Bug House a useful resource for Science Olympiad teams

The MSU Bug House opened its door for Science Olympiad teams to help prepare them for competition this spring.

Collection of arthropods at Bug House.

The MSU Bug House opened its door for Science Olympiad teams to help prepare them for competition this spring. Science Olympiad is one of the premiere science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 7,000 teams in 50 states. As part of the competition, students are tested on their ability to identify insects to Order and Family taxonomic levels and ability to answer general questions on characteristics, ecology and impacts on people.

Gary Parsons, Curator of the A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection, and Amanda Lorenz, State Event Supervisor, made the Entomology Lab and Bug House available to give all state Science Olympiad teams an opportunity to view specimens of the 30 Orders and 100 Families of insects students are required to know for the competition. They created sample tests with specimens and questions for high school and middle school knowledge levels to help students prepare for their regional and state competitions.

John Stone, Pesticide Safety and Education Program Coordinator, coaches the entomology event for Science Olympiad at Grandville Public Schools. Both the high school and middle school teams won the event and qualified for the state tournament to be held at MSU on April 26.

“Many thanks to Gary Parsons and Amanda Lorenz for making the Entomology lab and the Bug House available, and taking two Saturdays of their time, for all state steams to use our collection for studying,” Stone said. “I am certain this contributed to our team’s success!”

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