PUYALLUP, Wash. — What are easily available in nature and extremely attractive for kids? They are insects, and Dr. Art Antonelli, an Extension entomologist at Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center, will teach why and how to introduce insects to schoolchildren. “Insects for Teaching” will take place July 7-18 at the Puyallup center.
The entomology course is a two-week class aimed at schoolteachers and students interested in taking advantage of insects to teach life systems in the classroom. The course includes two field trips and each student will make an insect collection.
Most of the students taking the class are from Pierce, King and Kitsap counties. “We even had someone coming all the way from Spokane one year,” Antonelli said.
“My intentions are to change people’s mind about insects and to show teachers how to use an accessible organism to illustrate biological principles,” he said.
Joe Merrill, WSU Program Support Supervisor for Summer Session, said people could still enroll for the summer classes that start this week.
Merrill said that most WSU students enroll in summer classes to either finish their degree or get ahead and, in some cases, people are making up for classes they couldn’t get in their schedule before.”
To find out how to enroll for the Summer Session visit its Web site at www.summer.wsu.edu. For more information about the course “Insects for Teaching,” call Dory Lohrey-Birch, WSU Department of Entomology, at (509) 335-5422.
