You are here.
Course Overview
This course will provide teachers with in-depth, hands-on experience and background information on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to help prepare them to meet the new PA Environment and Ecology Academic Standards. Discussions, activities, trips, videos, experiments, demonstrations, and games are geared toward enhancing participants' understanding of the many aspects and uses of IPM. Teachers will apply this information to their own curriculum needs by writing new lesson plans for their classes. Lesson plans turned in for credit will be compiled and added to an internet accessible database for all teachers to use.
IPM can be applied to multiple environments, encompasses most taxonomic groups of organisms, involves many techniques and skills and important societal and ecological issues. Emphasis in this course is on practical, engaging ways to demonstrate interrelated concepts to students. The course is not a "cookbook" approach to IPM and Environment and Ecology but rather aims to enhance teachers' capacity, creativity, enthusiasm and access to resources so they can build their own programs.
Organization of key topics is as follows:
Overview of Environment and Ecology & IPM (Context for IPM)
Insects, Weeds, Vertebrates and Soil Ecosystem (Organisms)
Biological Control, Pesticides (Tactics of IPM)
Agriculture, Natural Areas, Buildings and Schools, Yard and Gardens, and Warm Bodies (Sites for IPM)
Under each category, there will be sample activities and lessons provided. We will do as many as time allows during the course.
Teachers, have fun!