Order: ISOPTERA (Termites)

Grade Level 5^th–8^th

Lesson Overview

This lesson will introduce students to animal relationships, specifically mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Insects, including termites, interact with other animals and each other when in their environments. In fact, termites would not be able to digest wood if not for the help of protozoa that lives in their guts.

Lesson

Set the Stage

Ask students to list the ways that animals interact. Write student responses on the board. Common responses may include:

Group Activity

Animal Interactions Game

Grades 5-8

Each student receives an animal card. On the card is a picture of an animal and a description of its interaction. The object of the game is for the student to find the matching card.

On the Teachers signal students walk around the room and look for their matching card. Once they find their partner they take turns reading their description to each other. The teacher asks a few student pairs to share their descriptions to the class.

Next students look at the face on their card. Students travel to the spot in the classroom that has a matching face displayed. While in the larger group, students work together to figure out what their animal relationships have in common. After a few minutes the teacher asks one member of each group to share what they think the relationship is.

The teacher should write mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism on the board next to the appropriate face. And discuss the meaning of each.

Mutualism

Everyone knows termites eat wood. What they may not know is that this diet of cellulose is unusual. The macromolecules that make up cell walls in cellulose are tough, insoluble carbohydrates. This makes cellulose indigestible to all but a few species. Termites, cows and other grazers are able to use cellulose for primary nutrition because of their relationship with the tens of thousands of microorganisms in their guts. These organisms convert cellulose to sugar and feed themselves as well as the grazer. This is mutualism, just one of the many important relationships between species.

Picture of protozoan http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/termite.html

Did you know that some termites are farmers? In some termite mounds, termites cultivate fungi in a fungus garden; a group of structures built from chewed up grass and wood. Unlike the fungi cultivated by leaf-cutter ants, which the ant colony uses as food, termites use the fungus to help break down cellulose from scavenged wood, which can then be digested by the termite.

http://www.gorongosa.net/en/flora-fauna/Odontotermes%20badius/-common-fungusgrowing-termite

• Mutualism (symbiosis) is a positive relationship between two species where both benefit. Animals form relationships for many reasons, including shelter, nutrition, and protection. Some termites cultivate fungus in their nest to ensure a food source, while others have a protozoan in their gut that digests cellulose.

Commensalism

In the wild, termites are important to the environment as decomposers. Decomposers break down dead and decaying matter and return vital nutrients to the soil. Without termites, leaf litter and decaying trees would pile up on the forest floor, blocking water and sun from new growth below. In this relationship the termite receives food, while the decaying wood is not affected since it is no longer living.

http://www.wildwatch.com/living_library/other-2/termites

• Commensalism is a relationship between two animals where one benefits and the other is not affected.

Parasitism

It is estimated that termites cause $2.5 billion in damage to personal property in one year. It's hard to blame them when humans cut down trees and use them for our houses. In this relationship, termites are a parasite, or pest to humans. Humans are negatively impacted as they could lose their shelter.

http://www.terminix.com/Exterminator/FAQs/Signs_of_Termite_Damage/

• Parasitism is a relationship where one species benefits and the other is harmed. An example is a deer tick, which feeds on its host. The tick benefits by receiving nutrients needed for survival, but the host often becomes sick.

Individual Activity

Each student will need one piece of notebook paper and a pencil. Write on the board… “What makes a ladybug so unique?” and tell the students to write a paragraph answering the question. They should include as much information as possible.

Assessment

Students will be assessed on accurate completion of the Insect Interaction sort.

Answer Key:

1.M   2.C   3.P   4.M   5.C   6.P   7.M   8.M   9.C   10.P