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Design the Ultimate Invader - Teacher Lesson Plan
2008
Grade: 9-12 (adaptable for all grade levels)
Length: Part A- 40 minutes (including the presentations) Part B- 20 minutes
Subjects: invasive species, biology, ecology, environmental sciences, social sciences
Topics: trophic levels, food webs, natural selection, evolution, and group problem solving*
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- apply their current knowledge of biology and ecology
to design the ultimate invasive species.
- apply knowledge gained of invasive species to critically
evaluate and revise their ultimate invader.
INTRODUCTION
During this fun lesson, students will apply their
knowledge of biology, ecology, and society to design
the ultimate invasive species. Use this lesson as standalone
exercise. Or use it as an effective pre- and postevaluation
of a unit about species ecology.
In Part A, students will first design an invasive species
using only their imaginations. After learning about
invasive species biology and ecology, students will
evaluate and redesign their ultimate invader in Part B
to make it even more invincible.
BaCkgROUND
Invasive species are organisms that are introduced
from somewhere else and take over the environment.
They cause problems for other plants, animals, and
people. Invasive species often have physical traits
that enable them to reproduce and spread rapidly and
outcompete native species for resources. And invasive
species often have physical traits that make them difficult
to control.
MaTERIalS
- Flip-chart paper
- Colored markers
- A sense of fun and plenty of imagination
trophic levels, food webs,
natural selection, evolution, and group problem solving*
PREPARATION
It is useful to gain some familiarity with invasive
species topics before teaching this lesson. For more
information, see the AIS Resource Guide or the Web site
of the Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org/
invasive_species/).
PROCEDURE
Part A. Design the ultimate invader
Divide students into teams (three to five students
per team) and ask them to design, draw, and describe
the characteristics of the ultimate invasive species. The
species may be terrestrial, aerial, aquatic, cosmic, or
any combination. Encourage students to be creative,
unleash their imaginations, and use whatever knowledge
they have about invasive species. If students need
help getting started, here are a few questions they
might consider:
- What are the characteristics of this species?
- What are the characteristics of its native habitat?
- How did it get here?
- How does it reproduce?
- Why was it brought into the United States?
- Who or what brought it to the United States?
- What is it capable of doing to make it invasive?
- What does it look like? (Draw a sketch.)
- Where does it live?
- What social setting does it live in?
- What does it consume?
- What consumes it?
- Where does it come from?
- What would you name it?
- As its designer, can you control it?
- What might others try to do to control and compete or co-exist with it?
- Did any policies help to promote this invasive species?
*To address these topics, have students answer the What do you know? questions on the student page.
Part B. Redesign the ultimate invader
After students have completed the unit about invasive
species, have them gather into the same teams as
before. Allow teams 15 minutes to redesign the ultimate
invasive species. Students should:
- apply any additional knowledge they acquired and
experiences they had with invasive species since
designing their species the first time
- use a different approach to describe an invasive species
Have each team make a three-minute presentation
to the class. Teams should talk about why their invader
is unique and discuss, when appropriate, some elements
of sociology, culture, economics, geography, math, engineering,
science, transportation, and vocational skills
in describing their ultimate invader.
EVALUATION
Use one or more of the following suggestions to
evaluate students.
- Evaluate students on their imagination and ability
to work as a team.
- Assign extra points if students can answer the following
questions:
Can you describe the design process? For example,
what did the team consider first? Did the team first make a list, or did you start drawing right away?
- Assess student knowledge of biology and ecology
concepts. Have students list or describe the structure
and the function of each of the characteristics
that make their organism the ultimate invader. For
example, an ultimate invader that can live in aquatic
and terrestrial habitats may have special lungs that
can function as gills. The structure might be called
gill-lungs, and they would enable the organism to invade aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
- Test students’ knowledge of concept in ecology and
evolution by asking the presenters to address the
following. (Option: Make copies of the student page
and assign the questions as a homework assignment.)
- If an invader is not outwardly aggressive, what novel
characteristics allow it to outcompete other species?
For example, some “novel weapons” might include
allelopathy, multiple hosts or vectors, size (small has advantages), adaptations for multiple modes of transport, cute, attractive, etc.
