Spreading ACP awareness through the classroom

California Citrus Mutual has been working with two local teachers on an innovative classroom learning game that incorporates the California citrus industry and specifically teaches students about the Asian Citrus Psyllid. By utilizing an up-andcoming customizable learning tool, Breakoutedu, the teachers created their own unique version called “The Bugs Are Breaking In!”

With facts provided by CCM, the teachers created a story for the students to hear in order to get excited about saving citrus and releasing Tamarixia from their game box. This story informs the students that there is a bug and disease that is killing the citrus trees in California, but a bug has been discovered that can help. Their goal is to unlock the box that is holding the Tamarixia inside and release it to help stop the Asian Citrus Psyllid.

Once they learn the mission, they have a limited amount of time to answer specific questions that will give them clues on how to unlock the six locks keeping the boxed closed. These questions and clues give the students a better understanding of what the Psyllid looks like, how the Tamarixia helps, and why the Psyllid is so detrimental for the California citrus industry.

The game leads the students to our citrus matters website with more facts on how everyone can do their part to stop the spread of HLB. Students have already taken this new knowledge home with them and have been telling their family and relatives to check their backyard citrus trees for ACP and to hang sticky traps.

This is just one of the many ways CCM is helping spread awareness of the ACP/HLB battle to urban citrus owners.

California Ag in the Classroom is having their conference this July in Visalia where the two teachers will once again be presenting their Breakoutedu game thanks to a sponsorship by CCM. The goal is to push this information in Southern California where ACP is even more prevalent and Tamarixia is being released. Once teachers have the Breakoutedu kit, they just go online to print the information for this subject.

The information was recently published to the Breakoutedu Sandbox and will be available for teachers to access and use in their classrooms.