Overview

Grade: 5th

Topic: Life Science

Standard: 5.LS.1: Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem.

Students will learn about invasive species in Ohio, characteristics that make species good invaders, factors that can influence plant community assembly, and the role that people play in causing and proliferating invasions.

This lesson is adapted from "Invasive Species in Michigan" from Michigan State University, Elizabeth Schultheis, Melissa Kjelvik

Format

1. Short video introduction to invasive species (13.18 minutes)

2. 1 Game for students, with game play explanation video (2.17 minute)

3. Quiz

Materials

• 1 set of Seeds, Grow, and Disperse cards

• Spinner Card: 2 Options

  1. 1. Print and create

     2. Use web version

• Invasive card for each student Prints 4 cards per sheet. Pages 1-9 are the front of cards, and pages 10-18 are the back. You can just print the back of the card as it has the game information, but does not contain a picture of the plant.

• Game board for each student

• Game marker for each student (penny, eraser, game piece, whatever you have readily available)

Time

This lesson can be completed in 45 mins - 1 hour if the activity is only played once. Ideally it should be played multiple times so students can observe different outcomes depending on what events were spun on the wheel and to redistribute the species cards so each student can be a new species with different traits than their first.

· 10 minutes – Video Introduction: Do you know of any invasive species? Examples of invasive species in Ohio

· 5 minutes – Summary of introduction: students should now be able to describe characteristics that make a good invader

· 15-30 minutes – play 1-2 rounds of the activity

· 5 minutes – Summary: have students describe what got them “into the community”. Do the characteristics that made them a good invader match the ones we discussed in the introduction? What characteristics of the native species made them successful/unsuccessful? Does the outcome of the activity change between rounds?

Video Introduction

Watch 13 minute video on invasive species (Prezi presentation)

Activity

Video explanation of the game (Prezi, 2.17 minutes)

Hand out 1 of each to every student:

• Game boards

• Game markers

• Native/Invasive Card

Make sure students understand the game rules as mentioned in the video.

Forward

1. Hold up a sign for one of the stages hold up one of the Seed, Grow, Disperse cards

2. Students move forward the number of spaces indicated on their card.

Backwards

1. Spin the event spinner

2. Students move backward the number of spaces indicated on their species card.

Repeat the forward and backwards steps (selecting a new card for forward and spinning for a new backwards move each time) until you have about 10 students reach the finish (these students are “in the community”)

Have students in the community line up along the finish line, with invasive and native species on opposite sides.

Have students that did not make it across the finish line remain in their seats..

Have each student in the community:

1. Read their species name,

2. State whether they are invasive or native, and

3. Explain what helped them the most. How is it that they made it into the community? The students should remember which of the events hurt them the most or which stage allowed them to take the most steps. (This should be different depending on what species they are and what sorts of events were spun for this round).

Ask some of the sitting students why they did not make it.

Link the characteristics of the invasive species that made it into the community to some of the themes and invasive species examples brought up in the introduction.

You may repeat the activity as time allows (usually 2-3 rounds). Point out to students how the outcomes differ between rounds. What events caused the outcomes to change? Did certain things come up more often than others? What events led to a community consisting of mostly invasive species? Native?

Assessment

Quiz - google forms 10 questions. Question 9 refers to an animal mentioned in the video.

Extensions

Reading These readings are free with registration on ReadWorks, a nonprofit that provides Common-Core-aligned readings. All readings include comprehension questions.

• Pythns invade the everglades - 4th grade level, 1281 words, includes question set

• Challenges facing estuaries: Invasive species - 5th grade level, 202 words

• Short term impact of the zebra mussel invasion - 8th grade level, 648 words

• Invasive Species, 6th grade level, 117 words, contains question set

Videos

• Invasive Species 101: National Geographic (3.31)

• Invasive Species- cartoon animation from Minnesota (2.00)

• Kids Talk About Invasive Species (6.11) From NIHI Kids, Guam

Questions

Questions? Please contact your county SWCD educator