- What biotic or abiotic factors may limit the growth
of your population of invaders? (Biotic factors
include population density, competition, and predation.
Abiotic factors include moisture, temperature, weather/climate, wind, sunlight, soil, topography, geographic location, and nutrients.)
- What might happen when two different invasive
species hybridize? What might happen when an invasive species and a non-invasive species hybridize? Can the two species hybridize?
- What role does your invader play in the food web?
(Students should use terms such as primary producer,
primary consumer, secondary consumer, or decomposer, etc. If the invader is a consumer, is it herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore?)
- Is your invader an autotroph or a heterotroph?
6. Some invaders could be too successful for their own
good. The invader may reproduce at such a rapid rate that it eats itself out of house and home. Is this a good characteristic for an ultimate invader?
- Why is eradication of a species almost impossible with biological control?
- Other species your invader interacts with may have
to adapt to the presence of your invader to survive. Choose a characteristic of your invasive species that
will affect native species and describe the process by
which a native species could evolve to live with your
invader. (Students should describe the process of
natural selection. For example, if an invader outcompetes
a native species that is a specialist by eating the
entire sole food source for the native species, the native
species may evolve to become a generalist rather
than a specialist.)
9. Pretend that a subset of your invader evolves into a
new species that is even more invasive than before.
Describe the process by which this evolution occurs.
(Students’ answer should include geographical barriers,
ecological (including seasonal) isolation, behavioral
isolation, or polyploidy.) What characteristic evolved with the new species? (Students may invent the characteristic!)
RESOURCES
(URLs last accessed in December 2010. Some links may no longer work.)
Statesman-Journal series on “Invasive Species of Oregon.” Available at www.InvasiveSpeciesOfOregon.com.
The Statesman-Journal series on Invasive Species of
Oregon features nutria and other species. This Web
site has a comprehensive database of invasive species
in Oregon, video, photos, and forums to discuss
invasive species.
Oregon Public Broadcasting documentary Silent Invasion
Available from: www.opb.org/programs/invasives/. Silent Invasion is an OPB documentary
about invasive species in Oregon. The Web site includes many short video segments about specific
invasive species or case studies.
The following educational tools are useful for teaching
K–12 students about aquatic invasive species:
National Invasive Species Information Center
Available from: www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/education.shtml
Nab the Aquatic InvaderAvailable from: www.sgnis.org/kids/index.html
EDUCATION STANDARDS
[image omitted]
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Instructions: Use your knowledge of biology, ecology, and evolution to answer the following questions
about your ultimate invader. You may use your text book as a reference.
- If an invader is not outwardly aggressive, what novel characteristics allow it to outcompete other species?
For example, some “novel weapons” might include allelopathy, multiple hosts or vectors, size (small has
advantages), adaptations for multiple modes of transport, cute, attractive, etc.
- What biotic or abiotic factors may limit the growth of your population of invaders?
- What might happen when two different invasive species hybridize? What might happen when an invasive
species and a non-invasive species hybridize? Can the two species hybridize?
- What role does your invader play in the food web?
- Is your invader an autotroph or a heterotroph?
- Some invaders could be too successful for their own good. The invader may reproduce at such a rapid rate
that it eats itself out of house and home. Is this a good characteristic for an ultimate invader?
- Why is eradication of a species almost impossible with biological control?
- Other species your invader interacts with may have to adapt to the presence of your invader to survive.
Choose a characteristic of your invasive species that will affect native species and describe the process by
which a native species could evolve to live with your invader. (For example, if an invader outcompetes a
native species that is a specialist by eating the entire sole food source for the native species, the native species
may evolve to become a generalist rather than a specialist.)
- Pretend that a subset of your invader evolves into a new species that is even more invasive than before.
Describe the process by which this evolution occurs. What characteristic evolved with the new species?
(Invent the characteristic!)
Design the Ultimate Invader!
STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS Of YOUR ULTIMATE INVADER
Instructions: Fill out the following table according to your Ultimate Invader!
[table omitted]
- Characteristic of your Ultimate Invader
- Physical structure
- Function in the environment
- How it helps your invader to successfully invade
Aquatic Invasions! A Menace to the West • LESSONS Oregon Sea Grant • DRAFT 2008
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