Habitats of Urban Moths: Engaging Elementary School Students in the Scientific Process

Abstract

Inquiry-driven teaching methods allow students to take on an active role in their own education. Through this framework, students are able to cultivate an understanding of scientific concepts and their connections while experimenting in the classroom. Our project centered around teaching students about habitats of urban moths, which are abundant in most environments. Based on the students' hypotheses on where moths might be, homemade moth traps were placed either in a local nature preserve or in the school playground over the course of two nights. Overall, 27 moths were captured. Students then learned how to pin moth specimens and assessed what they could infer from how many moths were captured in each of the collection areas. This project created an environment for students to approach Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations about the diversity of life and how organisms interact with their environments.