Teacher’s Guide: Insects Invade

Supports Common Core State and NGSS Standards

Dear Educator:

We hope you enjoy your class set of the student magazine Insects Invade, 

which teaches about a real-world issue facing our Nation’s forests and trees. 

This accompanying teaching guide contains two hands-on lessons and 

skill-building worksheets to build upon science concepts in the magazine.

We hope you share these important materials with your students today!

Sincerely,

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

Lesson 1: Insects in a Normal Ecosystem

Objective: Students understand that native insects are 

an important part of a natural ecosystem.

Set Up Before Reading: Have page 8 of the Insects 

Invade magazine to show students.

Set Up After Reading: Obtain a chunk of brown clay. 

Roll it up into a tube that is at least 6 inches long and 

hollow. Bring some popped popcorn and raisins to class.

Before Reading: Guide students through determining 

the meaning of domain-specific words. Indicate that you 

can find clues about a word’s meaning by breaking it 

apart or examining related images in a text. 

“Ecosystem“:

• Eco-: Ask students to brainstorm words that start with 

this prefix, or ask if they know what “eco-friendly” means. 

Eco-: Relating to the environment.

• System: Ask students to describe systems they know 

(e.g., a classroom system/routine) and come up with a 

definition. System: When multiple parts work together.

• Ask students to combine the word parts. “Ecosystem”: 

How the parts of the environment work together. Example: 

Insects recycle nutrients, pollinate plants, and/or are food 

for wildlife.

“Bore“: 

• Using page 8 of the student magazine, show the picture 

of what the emerald ash borer, an invasive species, does 

to trees. 

• Based on that, ask students to determine what “bore” 

might mean. Bore: To make a hole by piercing.

After Reading: Explain that native insects can damage 

trees, too. The difference is that there are natural predators 

or other factors (such as temperature) to keep insect 

populations in check. Discuss the mountain pine beetle. 

Bring out the tube of brown clay. This represents the trunk 

of a lodgepole pine tree. Explain that a mountain pine 

beetle will burrow its way into the tree, damaging it. 

Use a pencil or pen to puncture the hollow “tree” in a few 

places. Show a beetle (the raisin) getting inside the tree. 

Sometimes the tree can fight off such attacks. It uses a 

milky substance in an attempt to trap the beetle outside 

the tree. This is called a pitch tube. Have different 

students place a piece of popcorn over some of the holes 

in the tree. Then show the beetle being trapped outside 

the tree (the raisin on top of the popcorn and outside the 

tree). Also, natural predators such as woodpeckers may 

eat them, as may clerid beetles.

Language Arts/Science • Grades 4–5

(Continued on next page)

January 2014

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Worksheet Answers: “Invasive Insects: Map Them!” 1. balsam woolly adelgid; 2. redbay ambrosia beetle; 3. gypsy moth and 

emerald ash borer; 4. banded elm bark beetle. “Trees at Risk!” Graph Questions: 1. 2009; 2. 2008; 3. 2010; Take It Further: 1 and 

2: See pages 4–5 of student magazine for text evidence. 3. See page 11 of student magazine for text evidence.

Language Arts CCSS: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy. Science NGSS: http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards. 

Draw a T-chart on the board. Label the columns Native 

Insects and Invasive Insects. Using their knowledge of the 

student magazine, have students reach a consensus on 

which column of the T-chart each insect on the following list 

belongs: bumblebee, Asian long-horned beetle, emerald ash 

borer, hawkmoth, gypsy moth, ladybug, monarch butterfly, 

redbay ambrosia beetle.

Lesson 2: Fighting Invasive Insects

Objective: Students understand ways to combat the 

spread of invasive insects.

Set Up Before Reading: Get an empty plastic gallon 

container. Cut 1⁄3 off the top. Have in hand scissors, string, 

water, and dishwashing detergent. 

