| Insects in Human Culture | Assigned: Wed. , Nov. 11, 2009 |
| scavenger hunt: 30 points + bonus points | Due: Mon., Nov. 30, 2009 |
| insect perspectives essay: 30 points |
This assignment involves perspectives on insects in human societies. You will be asked to find examples of insects in various categories. For most of these you only need to indicate a title, a written description, or a citation. For others you may need to provide an example (such as a newspaper or magazine article involving insects or an example of insects in art). I may award bonus points for particularly good examples you submit. You will also need to indicate if the example presents insects in a positive, negative, or neutral light, and you will tally these at the end of the exercise. You may work individually or in teams (of no more than four), but essays must be individual efforts. Teams should turn in a single copy of the answer sheets with all team members names. Answers may be found by consulting any of a number of sources, such as library references, knowledgeable friends and family, graduate students and professors (if you can get them to talk to you), bartenders, or field trips to drug stores.
For some answers, such as titles, all that may be needed is the answer itself. For others it may be necessary to provide more information (to convince me your answer is real and to help me find more information should I ever want it). For example, "The Beatles" is a sufficient answer in the category "rock groups named after insects"; but were there a group called the Tiger Beatles, you should add more information (e.g., The Tiger Beatles - a new wave, punk band from Cleveland ca. 1980-1981). When in doubt include more information.
For purposes of the scavenger hunt, I have a very liberal view of what I'll consider an insect. Essentially, any terrestrial arthropod (sowbug, spider, tick, mite, millipede, centipede, or insect) can be used to answer a question involving insects. Thus, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" qualifies as an acceptable answer as a children's song involving insects.
Scoring for the scavenger hunt is only slightly less complicated than for bowling or cricket. You need 30 points to complete this assignment, and you can also receive up to 15 additional bonus points. The first 2 answers in a category are worth 1/2 point each, up to 30 points for 60 total answers. First or second answers beyond the 60 total or answers beyond 2 in a given category are worth 1/4 bonus point each, to a maximum of 10 bonus points (40 answers). Additionally, you can receive bonus points based on how many categories you have correct answers; 3 bonus points for 40 categories, 5 bonus points for all 50 categories. Also, I may award bonus points for particularly good examples submitted. To summarize:
| Area | Points | Total Possible |
| first or second answer in a
category
(up to 60 answers); third or fourth answer in a category |
0.5 point each 0.25 points each |
30 points |
| (10 bonus possible for points beyond 30) | 10 bonus | |
| 40 categories | 3 bonus points | |
| all 50 categories | 2 bonus points | |
|
Maximum Possible: |
30 points 15 bonus points |
|
You must write your answers on the answer sheets provided!
Because the answer sheet doesn't print properly from the browser (at least
it doesn't for me), here are some other options:
In completing the Great Cultural Entomology Scavenger Hunt, you should gain some appreciation for perspectives on insects in society (American society at least). As a rough index, recall the tally you kept which indicated whether a given example presented insects in a positive, negative, or neutral light. The essay portion of the assignment is to write a 2-3 page paper on how you believe insects are perceived by society and how this perception may (or may not) relate to broader questions of man's relationship to nature. You may focus on the broad indications you formed through the scavenger hunt, or you may focus on a single scavenger hunt category and explore (in a literary sense) what entries in the category have to say about perspectives towards insects. I'm interested in having you develop your own ideas on these issues, so please give this some thought before writing
What would a scavenger hunt be without prizes? Prizes will be awarded for:
Lest you get your hopes up, remember that the sponsor of this contest is a lowly professor and not a beer company. Taxes, duties, shipping, and incidental fees are the responsibility of the winners. All decisions of the judges are final. Only Entomology 108 students are eligible to play. Void where prohibited by law.
Answer Form
Name:
Name:
Name:
Name:
| 1 | Rock groups named after insects | ||
| 2 | Cars named after insects | ||
| 3 | Airplanes named after insects | ||
| 4 | Art made by or of insects | ||
| 5 | Computer software (including games) about insects | ||
| 6 | Movies involving insects | ||
| 7 | Songs involving insects | ||
| 8 | News articles (in the popular press not scientific press) about insects | ||
| 9 | Nursery rhymes/children's stories/fables involving insects | ||
| 10 | Poems about insects | ||
| 11 | Colloquial phrases or sayings involving insects | ||
| 12 | Human foods made of insects (not just containing insect parts) | ||
| 13 | Classical music involving insects | ||
| 14 | Poems about insects (excluding nursery rhymes!) | ||
| 15 | Science fiction involving insects | ||
| 16 | Mystery stories or novels involving insects | ||
| 17 | Bizarre insect items for sale on eBay | ||
| 18 | Insect references in Shakespeare | ||
| 19 | Children's books about insects | ||
| 20 | Insects used as pets | ||
| 21 | Products made from or by insects | ||
| 22 | Magic: The Gathering™ cards with insects | ||
| 23 | People with insect or insect-related nicknames | ||
| 24 | Military insignia involving insects | ||
| 25 | Comic book or cartoon characters associated with insects | ||
| 26 | Games involving insects | ||
| 27 | Athletic teams named after insects | ||
| 28 | Insects that live on/in humans | ||
| 29 | Art featuring insects | ||
| 30 | Holidays involving insects | ||
| 31 | Advertisements involving insects | ||
| 32 | Internet sites about insects | ||
| 33 | Quilt block names involving insects | ||
| 34 | Drinks named after insects | ||
| 35 | Dances involving insects | ||
| 36 | Insects with religious significance (and what is the significance) | ||
| 37 | Insect references in the Bible, Koran, Torah, or other religious writing | ||
| 38 | Endangered insect species | ||
| 39 | Insects in mythology | ||
| 40 | Therapeutic (medicinal) uses of insects | ||
| 41 | Insect tattoos (no, I won't give bonus points if you get a tattoo!, but a picture of the tattoo would be nice) | ||
| 42 | Insect repellents (examples must differ in active ingredient) | ||
| 43 | Laws involving insects | ||
| 44 | Historical events associated with insects | ||
| 45 | Insect associations with fashion (including cosmetology and hair styling) | ||
| 46 | Geographical features (rivers, mountains, towns) named after insects | ||
| 47 | Items used to kill/control household insects (each example must represent a different method) | ||
| 48 | Products for getting rid of lice | ||
| 49 | Jokes involving insects (please try to keep these clean) | ||
| 50 | Make Your Own Category (it must be different from the other 49) |
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Home, home on the range |