INVASIVE SPECIES IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY
IN A MAINE WATERSHED
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
INQUIRY LEVEL
This Watershed Experience for grades 7 & 8 students follows a Guided Inquiry Approach to instruction and
learning. Teachers and students share responsibility for various components of their investigation and action
projects. Teachers present students with their research question and methods. Students then assume significant
ownership of their inquiry process, using team work and peer review to scaffold their learning experience. After
providing students ample structure to develop a solid persuasive and motivational message, teachers then let
students drive the process of designing, creating, and publishing their own media projects.
GRADES
7, 8
WATERSHED EXPERIENCE OVERVIEW
Biodiversity demands a mastery of a world of details. It entails knowledge of the characteristics and
behaviors that distinguish individuals, species, genera, families, orders, and classes from each other. It
requires acquiring both the tools and propensities to see and characterize variation within and between
species. It requires a comprehensive knowledge of ecosystem types and functions. And it requires an
awareness of evolutionary, geological, and human history. Ready, Set, Science! 2008
Use Vital Signs to investigate how invasive species may influence biodiversity in your local watershed. Your
research question: Does biodiversity change or stay the same throughout our watershed? Why? To answer this
question, conduct research in a nearby habitat. Then compare your findings with existing invasive species and
biodiversity data from two other habitats in your watershed.
Before you do your research, take time to hone your observation skills and become expert in telling different
species apart. In the field use these skills and the Vital Signs datasheets, species identification resources, and
scientific equipment to collect species and habitat information. Contribute your data to the Vital Signs database
where it will be shared with an online community of students, teachers, citizen scientists, and professional
scientists. Using the Vital Signs database, maps, and analysis tools, compare your habitat findings to ecosystems
located upstream and downstream. Use your findings to better understand how biodiversity changes through a
watershed and what factors (like invasive species and habitat loss) may influence these changes. Create media
projects that motivate others in your watershed to use Vital Signs to investigate biodiversity in their local
community. Together the data that you and other Vital Signs students contribute will help everyone better
understand and address environmental issues across Maine.
OVERVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS
Maine Learning Results
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate
results of investigations, including simple experiments.
C1. Understanding Inquiry. Students describe how scientific investigations result in explanations that are
communicated to other scientists.
E1. Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms base on biological characteristics and identify
patterns of similarity
E2. Ecosystems. Students examine how the characteristics of the physical, non-living environment, the types
and behaviors of living organisms, and the flow of matter and energy affect organisms and the ecosystem of
which they are part.
THE ISSUE
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In Maine and across the planet, invasive species are an increasing threat to diverse and healthy ecosystems.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Bi-o-di-ver-si-ty n. The many different species of living things found within a defined geographic region
A healthy ecosystem doesn’t just have a lot of organisms, it has a lot of different organisms. This is called
biodiversity. Biodiversity is one of the best signs that an ecosystem is healthy, productive, resilient, and able to
sustain itself naturally over time.
Diverse ecosystems are important to Maine and to the health of the planet. Biodiversity provides natural
services, resources, and cultural benefits. Services include protecting water resources and soil, storing nutrients,
recycling, breaking down and absorbing pollution, stabilizing the climate, and preventing and recovering from
natural and human disturbance. Resources include food, medicine, and products. Cultural benefits include
research, education, recreation, tourism, and a source of values and tradition.
The two biggest threats to biodiversity worldwide are habitat loss and invasive species. In Maine plants and
animals lose their habitat and the resources they need to survive primarily through urban development. Invasive
species are a growing threat to biodiversity in Maine. Without predators to keep their populations in balance,
invasive species are able to out-compete native species for food, shelter, and space. The introduction of an
invasive species may increase biodiversity in an area in the short term, but biodiversity often rapidly declines
once this new species establishes and expands its population.
INTRODUCTION
Through group discussion and hands-on activities, students will learn what biodiversity means and why it is
important for their watershed. A firsthand simulated experience will help them understand how the introduction
of an invasive species may impact biodiversity in an ecosystem. Activities will engage student interest and lay
the conceptual foundation for their field investigation and action.
