Virtual Field Trip: The Florida Everglades
Summary:
Tour the Florida Everglades with Burmese python expert and former Everglades Ranger, Larry Perez. Larry will share what the Everglades was like before the Burmese pythons invaded, why they are such powerful predators, and what the impact has been on native species. Students will also learn about creative ways that people are working to stop the spread of invasive species like the Burmese python.
Activity
Students will create a bar graph that shows the population decline of several animal species that are native to the Everglades. Then, they’ll create an origami model of one native species and write about the impact the Burmese python has had on that animal. Finally, students will play Ecosystem vs. Invader, a card game that prompts them to explore the relationships between invaders and their new homes.
Connections to Other Resources
This virtual field trip is included in the Stop the Invasion Project.Â
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Overview & Materials
Subject: Science, ELA
Grade: 3-5
Student Handouts (Download)
Topic: Invasive Species
Materials Needed:
Origami Paper or colored paper
Scissors
Markers
Ecosystem vs. Invader playing cards
Project Materials
Student Lessons
Project Notebook
Aligned Standards
Common Core Reading (CCSS):
- Informational/Nonfiction Standards R.I. 1-10 for grades 3-5.
- Writing Standards W.3,2 for grades 3-5.
NGSS Standards:
- Performance Expectation: 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
- Performance Expectation: 3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
- Disciplinary Core Idea: LS2.C: When the environment changes in ways that affect a place’s physical characteristics, temperature, or availability of resources, some organisms survive and reproduce, others move to new locations, yet others move into the transformed environment, and some die. (secondary)
- Disciplinary Core Idea:Â LS4.D: Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.
- Crosscutting Concept:Â In grades 3-5, students routinely identify and test causal relationships and use these relationships to explain change. They understand events that occur together with regularity might or might not signify a cause and effect relationship.
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