Dangerous Ticks & Invasive Honeysuckle

Since 2010 the number of tick-related illnesses in Iowa have increased. According to the Iowa Department of Health, Lyme disease cases increased from 91 in 2010 to a high of 318 in 2015, Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis disease cases increased from 2 in 2010 to 27 in 2018, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases increased from 5 in 2010 to 22 in 2018. A data table containing this information can be found below. Students should be challenged to think of and explore all of the possibilities for this increase. Teachers should be challenged to guide the students to exploring the role that the invasive honeysuckle bush has played in this increase of tick-borne illnesses, the decrease of biodiversity in our forests, and challenge students to figure out a solution to stopping the spread of Honeysuckle.
 

Consider pausing the video at 30 seconds in so that students have these opportunities. If you feel students need information on ticks and/or Honeysuckle before beginning their investigation, the rest of the video can be played; otherwise, teachers can use the websites to allow students to begin their investigation and creation of a solution. 

• Does removing the invasive honeysuckle shrub decrease the number of ticks in our forests?

• Why have the number of tick-borne diseases increased in Iowa since 2010?

Students could:

• Present students with one of the anchoring questions, and allow students to come up with ideas for what the correct answer could be to the questions. 
• Explore data and information related to their ideas to help prove their ideas right or wrong. After exploring the students’ ideas, the teacher can present the students with a study showing how an increase in honeysuckle leads to an increase in ticks in our forests due to an increase in deer bedding down near the honeysuckle. 
• Explore solutions to stopping the spread of honeysuckle, and if possible, have students create a simulation to test how well their solution works to stop the spread of honeysuckle, decrease the number of ticks and increase the biodiversity in a forest. If teachers only focus on how removing honeysuckle decreases the number of ticks, then students will not meet the standard HS-LS4-6.  
• Extend the lesson to emphasize the negative impact honeysuckle and similar invasive species have on biodiversity, and ensure that students show in their solution how biodiversity increases when Honeysuckle and similar invasive species are removed.

• University of Wisconsin-Madison | Invasive Shrubs Increase Spread of Tick-borne Disease: University of Wisconsin description of a study analyzing the connection between ticks and honeysuckle.
• Iowa Department of Health and Human Services | Tick-borne and Mosquito-borne Disease: Overview of tick-borne diseases in Iowa, including a link to up-to-date data report showing the number of tick borne illnesses in Iowa. Also contains maps of tick locations in America, what the different types of ticks look like and which tick creates which illness.
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR)| Population & Harvest Trends: Data showing the population trends of deer in Iowa. You will need to look at the Bowhunter Observation Survey data, because that is how they judge the deer population in Iowa.
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR)| Invasive Species Guide: Description of the invasive honeysuckle plant.
• Atlas Obscura | Honeysuckle Is a Blob-Like Monster Taking Over American Forests: Article describing the spread of the invasive honeysuckle plant across America.