Students choose an aquatic ecosystem in the state of Maine. After in depth research into the health of that ecosystem, students share their findings. This rubric and instruction sheet guide students as they work independently on their research.
This is a fun game where participants explore habitat and nesting bird sites with regard to invasive species. Specifically, it addresses the competition between native birds and invasive bird species when it comes to habitat resources and predators.
This 10-day Vital Signs curriculum focuses on how species and populations change over time in response to invasive species introductions. Students use simple graphs to visualize, interpret, make predictions, and tell stories about data based on evidence. By interacting with graphs that depict change over time in three different ways, students gain comfort and mastery of this skill and learning result.
This unit was last updated on 12/16/10 to include a slick student hand-out and fancy examples for Day 9 predictions and graphing!
Use this activity to kick off a Vital Signs investigation focused on hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Use your graphing skills to figure out and explain the introduction and spread of hemlock woolly adelgid in Maine from 1999 to 2010.
Use this activity to kick off a Vital Signs investigation focused on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Use your graphing skills to figure out and explain what happened during a 12-year scientific study in New Jersey to control the spread of invasive purple loosestrife. Learn about a similar study happening at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine.
This is a Google Earth map layer of the towns in Maine with official reports of invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Data are from the Maine Forest Service (http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/HWAOverview.htm). Please note that the map markers are placed on the town name, and not on the exact location of the HWA infestations.
In this active and competitive game, students experience how a community of native animals and plants changes over time in response to resource availability in their habitat. Students collect data during the game and then graph and analyze how predators, limited resources, habitat health, and INVASIVE SPECIES can disrupt the natural ebbs and flows of native communities. Students visualize and analyze their results using graphs and story telling.
How healthy are your local ecosystems? Students use a variety of health indicators to investigate and assess the health of a local upland, freshwater, or coastal system. They share conclusions and fresh ideas with local planners and resource managers in their communities, and report their findings more broadly to the scientific community through the Vital Signs website.
What species live in my neighborhood? Students investigate the species that live within their local watershed habitats and the resources those species (and they!) need.
GMRI's Watershed Experiences get students outside to observe, ask questions, investigate, take action, and deepen their scientific understanding and connection to their local watersheds.
Vital Signs is a Gulf of Maine Research Institute Program. Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0 License.