1. What does biodiversity mean?
Watch Bill Nye’s Biodiversity Part I and play Biodiversity Jenga to warm-up to the concept of biodiversity,
and the importance of maintaining healthy, diverse ecosystems.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
Use Diversity Statements to create a working definition of diversity and biodiversity that everyone
understands and can use effectively. The definition and lists you generate in this activity will be a useful
reference as you start thinking about diversity in another, bigger place – your watershed.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
2. What areas, big and small, do scientists use in their statements about biodiversity?
Take a Google Earth diversity trip to engage with the idea of biodiversity in your watershed. Get familiar
with your own watershed and set the stage for your experience as a native, non-native, or invasive species
vying for resources in your watershed.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
3. How does the introduction of a new species affect the biodiversity in your watershed?
Play There’s a New Bird in Town to experience how an invasive species may out-compete native species
for vital resources. Simulate the introduction of non-native and invasive species using MnMs and various
kitchen drawer items. Experience firsthand what happens and what if feels like when native and invasive
species compete for essential resources. High stakes. High energy.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
Play Oh Deer: Invasive Species Style to experience how a community of native animals and plants changes
over time in response to resource availability. Experience, graph, and analyze how the introduction of an
invasive species can disrupt the ebbs and flows of natural communities. Active. Competitive.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
How are invasive species affecting biodiversity in your local watershed? How can you know for sure?
Investigate!
THE INVESTIGATION
Use the Vital Signs program (Science Notebooks, datasheets, sampling methods, and analysis tools, dialogue
with an online community of scientists, citizen scientists, teachers, and peers) to guide and carry out your
biodiversity investigation. Research whether biodiversity changes or stays the same at select points throughout
your local watershed, and consider how invasive species and other factors may influence your biodiversity
findings.
How do scientists investigate biodiversity in a watershed?
Although there is no fixed set of steps that all scientists follow, scientific investigations usually involve the
collection of relevant evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising
hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected evidence. Benchmarks for Science Literacy (12)
Set up your investigation and prepare for fieldwork
1. Go to the Vital Signs website, www.vitalsignsme.org
Note: We highly recommend that you attend a Vital Signs Teacher Institute at the Gulf of Maine Research
Institute in Portland before you do a Vital Signs investigation with your students. Check the events calendar
for dates.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Register or log in.
Go to your personal My Vital Signs page.
Add a new investigation under your Investigation History.
If you haven’t done so already, choose your research sites. You will need:
 A nearby site for your field work investigation
 1-2 comparison sites for your online investigation.
Note: If you need help finding comparison sites, consult the Vital Signs map
(www.vitalsignsme.org/explore/map). Find your watershed. Find your study site. Pick two interesting
comparison sites where people have already collected data. Consider picking one upstream of your site and
one downstream, or one in an urban spot and one rural spot, or one far away and one close by.
6. Enter your investigation details as prompted. Create usernames and passwords for each of your student
teams. Access Species & Habitat Survey datasheets, species identification cards, approved sampling
methods, team protocols, and equipment lists that you will need for your investigation.
7. Once your investigation is set up online, you and your student teams may access your online Vital Signs
Science Notebooks. The Notebook guides and prompts you to enter your research question, state a
prediction or hypothesis, and plan your investigation methods. Complete these parts of the Notebook now.
After you do your fieldwork, return to your Notebook to analyze your data, reflect on your experience,
conclude your investigation, and prepare to take action.
