Habitat Invaders – School Teacher Outline
NGSSS and CCSS
1st Grade - SC.1.P.12.1; SC.1.L.14.1 ; SC.1.L.14.3 ; SC.1.L.16.1 ; SC.1.L.17.1 ; SS.1.A.1.1 ;
LACC.1.L.1.1 ; LACC.1.L.2.3 ; LACC.1.L.3.4 ; LACC.1.L.3.5 ; LACC.1.L.3.6 ; LACC.1.SL.1.1 ;
LACC.1.SL.1.2 ; LACC.1.SL.1.3
2nd Grade -SC.2.L.16.1 ; SC.2.L.17.1 ; SC.2.L.17.2 ; SS.2.A.1.1 ; LACC.1.L.1.1 ; LACC.2.L.2.3 ;
LACC.2.L.3.4 ; LACC.2.L.3.5 ; LACC.2.L.3.6 ; LACC.2.SL.1.1 ; LACC.2.SL.1.2 ; LACC.2.SL.1.3
3rd Grade - SC.3.L.15.1; SC.3.L.17.1 ; SS.3.A.1.1 ; SS.3.G.1.3 ; SS.3.G.3.1 ; LACC.3.L.1.1 ;
LACC.3.L.2.3 ; LACC.3.L.3.4 ; LACC.3.L.3.5 ; LACC.3.L.3.6 ; LACC.3.SL.1.1 ; LACC.3.SL.1.2 ;
LACC.3.SL.1.3
4th Grade - SC.4.L.16.2 ; SC.4.L.16.3; SC.4.L.16.4 ; SC.4.L.17.1 ; SC.4.L.17.2; SC.4.L.17.4 ;
LACC.4.L.1.1 ; LACC.4.L.2.3 ; LACC.4.L.3.4 ; LACC.4.L.3.5 ; LACC.4.L.3.6 ; LACC.4.SL.1.1
5th Grade - SC.5.L.14.2; SC.5.L.15.1; SC.5.L.17.1 ; LACC.5.L.1.1 ; LACC.5.L.2.3 ; LACC.5.L.3.4 ;
LACC.5.L.3.5 ; LACC.5.L.3.6 ; LACC.5.SL.1.1
6th Grade – LACC.6.L.1.1 ; LACC.6.L.2.3 ; LACC.6.L.3.4 ; LACC.6.L.3.5 ; LACC.6.L.3.6 ;
LACC.6.SL.1.1 ; LACC.6.SL.1.3
7th Grade – SC.7.E.6.6 ; SC.7.L.15.2; SC.7.L.15.3 ; SC.7.L.17.1; SC.7.L.17.2; SC.7.L.17.3 ;
LACC.7.L.1.1 ; LACC.7.L.2.3 ; LACC.7.L.3.4 ; LACC.7.L.3.5 ; LACC.7.L.3.6 ; LACC.7.SL.1.1 ;
LACC.7.SL.1.3
8th Grade – SS.8.G.5.2 ; LACC.8.L.1.1 ; LACC.8.L.2.3 ; LACC.8.L.3.4 ; LACC.8.L.3.5 ; LACC.8.L.3.6 ;
LACC.8.SL.1.1 ; LACC.8.SL.1.2 ; LACC.8.SL.1.3
Objectives
Provide students with hands-on experience with native and invasive species in Florida.
Students will be able to:
•
State how invasive species affect the environment.
•
State how to help prevent invasive species being released into the wild.
•
State reasons conservation efforts are important.
•
State reasons diversity is important within an ecosystem.
•
Name ways they can help in conservation.
Overview
All species have an ecosystem that they are native to. When these organisms are introduced
into a new environment they have to adapt, but the native species usually are unable to adapt
to the intruder. The non-indigenous species will usually not have a predator in their new
environment, so they will flourish and become over populated. The over population of a species
can cause the native species to deplete in number and become endangered and maybe
eventually extinct.
Many native species, like Florida’s green tree frogs, do not have a defense against these new
organisms, like the invasive Cuban tree frogs in Florida, which also do not have a predator. Nonindigenous plants can cause different problems such as: grow over all of our native plants,
which does not allow sunlight to get to then (Brazilian Pepper and Kudzu), and even release
chemicals into the ground, which can prevent other plants from growing there (Australian
Pine).
Vocabulary Words
Competition - an interaction between organisms or species, in which the fitness of one is
lowered by the presence of another. Limited supply of at least one resource (such as food,
water, and territory) used by both is required.
Consumers – any organism that cannot produce its own food and must, therefore, get its
energy by eating, or consuming, other organisms
Decomposers – an organism that breaks down organic matter into inorganic form.
Ecosystem – a community or organisms, interacting with one another and the environment in
which they live.
Endangered – in immediate danger of extinction
Environment – one’s surroundings
Food Web – The feeding relationships by which energy and nutrients are transferred from one
species to another.
