Introduction
In this lesson on interdependence in the nature of science so far we have covered:
Energy flows from the sun into plants through their leaves to keep them alive and with energy. We also learned that plants and animals, including humans, interact with and depend on each other to satisfy their own basic needs; an example being our environments food chain.
Today, we'll be learning more about invasive species of animals within our own environment here in Florida. We will be learning to answer these questions on invasive animals:
What makes certain animals invasive?
Where do these invasive animals come from?
How do invasive animals get here?
What effects do they have on natural species of animals and the food chain?
Task
This will be a group assignment, groups of 4, you will all need to present. You can choose between doing a Powerpoint presentation or video presentation. Keep in mind every. Everyone in the group will need to speak when presenting their Powerpoint or in the video assignment.
The Powerpoint needs to be 10 slides, if you do a video then the video needs to be 10 minutes. Make sure to include pictures or visual representation in your videos/Powerpoints and cite your sources.
Process
1. Pick an invasive species of animal in Florida that you will base you research on.
2. Assign roles/slides to everyone in the group to ensure everyone plays a part in the presentation and gets the proper credit.
3. Do your research using only informative websites to ensure there is only accurate information. No wiki or .com sites, I am looking for scientific based research on these invasive species like .gov, .edu, and .org sites.
- Helpful sites:
https://floridawildlifefederation.org/floridas-problematic-invasive-wildlife/
https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/what-are-invasive-species
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-invasive-species-and-why-are-they-a-problem
4. Make sure to paraphrase what your writing and cite your sources (even for the pictures), so there's no plagiarism.
Focus on answering the questions provided in the introduction as well as any interesting additional pieces of information.
Evaluation
GRADING RUBRIC
| Accuracy of Information | Organization | Grammatically Correct | Presentation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Very accurate information from reputable sources that are cited properly. | Very well organized text format and pictures. Easy to follow, and text is large and legible. | No grammatical/spelling errors. Grammatically correct! |
Amazing presentation, spoke very loudly and clearly with good charisma in front of the class. Everyone in the group presented equally. |
| 3 | Slightly accurate information from some good sources and some unreliable sources. All cited properly. | Relatively organized text format/pictures. Followable, but hard to read small text/handwriting. | A couple of grammatical/spelling errors. (Less than 5) | Good presentation, spoke loud enough for people to hear. Everyone in the group added something. |
| 2 | Somewhat accurate information from some unreliable sources that are sometimes cited. | Barely organized format. Legible enough but fairly difficult to read/follow. |
A fair amount of grammatical/spelling errors. (More than 5, less than 10) |
Presentation needs improvement. Spoke just loud enough at times but too softly other times. Most of the group presented. |
| 1 | Inaccurate sources that are not cited properly. | Not organized at all and hardly legible text/writing that is very difficult to follow. | A multitude of grammatical/spelling errors. (More than 10) | Spoke too softly for anyone to hear through it's entirety and/or only one person presented/spoke. |
Grade 4 being the highest score and Grade 1 being the lowest score in each of these factors. I will grade this assignment out of 12 based on these factors.
Conclusion
By the end of this presentation/lesson I hope everyone takes notes as the other groups are presenting to learn about the many invasive species within our environment. And these are only in Florida alone, there are many more throughout the country and the world. Invasive species can exist as both plant and animal and have very poor effects on the environment it invades. We need to do our part in recognizing these invasive species even as things as small as a flower to pick it and know we are helping our natural plants/animals.
Here is a fun word game to learn about some of the invasive species that exist around the world that we will all do together on page 7.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/kids/activities/documents/nnisR9/MeetTheInvaders.pdf