Prepare your brain for field work
1. How do you tell different species apart?
Understanding and appreciating the diversity of life does not come from students’ knowing bits of
information or classification categories about many different species; rather it comes from their ability to
see in organisms the patterns of similarity and difference that permeate the living world. Benchmarks for
Science Literacy (101)
Play Spot the Difference to train your eyes to closely observe plants and animals, and find characteristics
that make them the same or different. Look at two leaves/animals at the same time. Compare their various
characteristics. In one column list everything that is the same about the two leaves, or other organism you
chose. In another column list everything that is different. Play competitively or as a team-building exercise.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
Practice Looking Closely at a leaf, flower, leg, wing, shell, etc. to really hone your observation skills and see
the pieces and parts you wouldn’t otherwise see. This detailed drawing activity will help you tell different
species apart at your study site. Play as individuals or as a team.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
Hone critical measurement skills with Size Matters. Use a ruler to measure things in cm. Alternatively find
things to measure that are between 0-2, 2-5, 5-10, and greater than 10 cm long. These are the size choices on
the Vital Signs datasheet. It is often useful to know how wide your thumb is, how long it is from your wrist
to elbow, how far your knee is from the ground, etc. You can use your thumb, forearm, and leg to make a
quick estimate of size in the field.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
2. How do you prove that you find or don’t find the species you are looking for?
More imagination and inventiveness are involved in scientific inquiry than many people realize, yet sooner
or later strict logic and empirical evidence must have their day. Benchmarks for Science Literacy (9)
Learn why it’s important that you support what you say with good solid written and visual evidence to
support your claims. Use Here Banana! to get in the groove of looking carefully for something, making a
claim that you found it or did not find it, and supporting that claim with solid, bullet-proof evidence. Plan
and carry out a short, sweet investigation to determine whether or not a “species” is in an “ecosystem” or
not. Figure out for yourself the importance of careful observations skills.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
Use Prove It! to practice using words and photos to craft solid evidence statements that will help you
convince the Vital Signs community that you found or did not find the species you are looking for. State
things that you believe to be true, and things that you believe to be not true. Practice supporting these claims
with written and photo evidence. Move from simple everyday statements to more complicated statements
about species.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
Get all the pieces and parts you need for the field
1. Download and print from the Vital Signs website (www.vitalsignsme.org) the tools you will need to guide and
support your fieldwork: Vital Signs datasheets, sampling methods, species identification cards, team
protocols, equipment lists.
2. You may also need permission slips, chaperones, first aid kits….
Investigate!
1. Collect your data using the sampling method you chose while setting up your investigation.
2. Record your species observation and habitat data on the Vital Signs Species & Habitat Survey appropriate
for the freshwater, coastal, or upland ecosystem you are studying.
3. Before you leave the field, check to make sure that you have all of the written and photo evidence you need,
and have filled out all of the required fields on the datasheet. Check to make sure that you have all of the
equipment you brought with you.
Enter your data online!
How can I make sure the observations I publish online are complete and rigorous?
1. Go to the Vital Signs website, www.vitalsignsme.org
2. Log in using team names and passwords.
3. Go to your team’s My Vital Signs page.
4. Edit/finish your investigation in the Unfinished Observations box.
5. Carefully transfer your data from your paper datasheet to the Vital Signs online data entry form.
6. Before you publish your observation, review it yourself.
7. Have your data reviewed by a peer. Ask a classmate to use the Peer Review Quality Check to check the
completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness of your data before you publish them publicly on the Vital
Signs website. Make corrections as necessary. This is the very best way to make sure that your very best
work is available for the Vital Signs community to use.
8. Publish!
9. Your data will show up almost immediately here: Explore > View & search observations
Organize and make meaning of your data
Where are the data I need? What do they mean? How can I use them to answer my research
question?
1. Go to the Vital Signs website, www.vitalsignsme.org
2. Use Organize to Analyze to find the data you need on the Vital Signs website, and to organize it in a way
that makes it simple and straightforward to extract meaning from. This is a critical step in the inquiry
process that is often overlooked.
 Use a T-chart to organize the biodiversity data.
 Use a Venn Diagram to organize the species data you need to answer your research question.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
3. Return to your online Science Notebook to reflect on and conclude your investigation:
 Reflect about your investigation. Think about what you’ve done so far. Do you have enough
information to know whether biodiversity changes or stays the same throughout your watershed?
What data do you wish you had? What would you do differently next time? What have you figured
out so far? What new ideas and questions do you have?
 Wrap up your investigation. Does biodiversity change or stay the same throughout your watershed?
