some of the yucky parts.) (2:55, PBS)
How can mosquitoes make you sick? Watch this video to find out. (1:29, Wadada)
In the movie Jurassic Park, fictional scientists create dinosaurs from blood found in long-dead mosquitoes. When that movie was made, nobody had ever really found a blood-filled mosquito from millions of years ago—but now they have. Could blood from a real 46-million-year-old fossilized mosquito be used to resurrect dinosaurs? Well, no—but it’s still a cool find. (2:18, D-News/Seeker)
Shelly Redovan grew up in Florida where there are lots of mosquitoes. Watch this short video where she talks about the details of her job as a mosquito biologist. (2:50, WGCU Curious Kids)
You can elaborate student learning and engagement with Mystery Science mini-lessons.
If you are in an NGSS state, this mini-lesson supports the DCI LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
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