Lesson Plan: The Fruit Fly That Quarantined California

Subjects:

Environmental Science

• This lesson may be useful for Unit 5 in AP Environmental Science when discussing pest control and Integrated Pest Management. Also can be used in an on level environmental science class when discussing pest control.
• This lesson could work in a unit on invasive species in a Geography, Economics, Current Events class.

Essential Question:

• How can a pest infestation be controlled or eliminated?
• How do human activities influence the environment?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Describe the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of pest control in relation to the Mediterranean Fruit Fly.
• Paraphrase methods of pest management.
• Categorize examples of prevention, suppression, and eradication of pests.
• Identify different ways human activities influence the environment.

Materials:

• Retro Report film “The Fly that Quarantined California and Pitted Environmentalists Against Farmers” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication Project Amendment Los Angeles County 2024 | California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
• “Official Notice for the Cities of Los Angeles and Inglewood” Proclamation on an Emergency Program (PEP): Leimert Park | Los Angeles County Amendment 2 (January 17, 2024) | California Department of Food and Agriculture
• Mediterranean Fruit Fly Pest Profile | California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)

Procedure:

1. Distribute the Student Activity handout and begin by having students observe images of a Mediterranean fruit fly and create their own sketch of it.
   1. Using Drawing as a Powerful Learning Tool | Edutopia
2. Next, students will examine the Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication Project Amendment Los Angeles County 2024 map, recording what they see, think, and wonder.
   1. The See-Think-Wonder thinking routine was developed as part of the Artful Thinking & Visible Thinking projects at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
3. Have students watch the Retro Report video “The Fly That Quarantined California and Pitted Environmentalists Against Farmers” (Transcript) and fill out the corresponding section on the Activity handout. They may answer by writing and/or by drawing.
   1. Describe the threat posed by the Mediterranean fruit fly, or medfly.
   2. Why were some people against the aerial spraying of pesticides?
   3. Why did Governor Brown finally give in to the spraying of pesticides?
   4. Describe some of the tactics (past and present) used to combat the medfly.
4. After the video, review student answers as necessary as a whole class. Ask students which of the tactics (past and present) they feel was mainly preventive, which they feel served as a suppression tactic, and which was the most effective for eradication. Note that answers may overlap categories. Possible answers include:
   1. The highway patrol set up roadblocks to enforce a local quarantine, keeping infested fruit away from the huge farms in California’s Central Valley.
   2. State workers went neighborhood to neighborhood spraying pesticides.
   3. Residents were ordered to strip their fruit trees and gardens under threat of a fine or jail time.
   4. Spraying of the pesticide malathion.
   5. California now raises millions of sterile medflies every day, dropping them from small airplanes seven days a week. The sterile males mate with wild females and interrupt the life cycle.
5. Next, transition to reading an “Official Notice for the Cities of Los Angeles and Inglewood” excerpt (Jan. 17, 2024). Direct students to the appropriate section on the Activity handout. Allow time for students to read on their own, or have the class follow along as you read out loud.
6. After reading, students will:
   1. Paraphrase pest management methods from the excerpt
   2. Revisit the Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication Project Amendment Los Angeles County 2024 map. What do you see, think, or wonder about after reading the excerpt and watching the video?
   3. Discuss some benefits and drawbacks of methods of pest control mentioned in this excerpt with others, and record them.

Extension Activity:

1. Have students examine the Plants and Animals Declaration Form (State of Hawaii, Department of Agriculture) and Agriculture Inspection and discuss.
2. Have students work in groups to create a public service announcement. Considerations should include:
   1. Why the Department of Agriculture watches for outbreaks of disease in agriculture and meat production
   2. What main ideas or concepts are important to convey
   3. How to persuade the audience to take informed action
3. Locate the website for Extension Services in your state. Examine resources they share to deal with insects, fungi, mold and other pests in your area.
4. For another lesson about invasive species, see Retro Report’s video This Snake Is Eating the Everglades (Transcript)

About the Author:

Trisa Swenson teaches AP Environmental Science, Chemistry and Biology in Nevada.

Standards

AP Environmental Science Standards 

• Unit 5 of the AP Environmental Science CED

• • 7.E Make a claim that proposes a solution to an environmental problem in an applied context. 
  • EIN-2 When humans use natural resources, they alter natural systems.
  • STB-1 Humans can mitigate their impact on land and water resources through sustainable use.

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.Civ.12.6-8. Assess specific rules and laws (both actual and proposed) as means of addressing public problems.
• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Geo.4.9-12. Analyze relationships and interactions within and between human and physical systems to explain reciprocal influences that occur among them.
• D2.His.16.6-8. Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past.

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text’s explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.