On Tuesday October 15, the seventh grade DIG (Dwight-Englewood in the Garden) class went on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History to learn about the important role that insects play in a variety of ecosystems. This comes as part of a narrower unit on the necessity of healthy insect populations for the well-being of organic gardens, with the on-campus Nettie Coit Garden being an accessible example.
The students visited a variety of exhibitions, the relationships of insects to natural and man-made (agricultural) ecosystems, and the many ways in which the ecosystems that insects hold together interact with each other. Students also got to learn specifically about the life cycles of butterflies through a dedicated butterfly exhibit, helping them understand the significance of this group of pollinators, which contains an abundance of keystone species. Much of the learning was interactive in nature: particularly popular was the “insect smackdown” game that pitted insects against each other, with each species having a chance to show off its unique abilities. The students returned to campus with a deeper understanding of the insect world, discarding completely any preconceived notions of all insects being pests.