Why? Why not? Make a claim. Support your claim with evidence from your field notes, T-chart, and
Venn Diagrams.
THE STUDENT ACTION
Students select a town in their watershed that they would like to investigate. Instead of conducting the
investigation themselves, they create a video, newspaper article, or persuasive letter asking students or citizen
scientists in that town to do a similar biodiversity study and share their data online using Vital Signs. Students
post their projects to the Vital Signs Project Bank and send the link to the school, town office, or citizen science
group in the town of interest.
How do I convince someone to do something I’d like them to do?
Use Persuade and Motivate to guide the creation of your project. Persuasive writing may be something that
you are unfamiliar with or unpracticed at, but we all have personal experiences where we tried to convince
someone to do something of mutual benefit. This persuasive writing guide will help build on this personal
experience to formulate the message you want to put in your video, newspaper article, or letter.
Note: Detailed activity follows the Watershed Experience Overview
How do I share my project online?
Post documents and multimedia projects to the Vital Signs Project Bank:
1. Go to the Vital Signs website, www.vitalsignsme.org
2. Log in using your team name and password.
3. Go to your team’s My Vital Signs page
Note: Alternatively you may go to Share your ideas & projects > Project Bank
4. “Add a new project” in your Projects History box
5. Follow the instructions appropriate to the type of project you are adding.
6. Tell the object of your persuasion where to find it! Tell everyone you know where to find it!
NOAA RESOURCES THAT SUPPORT, COMPLEMENT, OR EXTEND
INVASIVE SPECIES


http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/classroom/lessons/06_coastal_alien.pdf
http://www.oar.noaa.gov/oceans/t_invasivespecies.html
ECOSYSTEM MONITORING

http://limpetsmonitoring.org/docs/SB_Handbook.pdf
BIODIVERSITY



http://www.estuaries.gov/estuaries101/Doc/PDF/LS3_BiodiversityEstuary.pdf
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/08/g68/noaabiodiversity.html
http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/Pages/default.aspx
WATER QUALITY



http://apps.dataintheclassroom.org/water-quality/
http://www.estuaries.gov/estuaries101/Doc/PDF/PS1_ChemistryEstuary.pdf
http://www.estuaries.gov/estuaries101/Doc/PDF/PS2_DO.pdf
Biodiversity Jenga
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Questions
Why does biodiversity matter to an ecosystem?
How does the removal and/or addition of a new species affect the overall balance of an ecosystem?
Overview
Pair up Bill Nye the Science Guy and Jenga to kick off the Biodiversity Watershed Experience. This activity engages
students with the concept of biodiversity, and underscores the importance of maintaining healthy, diverse ecosystems.
Students remove native species from an ecosystem, and add non-native or invasive species. They see and understand
how these actions may ultimately compromise the health and stability of an ecosystem.
This activity sets the stage for Diversity Statements whereby students create their own working definition of diversity and
biodiversity.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
E1. Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms based on biological characteristics and identify patterns
of similarity.
E2 Ecosystems. Students examine how the characteristics of the physical, non-living environment, the types and
behaviors of living organisms, and the flow of matter and energy affect organisms and the ecosystem of which
they are part.
E2a.
List various kinds of resources within different biomes for which organisms compete.
E2b.
Describe ways in which two types of organisms may interact including competition, and predator/prey.
Learning Objectives
 Students will gain an individual and collective understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem health that will support
their future watershed investigation.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Exploratory
Hands-on activity
Materials
Bill Nye the Science Guy, Biodiversity Part I video
 Available free on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWN4nM_AmLY
 Available on Netflix
Computer, Internet, and projector (or) Television, DVD, and DVD player
Jenga (or pieces of wood) – one game per class, or one game per team (4-5 students per team)
Time Needed
5 minutes for Bill Nye video + 15 minutes for Jenga + 10 minutes to discuss and reflect
Activity Procedure
1. Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy, Biodiversity Part 1 of 3 (stop the video at 4:50!)
