A WebQuest to guide students through the life cycle and needs of a mealworm

1. Mealworm Web Quest
Will mealworms
solve the garbage
problem?

2. Student Overview
It is the year 2015 and our country is about to be overrun with
garbage. The President has called you, a renowned expert on
butterfly metamorphosis, to determine whether mealworms would
be helpful in reducing the amount of stinking garbage that is piling
up all over the place. You and your team have been assigned to help
develop a habitat, which can support the reproduction of
mealworms so that their usefulness for this task can be studied.
You need to find out what type of environment mealworms need to
have, what they eat, and the job that they do for the Earth. When
your task is complete, you will present your finding to your peers
through one of the following communications vehicles:
•Computer slide show
•Poster

3. As a result of completing this web
quest, you will:
•Design a habitat to raise your
mealworm in, as well as discover
how to care for it.
•Be able to tell what mealworms
eat.
•Describe their life cycle.
•Discuss the job that mealworms
do for the Earth.
•Combine all learned information
and present it in the form of a
computer slide show, or poster.

4. Vocabulary
As you complete the web quest there are vocabulary words you’ll come across
that you may not know. Open your journal to your vocabulary page and copy
down each word and its definition. You can refer back to this page when you
don’t understand something or write down any new words that you had to look
up.
Metamorphosis-process of changing in the life cycle of most
insects.
Mealworm-larva of the Tenebrio beetle
Molting-shedding of old skin and growing new skin.
Pupa-third stage of metamorphosis
Tenebrio Beetle-final stage of the meal worm
Larva-second stage of metamorphosis
Egg-first stage of metamorphosis
Habitat-place where a person or thing is most likely to be found.

5. Task One
Step One: Make sure you have your journal with you
to record your findings.
•Your first research assignment is to find out what foods your
mealworm will eat and how you can set up a habitat that it
could survive in.
Click on the links below and read and watch all about the
mealworm and record your information in your journal. It is
always good to check out a number of sources and record
information to make sure it is accurate.
http://animals.mom.me/set-up-mealworm-habitat-1932.html
http://www.howcast.com/videos/510868-how-to-make-a-mealworm
http://insected.arizona.edu/mealinfo.htm

6. Step Two: You still need your journal and now you will
research how mealworms find food in their natural
environment? Use your journal to record your findings.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/beetl
es/mealworm/
Step Three: You will now read about the mealworms
instinctive behavior. This means what it will do
naturally to protect itself or as it changes. The answers
won’t pop out at you. You must take the time to read the
paragraphs and complete the virtual lab. Click on the
following link to find your answers. Record your
answers in your journal.
http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_19/
BL_19.html

7. Task Two
You need to record the stage of the mealworms
Metamorphosis Life Cycle. Record your findings in your
science journal.
Things to remember when completing this task:
1.Record your information correctly.
2. Label the stages. (example, stage one)
3.Name and describe what is happening in each of the stages.
(example, larva)
Use the link below to find the answer to what the
Mealworms
Metamorphosis Life Cycle looks like.
http://mealwormcare.org/life-cycle/

8. Task Three
You have gathered a lot of information about the
Mealworm. It is up to you and your partner to
decide whether or not the mealworm can solve the garbage
problem.
You will now decide how you will present your findings. You
can complete a slide show or design a poster. If you have
another idea for presenting your findings, please let me know.

9. In your final product, you will need to make sure and identify,
explain, and describe the following:
• Describe and illustrate the life cycle stages for a mealworm
• Explain the habitat requirements for a mealworm
• What does the mealworm eat?
• Answer the following questions as part of your
presentation:
1. Do you believe the mealworm can solve the garbage
problem? Yes or no and why?
2. How will the mealworms do this?

10. Congratulations
you have
completed all
the tasks!!