The goal of this project is to raise awareness about invasive species and to turn that awareness into action to prevent and to manage current and future invasions. The project consists of lesson plans and corresponding hands-on items designed to teach the story about invasive species. Each lesson plan has been aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Standards, and Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards. Lesson plans in each module include activities for Grades 3-12.
Educator
Spotlights
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Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
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USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Access a variety of curricula designed to make youth aware of invasive species and the damage they cause. There are lessons and resources – for both classroom and outdoors – that engage students in the process of discovery.
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Oregon Sea Grant.
WISE offers teacher trainings, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Based curriculum, and on-going teacher engagement in a community for learning and teaching about emerging watershed issues. Since launched started in 2007, the program has trained more than 70 teachers, reaching more than 4,500 students who have completed more than 50 stewardship projects.
Selected Resources
The section below contains selected highly relevant resources for this subject, organized by source. To view all related content for this subject, click on "View all resources for subject" in the top left of this page.
Council or Task Force
Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council.
This guide contains a collection of hands-on activities that are easy for teachers to use in the classroom and in the schoolyard. The curriculum is designed for kindergarten through 12th grade and most activities are tied to the Georgia Performance Standards. The guide is available to all formal and non-formal educators online at www.gaeppc.org and through workshops offered in the metro-Atlanta area. Classroom teachers, park naturalists, environmental education specialists, and others can adapt these activities to fit easily into their programs.
Invasive Species Council of British Columbia.
There are many great resources available for educators and youth to learn about invasive species in British Columbia.
Federal Government
USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Empower kids to play a central role in saving your community’s trees with these flexible, standard-based lesson plans and activities.
USDA. FS. Eastern Region.
Interactive Non-native Invasive Species learning kits are available to educate pre-school to adult groups about non-native invasive plants and animals.
Wild Things: Investigating Invasive Species (Educator's Guide Grades 6-8) (Jun 2012) (PDF | 1.79 MB)
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
State and Local Government
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Invaders of the Forest is an educators' guide to invasive plants of Wisconsin forests. The guide provides classroom and field activities for formal and non-formal educators working with kindergarten through adult audiences. Lessons are correlated to Wisconsin's academic standards.
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Division of Aquaculture.
Contains lesson plans and background information about non-native species, their use in agriculture and an introduction to invasives.
Missoula County Weed District (Montana).
This curriculum is designed to be a supplemental curriculum for teachers who want to integrate the topic of invasive weeds into their existing courses. This curriculum will provide teachers, educators, and weed professionals with an ecologically-based invasive weed curriculum that assists students in developing awareness, knowledge and skills that will result in responsible land stewardship in the state of Montana.
Academic
Michigan State University. Integrated Pest Management Program.
This curriculum provides background information, hands-on activities, worksheets and links to additional sites that teachers can utilize to engage students in formal and informal real-world settings. While some of the lessons build on previous learning, most of the lessons can stand-alone. IPM can be used as a theme in the classroom for an entire year, or as enrichment to regular classroom activities.
University of Wisconsin Sea Grant.
The Aquatic Invaders Attack Pack is filled with materials to help teach groups about Great Lakes aquatic invasive species (AIS), the problems they cause and what can be done about them. Each pack includes preserved specimens of some of the most problematic AIS in the Great Lakes, rugged plastic fact sheets and a classroom guide. Additional materials are available for download.
Oregon Sea Grant.
The materials found here are part of Menace to the West, an educational resource for teachers, informal educators, parents, and students on aquatic invasive species. These materials are designed to teach K-12 students how invasive species can do untold damage when they move to new territory. Kits, resources, and full lessons are available.
Michigan State University. W.K. Kellogg Biological Station.
Lesson plans are searchable using "invasive" as a keyword.
Illinios-Indiana College Sea Grant Program.
To prepare students to be responsible decision-makers and future leaders, IISG has developed education programs that engage students in experiential practices to promote a sustainable society.
University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Nebraska Invasive Species Program.
Each category includes relevant educational materials such as powerpoints, videos, and lesson plans that are helpful to educators in any classroom setting.
University of Florida. IFAS. Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.
Provides educators with the information and resources they need to teach about the benefits of Florida's native plants and the harmful impacts that some invasive, non-native plants are having on our natural areas and neighborhoods. Includes four core modules with related lessons and accompanying materials useful in the classroom.
Pennsylvania State University. Pennsylvania Sea Grant.
Pennsylvania and New York Sea Grants worked together with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to compile 10 lesson plans focusing on the potential interactions between aquatic invasive species and the changing climate.
Mississippi State University. Extension Service.
This manual contains three types of activities. First there are introductory, or awareness-building, activities. The second type focuses on both beneficial and detrimental characteristics of exotics. And finally there are activities intended as reinforcers. The best advantage can be gained from this set by selecting at least one introductory activity and several from the second set and following up with routine monitoring of a nonindigenous species in your community.
Professional
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
With the Stop the Invasion Fact Sheet Set, students will read about six different invasive species, the damage they cause and how to stop their spread. The accompanying lessons and activities are aligned to California Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. This resource was funded through a Specialty Crop Block grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).