2. Play Ecosystem Jenga like Bill does at 3:09 in the video
Ecosystem Jenga Rules
1. The Jenga tower represents an ecosystem. Use an ecosystem that is familiar to your students and/or the
ecosystem where you plan to do your biodiversity investigation.
2. Each block represents one different species in that ecosystem. Give students specific examples of plants and
animals that live in your local ecosystem.
3. Take turns taking one block out at a time. Removing one block represents the removal of one species from your
ecosystem.
Note: You may or may not want to include reasons why species are removed from ecosystems as the result of
natural processes, natural disturbance, and/or human disturbance. Reasons include succession, storms, floods,
habitat loss, changing climate conditions, predator/prey relationships, and competition with another species for
resources.
4. After you take a species block out, you must introduce a new species to the ecosystem by replacing your block on
top of the tower. Use an invasive species that is of concern in Maine as your introduced species (purple
loosestrife, Asian longhorn beetle, Asian shore crab, variable milfoil, hydrilla, etc.).
Note: All blocks that are replaced on the top of the Jenga tower represent the same species. Your ecosystem will
slowly shift from one that is diverse, to one that has all the same species.
5. Collect data in a table. Keep track of the number of native species you remove, and the number of new individuals
you introduce before your ecosystem collapses.
6. Discuss your results. Ask students to explain what happened. Does this really happen? Could this happen in your
local watershed?
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
In small groups, ask students to sketch what happened to the ecosystem over time in comic strip fashion. For example,
the first frame will show a diverse ecosystem, the second and much less diverse system with one species starting to take
over, and finally a collapsed system or one on the brink of collapse.
Publish the comic strips as a newspaper page.
Extension Ideas
1. If you have more than one team of students playing, and you don’t mind inviting some competition, ask teams to see if
they can remove more species from their ecosystem than other teams can. Adding an element of competition tends to
focus students and encourages more careful removal and placement of species blocks. Of course, competition also
has potential to distract from learning goals, so take a proactive approach to keep students focused.
2. If you own the Jenga game and plan to only play Biodiversity Jenga from here on out, you can add things to each
block to support your learning goals (species names, reasons for removal, instructions to remove more species, etc.).
3. Have your shop class make the blocks!
4. Label a block “keystone species” (herring, beaver), and put it in a critical spot in your Jenga tower (lower edge). When
this block is removed, it will collapse the food web and the entire ecosystem.
Diversity Statements
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
What does biodiversity mean?
Overview/ Background Information
Students work together to come up with their own working definition of diversity and biodiversity that everyone
understands and can use effectively. This definition will lay the conceptual groundwork for students’ investigation of
biodiversity in a local ecosystem.
Standards (MLR)
E1. Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms based on biological characteristics and identify patterns of
similarity.
a. Compare physical characteristics that differentiate organisms into groups.
b. Explain how biologists use features to determine relatedness among organisms.
c. Explain ways to determine whether organisms are the same species.
Learning Objectives
 Students will gain an individual and collective understanding of biodiversity to support their future investigations
Grade Level(s)
7, 8
Setting
Classroom or outside
Activity Type
Exploratory
Learning stations
Small group discussion
Class discussion
Materials
1 group of items per station that have either high diversity or low diversity or questionable diversity
Examples of groups of items:
 White lined paper, post-it note, green index card, computer paper
 Handful of colored pencils
 See Activity Description/Procedure for additional examples
Time Needed
Depends on the number of stations used
 30 minutes with five 4-minute stations and light 10-minute discussion
 40+ minutes with more stations, longer stations, or in-depth discussion
Activity Procedure
ROUND 1. Set up Diversity Stations around the room. Each station has a group of items with high diversity, low diversity,
or questionable diversity. At each station, ask teams of students to:
1. Make a simple claim about the diversity of the group of items at their station
2. Is this good or bad?
3. Why is this important? Why should I care?
Three example stations:
Station 1. Colored Pencils
1. This is a diverse bunch of colored pencils. They are all different colors, different lengths, and have different
degrees of sharpness.
