Traveling Insect Safari Crawls Into Cleveland

Sponsored by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, pest management product manufacturer Bayer Corp. and pest management company Orkin Pest Control, the Insect Safari is ironically designed to educate children about the insects the two pest management companies aim to control in lawn and ornamental care and structural pest control. The Insect Safari was created as a mobile extension of the eight-year-old O. Orkin Insect Zoo at the National Museum of Natural History to bring insect education to students who can’t make it to Washington, D.C. to visit the museum.

With a 30-foot inflated tomato hornworm caterpillar entranceway and gigantic inflated praying mantis on top, the self-contained Insect Safari is housed in a 53-foot mobile trailer that expands to provide visitors with five rooms to explore the world of insects. It is filled with interactive displays, scientific facts, an array of colorful illustrations and many insect specimens mounted on insect pins - included in the specimens is an insect well-known to the lawn care operator: the mole cricket. Trained entomologists (see image at left) guide visitors through the exhibit rooms and engage students in safari-related learning exercises.

The Insect Safari encourages visitors to consider life from an insect’s point of view and explores four primary themes, including:

• How do insects thrive and survive?
• What role do insects play in nature/ecosystems?
• Where do insects live?
• How do arthropods live with human beings?

The exhibit, which will travel approximately 16,000 miles from March to October this year, also features live insects provided by local zoos, universities and museums along the tour route. The Cleveland display included four such live specimens, including two millipedes (above right), a hissing cockroach (below right) and a desert centipede. Additionally, local Entomologist James Smolka (left) - turf, ornamental and crop pest specialist for Landmark Inc., Medina, Ohio, and entomologist for Bugs Unlimited, Medina, Ohio - showcased his impressive collection of insects from the United States, Mexico and other countries. Insects in Smolka’s collection date back about 40 years with some specimens collected when he was only 6 years old.

Bayer Corp. sponsors a 6.5-foot termite tunnel inside the Insect Safari that is one-fifth the size of a tunnel built by an African termite colony. African termites often build mounds 30-feet tall.

"The Insect Safari allows us to reach students the way they learn most effectively - by hands-on, inquiry-based teaching," said Reneé Holmes, communications manager for Bayer Professional Care. "Bayer Corp. is dedicated to advancing science literacy, especially among young people who will become the scientists, researchers and professionals of the future. We are excited that our customers - pest management and turf and ornamental professionals - are able to bring their children to the exhibit to share in the fun."

In addition to a visit from the exhibit-on-wheels, schools along the Insect Safari route receive enrichment learning materials both before and after the tour. Teachers can visit the Insect Safari Web site at www.InsectSafari.com to access creative lesson plans, activity ideas and games for students. The exhibit’s four primary themes mirror learning objectives set by National Science Education Standards - a comprehensive list of objectives developed by teachers, administrators and scientists to improve science education in grades K-12. The exhibit’s tour route is available at the Insect Safari Web site.