D3317: STEAM K-12 curriculum development that connects youth with insects in the school garden

The Smart Foodscapes Project at Utah State University aims to improve the sustainability of beef production through habitat enhancement in rangelands, while engaging and educating current and future land stewards through extension and education. Habitat enhancement at any scale, even simply installing a school garden or modifying landscape beds, can impact insect biodiversity. The Smart Foodscapes project has installed school gardens at elementary, middle, and high schools in Utah and developed and tested a STEAM, Garden-Based Learning curriculum. A subset of the lessons focuses on insects specifically, increasing awareness and appreciation of them through art, music, math, and science. Insects are valuable educational subjects inside and outside of the classroom because they are ubiquitous, diverse in form and ecology, easy to collect and observe, and have the creep factor that fascinates people of all ages. The lessons are connected to key K-12 Next Generation Science Standards related to lifecycles, ecosystems, sustainability, biodiversity, and science and engineering practices. Several lessons use citizen science projects to engage the students in scientific discovery through participation in data collection to solve environmental problems. The collection of lessons and additional professional development materials for teachers will be widely available online to encourage broad participation in environmental stewardship.