2. Colored pencil diversity is good because it gives us more ways to express ourselves.
3. Without this diversity our drawings would be dull, boring, etc.
Station 2. Bookshelf
1. This is not a diverse shelf of books. There are 10 copies of The Phantom Tollbooth.
2. This lack of diversity is great if we have a book group that wants to read and discuss one book together. Low
book diversity is bad if we don’t like reading fantasy stories, if we want to read more than one book this year,
or if we like discussing different books with our classmates.
3. A diversity of books is important because it’s more exciting for us to read different things than it is to read the
same thing over and over.
Station 3. Lunch Bags
1. This is a diverse pile of lunches. All lunch bags are different and no one is eating the same kind of sandwich.
2. This diversity is good because we like trading and trying new food.
3. A diverse selection of lunches means that everyone can eat what they like eating and not be stuck with
bologna and cheese or something they hate.
ROUND 2. These Diversity Stations are focused on the living things and the living environment. The instructions are the
same a Round 1, except students make statements about biodiversity.
1. Make a simple claim about the diversity of the group of items at their station
2. Is this good or bad?
3. Why is this important? Why should I care?
Two example stations:
Station 1. School Lawn
1. The lawn outside the window is not diverse. We only see mowed grass. There may be a few bugs and some
worms, but we can’t see them from here.
2. Biodiversity is low. This is good because it’s where we play kickball at recess.
3. It’s important to have a place to play kickball because we need to exercise to stay healthy.
Station 2. School Garden
1. The garden at the school entrance has high diversity. I see colorful flowers from many different plants,
butterflies, insects, and birds.
2. This is good because more animals and insects have food to eat and places to hide.
3. This is important because without food and shelter, the animals and insects wouldn’t be able to live here at all.
CLASS DISCUSSION. Together create working definitions of diversity and biodiversity based on the statements made by
student teams. Use these definitions to guide (but not limit) your discussion. It’s critical that students build their own
understanding of these concepts.
 Diversity: A group that is made up of elements or qualities that are different from one another
 Biodiversity: The many different species of living things found within a defined geographic region
Defining an area is important when talking about biodiversity. Make a list of the places that students mentioned in their
statements (lawn outside the window, garden at the school entrance, tulip garden near the soccer field). This list will be a
useful reference as you start thinking about diversity in another, bigger place – your watershed – via the next activity in the
Biodiversity Watershed Experience, Google Earth Diversity Trip.
Reflection/Formative Assessment Idea(s)
After stations and prior to class discussion, ask students to read and Peer Review one another’s claims/ statements about
diversity and biodiversity. Team 1 reviews the work of Team 2; Team 3 reviews the work of Team 4; and so on. In their
review, ask students to add things that they think would improve their claims/ statements. They are not critiquing, but
helping and extending the work of their peers.
Extension Ideas
There are 3 primary levels of biodiversity:
1. Genetic diversity within a species
2. Diversity of species within a community
3. Diversity of communities within ecosystems
Go another round, narrowing or broadening the focus as you wish to hit any or all of these levels.
(http://research.usm.maine.edu/gulfofmaine-census/about-the-gulf/biodiversity-of-the-gulf)
Google Earth Diversity Trip
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
What areas, big and small, do scientists use in their statements about biodiversity?
Overview
Students take a Google Earth diversity trip to engage with the idea of biodiversity in their local watershed. Google Earth
is a free online resource that lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery and maps. Using this tool, students
become more familiar with the boundaries, features, and orientation of their own watershed within the larger Gulf of Maine
watershed.
This activity builds on the previous Diversity statements activity that helps students generate their own working definition
of diversity and biodiversity that everyone understands and can use effectively. It sets the stage for subsequent activities
whereby students will experience what it’s like to be native, non-native, or invasive species vying for resources in their
watershed (There’s a new bird in town and Oh Deer: Invasive species style).
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
A1 Systems. Students describe and apply principles of systems in manmade things, natural things, and
processes.
A1b. Explain how the output of one part of a system can become the input of another part of a system.
