NC State general entomology course materials
https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/course/index.html
We ordered the following books:
How to Know the Insects (Pictured Key Nature Series)
3rd Edition
The Insects: An Outline of Entomology
3rd Edition
and are using this app
http://www.audubonguides.com/field-guides/insects-spiders-nature-app.html
For ethical reasons, we are substituting catching, identifying, photographing and releasing insects rather than collecting them.
We are using the Purdue university 4H flashcards to sort and practice identifying insects to order level
https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=ID-411-W#.VrkKtlIe3hU
We also purchased several sets of toy insects, plus whatever was lurking in my daughter's room, and practiced identifying them to order level. (This is also helpful in sorting "insect" and "not insect", since about half the creatures in our sets that were labeled "insects" were arachnids or annelids)
There is also an app for this
https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=ID-401-APP#.VrkK6FIe3hU
So far, we have kept/observed the following live insects/arachnids. Most of these are insects that we have friends who keep as feeders or pets, so we could get some for a short time and have a place to send them back to. The house spider volunteered to be observed by crawling across the floor and attracting the cat's attention. He'll eventually be released into a closet or some other safe place to be a spider without four legged predators around.
Mealworms/Darkling beetles Tenebrio molitor
Superworms/beetles-Zophobas morio
House cricket-Acheta domesticus
Lesser Wax Moth (Achroia grisella)
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)
Brown House Spider (Steatoda grossa)
We also observed and did a behavior lab with isopods:
Pillbugs (Armadillidium vulgare)
Online virtual dissections
Cockroach
http://www.orkin.com/cockroaches/virtual-roach/
Lab instructions
https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/library/labs/internal_anatomy/index.html
Grasshopper
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ref/anatomy/ihop/
Lab instructions
http://www.biologyjunction.com/grasshopper_dissection.htm
We ordered these arthropod models from Amazon to build and compare
Tarantula model
Scorpion model
Lab instructions-
Hissing cockroach behavior lab
homepages.gac.edu/~jwotton2/.../COCKROACH%20BEHAVIOR3.doc
Animal behavior using arthropods
www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-3/7-larsen.pdf
Isopod behavior (AP Bio lab)
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/isopod_behavior_lab.html
Labs for Mealworms:
Virtual lab
http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_19/BL_19.html
Behavior labs
https://www.coursehero.com/file/12444232/Mealworm-Behavior-Worksheet-1/
www2.guilford.k12.ct.us/sites/hayashk/documents/MealwormLabs13.pdf
www.akronschools.org/cms/lib/.../mealworm_behavior_lab2010.doc
Elementary level lab using mealworms and earthworms
http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=16288
Cricket lab activities
Virtual cricket lab
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904140044/https://www.gc.maricopa.edu/biology/glacier/scientific_method/index.swf
Worksheet to accompany virtual lab
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/crickets_chirp.html
Cricket ethology lab
www.gregwieland.com/Animal/IntroductionMethods/Cricket_Lab.doc
Cricket behavior lecture
www.reed.edu/...syllabus/2010.../Cricket_lecture_Bio342.pdf
Scarab Beetles and Hercules Beetles
https://coleoptera2014.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/
http://museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Scarabs-for-Kids/scarabs.html
Hercules Beetle anatomy model
Drosophila breeding/genetics lab.
E-mind fly (subscription)
http://www.emindweb.com/products.php
