Play a Trick on a Tick

Description

Students will watch a short informative video detailing how ticks use perception to detect an animal's passage and how a person can use this knowledge to avoid getting bitten by a tick. 

Image_List

Discussion

How do ticks know which grasses have been touched by animals?

What plants do ticks live on?

Can ticks jump or fly?

Why do ticks hang over the trail on grass?

What can you do to avoid ticks?

True or false - For most of their lives, ticks are vegetarian.

Lesson

Printable Materials

Let's Play a Trick on a Tick! (PDF) Lesson Plan

Standard

4-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Students who demonstrate understanding can: Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

Disciplinary Core Ideas LS1.D: Information Processing
Different sense receptors are specialized for particular kinds of information, which may be then processed by the animal’s brain. Animals are able to use their perceptions and memories to guide their actions.

Crosscutting Concepts Systems and System Models
A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.

Science and Engineering Practices Developing and Using Models
Modeling in 3-5 builds on K-2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions. Use a model to test interactions concerning the functioning of a natural system.