cockroach webquest

The Lowly Cockroach

A WebQuest for 10th Grade (Biology)

Introduction

The lowly Amereican cockroach (Periplaneta americana) cockroach, friend or foe? The cockroach by most people has always been consider a pest insect that is worthless and has no purpose. You are a group of scientists that has discovered how to completely eliminate cockroaches from the world forever, but if you act quickly! You are restricted by time and once you make and implement your decision it can never be changed!! Does the cockroach have any redeeming qualities that can convince you to allow them to remain in the World?

The Task

You job will be to determine if the cockroach has any redeeming qualities to save it from extinction. You will be doing this by studying the cockroaches life cycle, reproduction methods, place in the food chain and the economic cost to Man.

The Process

Each student will do their own research and by going to the following links and will create the following products based on their research. Other websites may be visited; these are just a starting point.

Each student will create a small poster diagram ( ½ poster board) illustrating the life cycle of a cockroach.

Order Blattaria University of Florida Cockroach dissection Day in the life of a cockroach

Each student will make a phylogenic tree showing the classification of a cockroach. Be sure to include what common ancestor the cockroach shares with some other animals. Include at least 5 other animals that are related to the cockroach. Show this relationship with your tree. Evolutionary tree Classification

Each student will make a food web that contains the cockroach as the central character (it’s in the center). Show at least 3 things that it uses as a food source and at least 3 things that use it as a food source. Invincible cockroach Cockroaches

Each student will research and determine, what diseases or illnesses are directly or indirectly associated to cockroaches. Be sure to include how the cockroach relates to this disease or illness. This research can be presented in either a research paper form or a poster illustration.

Young naturalist Cockroach urban legend Helicobacter pylori SARS

Disease transmission Plain talk

Each student will research and determine the economic cost of cockroaches either from their direct consumption of food sources, contamination of food sources and the cost of control methods. Be sure to include all economic sources directly or indirectly that are associated with cockroaches. Be sure to include how the cockroach. This research can be presented in either a research paper form or a poster illustration.

Cockroach netcam Young naturalist Pest control

As a final conclusion to this assignment each student will decide weather the cockroach she be made extinct or not. To support the stance you take each student will create a thinking map listing cockroaches pro for continued existence vs. its extinction. You may use any thinking map style that you choose so long as you use it correctly. Be sure to use specific example in your pros and cons thinking map.

Evaluation

Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Life cycle poster	Poster contains life and death of the cockroach with no illustrations	Poster contains life and death of the cockroach and its reproduction method, with only basic illustrations or drawings	Poster contains life and death of the cockroach and its reproduction and mating method with some illustrations and drawings	Poster contains life complete life cycle including, birth, death, mating, reproduction and has detailed illustrations and/drawings
phylogenic tree	The tree is in the correct format and list all the correct levels of classification	The tree is in the correct format and lists all the correct levels of classification and shows at least one common ancestor and at least one related species but less than three related species	The tree is in the correct format and lists all the correct levels of classification and shows at least one common ancestor and at least two related species but less than four related species	The tree is in the correct format and lists all the correct levels of classification and shows at least one common ancestor and at least five related species
Cockroach food web	Cockroach is central animal of web	Cockroach is central animal of web as shows at least one example of what the cockroach feeds on	Cockroach is central animal of web as shows at least one example each of what the cockroach feeds on and what feds on the cockroach	Cockroach is central animal of web as shows at least one example each of what the cockroach feeds on and what feds on the cockroach and uses illustrations and/or drawings in the web
Cockroaches and disease	Students indicated one disease or illness attributed to cockroaches	Students indicated one disease or illness attributed to cockroaches and discuses the specific mode disease/illness transmission	Students indicated more than one diseases but less than four diseases or illnesses attributed to cockroaches and discuses the specific mode disease/illness transmission	Students indicated four or more diseases or illnesses attributed to cockroaches and discuses the specific mode disease/illness transmission
Economic costs	Has no economic cost data	Has some economic cost data, but not specific	Has well defined economic cost data, that is specific for damage and consumption by cockroaches	Has well defined economic cost data, that is specific for damage and consumption by cockroaches and includes the cost of control
Cockroach thinking maps	Has a thinking map, used incorrectly	Has a thinking map used correctly	Has a thinking map used correctly with a few specific examples	Has a thinking map used correctly with a several specific examples

Final Grade

The final grade will be determined by adding the scores obtained for each rubric and multiplying this number by ten, for a total possible grade of 240 points.

Conclusion

From your research you should have learned that every species on Earth occupies a specific niche and is important to the overall survival on other species on the Earth. What happens to other species affects us too.