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Texas Tech University

URC 2023 Abstract

Lillian Prescott

Educating Future Entomologists: Developing Learning Resources for the Texas FFA Entomology CDE

Texas Tech University hosts Area and State competitions for Texas FFA (Future Farmers of America). One of these competitions is the Entomology CDE (Career Development Event), where high school students compete in teams to identify insects and other arthropods and take an exam about general entomological knowledge. Teams coached by teachers from across Texas participate in these competitions. A form was sent to coaches to gauge prior training, experience level, and preparedness to coach their team. Many coaches lack prior training in entomology, so, we developed an entomology workshop to ensure all teams go into competitions with adequate resources . We prepared fact sheets with information about each of the 155 organisms that students need to identify. To produce these, we sorted all organisms alphabetically by taxonomic order, and then again within order. For each organism, we consulted literature and online resources to compile biodiversity information, distinctive morphological features, biological aspects, significance to health or agriculture, and several images of each organism. Sheet headers were color coded by order so that information could be easily divided into sections. To focus on the exam portion of the CDE, where 30 multiple choice questions are chosen from a bank of 250, we prepared a series of web seminars covering core topics of the exam, such as anatomy, reproduction and development, and ecological aspects. Following these seminars, another form will be sent to gauge improvement in knowledge and confidence in coaching. These web seminars and fact sheets will be available to all FFA entomology teams through the Natural Science Research Laboratory Invertebrate Zoology Collection webpage. With this information being freely available, teams will now have access to the resources they need to compete, regardless of their coach's experience and training in entomology.

Presenter: 334

Lillian Prescott Junior Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources Texas Tech University Affiliations: Museum of Texas Tech University, Natural Science Research Laboratory

Abstract: A334

Impact Area: Learning

Session: A - Tues. April 1, 10:00 AM, TTU Museum Sculpture Garden

Project Author(s)

Lillian Prescott, Jill Forrest, Jennifer Girón, Scott Longing

Mentor

Jennifer Girón Museum of Texas Tech University TTU Museum of Texas Tech University