Before Reading: Explain to students that people are 

trying to figure out ways to detect invasive insects. One way 

is a pheromone trap. Show them the plastic container. Tell 

them that it represents real traps that scientists use to capture 

invasive insects. Mix the dishwashing detergent with warm 

water to get a soapy mix. Tell students that this mixture 

represents a pheromone attractant. Explain that pheromones 

are a kind of chemical signal, and that insects are able to 

detect pheromones using different smell-gathering organs 

on their bodies. The beetles are attracted and caught in the 

trap. Use scissors to put holes on each side of the top of the 

container, and pull a string through to show how it might hang 

from a tree.

After Reading: Explain that there are ways to help prevent 

the spread of invasive insects. These include observing and 

taking action. Referring to the student magazine, ask students 

to name some of the signs of invasive insects one can observe. 

Answers might include bark damage, dead treetops, damaged 

leaves, eggs. What are some actions to take to prevent the 

spread of invasive insects? Answers can include: Use only 

local firewood, clean off your boots and equipment after 

hiking, don’t release houseplants into the wild, teach others.

Additional Evidence-Based Questions for Discussing 

Insects Invade:

 • What roles do insects play in their normal habitats?

 • Explain the difference between a native species and 

an invasive species.

 • How does an insect become “invasive”?

 • In what ways do insects travel from one ecosystem 

to another?

 • In what ways do invasive insects cause trouble to trees? 

To forests? To ecosystems?

Skill-Building Worksheets: Distribute the worksheets to 

further build student understanding:

• Map: “Invasive Insects: Map Them!”

• Bar Graph: “Trees at Risk!“

Resources 

• http://invasivespeciesinfo.gov

• http://hungrypests.com

• State-by-State interactive map: http://foresthealth

.fs.usda.gov/portal/Flex/FPC

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) 

Reading: Informational Text Magazine Lessons Worksheet 1 Worksheet 2

RI.4.1: Refer to details from a text when explaining or drawing inferences. • • •

RI.4.4: Determine meaning of academic and domain-specific words. • •

RI.5.1: Quote from a text when explaining or drawing inferences. • •

RI.5.4: Determine meaning of academic and domain-specific words. • •

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 

Life Sciences

4: Structure, Function, and Information Processing • • • •

5: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems • • • •

Standards: Grades 4–5

(Continued from previous page)
Invasive Insects: Map Them!

Invasive insects are a problem throughout the United States. The map below includes 

information about fi ve invasive insect species in 2013. Study the map and then answer 

the questions below it on separate paper.

Balsam woolly adelgid

Key: Gypsy 

moth

Emerald 

ash borer

Banded elm 

bark beetle Redbay ambrosia beetle

DE

OH

WI

TN

KY

ND

MN

MI

IL IN

IA

MO

AR

TX

OK

KS

NE

WY

CO

NV UT

AZ NM

HI

AK

PA

NY

NJ

MD WV VA

NC

SC

AL GA MS

LA

FL

VT

NH

ME

MA

CT

SD RI

OR

ID

MT

CA

WA

N

S

W E

1. Which insect has invaded States on both the 

West Coast and the East Coast?

2. Which insect has been detected so far in 

only Southeastern States?

3. What two insects are widespread in both 

Eastern and Midwestern States?

4. Which insect has a range that includes 

Midwestern States and Western States?

Worksheet
The United States has 750 million acres of forest. Each year, the Forest Service examines 

the land to see how many acres of trees were damaged or destroyed by insect pests. 

Study the bar graph below to find out how our country’s trees fared each year from 

2007 to 2011. Then, answer the questions to the right of the graph on separate paper.

Graph Questions:

1. In which year were the 

most trees destroyed by 

insect pests? 

2. Which year shows the 

greatest increase in trees 

being destroyed compared 

with the year before? 

3. In which year did the 

problem first begin to 

decrease again? 

Take It Further:

Quote evidence from the 

magazine Insects Invade to 

answer the following:

1. How does an insect 

become “invasive”?

2. In what ways do invasive 

insects harm forests?

3. What actions can people

take to help with the 

problem of invasive insects?

Acres of Trees Destroyed by 

Insect Pests (2007–2011)

Trees at Risk!

14.0

12.0

10.0

8.0

6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0

2007

Millions of Acres

2008 2009 2010 2011

Program Aid 2148b

Worksheet