Subject: Indirect Plant Defense
When a corn plant is munched by a caterpillar, the physical damage and certain chemicals in the caterpillar’s saliva combine to elicit release of volatile compounds from the corn leaf. This attracts parasitoid wasps that lay their eggs in the hapless caterpillars’ bodies.
Audience: Children in basic science courses of grade school
Media: Animated GIF
GIF animation is an excellent way of illustrating a simple concept while adding a real sense of motion to capture the short attention span of the students. Since animated GIF is automatically recognizable to most Web browsers, schools will only need internet connection for viewing.