Habitat – the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally occurs
Native - species that occurs naturally in an area
Niche – an unique ecological role of an organism in a community.
Non-indigenous - organisms not occurring naturally in a particular area; exotic, introduced,
invasive
Predation – The act or practice of capturing another creature (prey) as a means for securing
food.
Producers - They make their own food from the sun’s energy.
Species of Special Concern – may become threatened due to restriction to specific habitats that
are undergoing development or because threatened in nearby areas
Threatened - very likely to become endangered in the near future due to severe population
decline
Program Outline
The main message we would like to get across is: “Invasive species harm the native
environment.”
These are some questions the students will be asked:
•
What is a native animal? (Bring out a barking tree frog and a fish from the aquarium and a
mangrove)
•
What is a non-indigenous (invasive) animal? (Bring out a Cuban tree frog)
•
Why are invasive animals bad? (no predators = over population, eats our native
plants/animals)
•
Have students list native species and write them on the board. Make sure to get aquatic
ones that could live in the lagoon.
It is now time to play the non-indigenous vs native species activity.
•
Choose 6 volunteers who will be native species of Florida. Have them each pick a native
plant or animal from our list we made to represent. Then place a blue N around their neck.
Have each student sit in a chair that represents their niche.
•
Play musical chairs with the 6 chairs. As they are comfortable in their niches, tell them a
story about the pond in which they live and how you would like to release your pet fish and
the plants in its aquarium into the pond.
•
Now you need 2 more volunteers to represent the introduced species, so they receive a red
I to place around their necks. Have the I’s stand inline with the N’s, but do not lengthen the
line so they can see how crowded it gets.
•
Play musical chairs again. If the I’s get the chairs and N’s do not then each displaced N gets
to remove a section of the back drop. If the I’s do not get the chairs, then have the I’s go to
any N and take their place, because in the wild introduced species have an advantage over
native species, so we will give them an advantage in the activity also.
•
Now, you release your pet turtle, so you need one more volunteer and play musical chairs
and follow what you did previously.
•
Now, you released all of your leftover fishing bait into the pond, so you need another
volunteer and to play musical chairs again.
•
If there are any I’s left standing they get to take over the rest of the N’s.
•
Look at the backdrop, notice how much the pond has changed.
•
Ask students: Why did the pond change so much?
What could we have done instead of releasing the pets into the pond?
Check with local pet shops that take unwanted pets.
Put water plants in a plastic bag and freeze, then discard them.
Dispose of unused bait into the garbage.
When possible use native plants and bait when possible.
Now, that you all have seen or participated in this activity you know that you should never
release a non-native pet or non-native plant into the wild.
Have students list some invasive species we have here in Florida and write them on the board
too. Bring out some other animals that could either represent a native or invasive animal. (i.e
native = armadillo, FL snake, gator; invasive = monitor, non Florida snake)
AZA Conservation Message
1. All life on Earth exists within an ecosystem.
1a. Ecosystems are made of interdependent relationships between groups of living
things (biodiversity) and their physical environment.
1b. An impact on any element of an ecosystem has ramifications throughout the
ecosystem.
2. Human beings are an integral part of all ecosystems.
2a. Human activities within ecosystems affect these systems
3. Healthy ecosystems provide many essential services and benefits that sustain and
improve human lives.
3e. Nature is the primary sources for many common medicines upon which so many
of us depend, and is also the likely source for promising new pharmaceuticals
that may hold the secret for combating cancers, AIDS, and other threatening
diseases.
5. Human beings are responsible for dramatic changes to ecosystems at a rate
unprecedented in Earth’s history.
5b. The primary human threats to the environment are global warming, habitat
destruction, invasive species, and overuse of individual species.
6. We have the responsibility to care for the Earth, to leave healthy ecosystems for our
families and future generations.
6a. Due to the unprecedented changes the human species is causing on the planet,
we must often intervene to save wildlife.
7. Through informed actions, we can positively impact ecosystems.
7a. These actions include:
- Making appropriate lifestyle decisions
- Actively participating in public decisions
- Sharing our knowledge and feelings about wildlife and wild places
- Supporting conservation organizations, including AZA zoos and aquariums.
8. Responsible zoos and aquariums strive to conserve ecosystems and promote care and
positive action for the natural world.
8a. Responsible zoos and aquariums share knowledge, ideas and projects that
empower people to take conservation action.
8b. Responsible zoos and aquariums are active partners in the conservation
community and help further conservation efforts worldwide by seeking workable
and realistic solutions to conservation problems.
8c. Responsible zoos and aquariums provide animal and nature experiences that
engender a sense of wonder.
8d. Responsible zoos and aquariums disseminate valuable information about animals
and the ecosystems they inhabit.
8e. Responsible zoos and aquariums model caring by being leaders in animal care.
8f. Responsible zoos and aquariums commit to serving diverse segments of human
society and provide a forum for exploring and communicating different
perspectives concerning the natural world.