A1c.
Describe how systems are nested and that systems may be thought of as containing subsystems and
apply the understanding to analyze systems.
A4. Scale. Students use scale to describe objects, phenomena, or processes related to Earth, space, matter, and
mechanical and living systems.
A4a.
Describe how some things change or work differently at different scales.
Learning Objectives
 Students will engage with the concept of biodiversity at a global scale
 Students will engage with the concept of biodiversity in their own watershed.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Exploratory
Computer-based activity
Class discussion
Materials
Computer
Internet
Projector
Time Needed
30 minutes
Activity Procedure
Use Google Earth to familiarize students with Earth’s natural and human systems at progressively smaller scales
Note: Place-based education theory would shake its head and tell us to start small and local and go big and global, rather
than the way this activity is laid out. This activity works just as well moving from local to global scales. Your choice….or
your students’ choice.
1. Open Google Earth and project it for the whole class to see.
2. Slowly zoom in from Earth to continents (North America)….to countries (United States)….to biomes (temperate
deciduous forest)….to regions (New England)….to states (Maine)….to ecosystems (freshwater river > lake >
stream)….to watersheds (yours!)….to habitats (rocky intertidal)….
3. At each zoom, ask students to make a statement about diversity or biodiversity. These can be made aloud, in small
teams, or individually in journals.
Examples of statements that teachers can use as models, or that students may make:
 Earth has many different types and shapes of land and water
 Earth is a diverse planet with 1.8 million known, named species
 Maine has less different types of ecosystems than the entire planet, but still has quite a few (forests, streams,
lakes, developed areas….)
 Big cities in Maine have more diversity in the types of buildings than rural towns
 Maine might have less biodiversity than southern states because winters are really cold and it’s harder to live here
4. Towards the end of your trip, focus in on your local watershed (Kennebec, Piscataquis, Androscoggin…). You may
want to revisit with your students the definition of a watershed (an area of land that drains into a river, river system, or
other body of water). Make observations. Ask questions.
Examples of observations and questions:
 Trace the boundaries of your watershed.
 Where in the watershed is our school? Point out landmarks familiar to students.
 Follow a major river system to the Gulf of Maine.
 Notice how the land is being used throughout the watershed.
 How big is our watershed compared to neighboring watersheds?
 What other watersheds is our watershed connected to?
5. Start asking questions about the diversity/ biodiversity in your watershed. Ask students to point to areas that seem to
have more or less diversity than others. Do they think that one place in the watershed (forested pond) may have more
species than another (housing development)? What resources are available for plants and animals and humans? How
do species get from one place to another? Which areas are students most curious about? Why? Make a list of the
questions or things that students wonder about.
6. Look at your list of questions. It will likely include references to species, to resources species need to live in a certain
place, competition among species for those resources, species adaptations, and human and natural activities/
disturbances that influence what resources are available and what species are there. Focus your attention on these to
set the stage for introducing the concept of non-native and invasive species in the next section of activities.
Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas
Travel Log. Choose one part of your Google Earth diversity trip that you would like to revisit. Write a journal entry about
that part of your trip. Prompts may include:
 What bigger system is it a part of?
 What smaller systems make up this bigger system?




What did you see there?
Was it a diverse place?
What did you wonder about while you were there?
How did this part of your trip compare to other parts?
Extension Ideas
If your students are ready to ask their own research questions in an Open Inquiry environment, the list of questions
generated during the watershed biodiversity discussion becomes a great springboard for students’ developing their own
research investigations.
Resources
Google Earth free download: http://earth.google.com
There’s a New Bird in Town
Author(s)/ Organization or School
Stephen Moulen & Alan Hardy
Wescott Junior High School, Westbrook ME
Question
How does the introduction of a new species to a habitat affect native species?
Overview
Students experience how an invasive species may out-compete native species for vital resources. This high stakes, high
energy game simulates the introduction of non-native and invasive species using MnMs and various kitchen drawer items.
Students experience firsthand what happens and what if feels like when native and invasive species compete for essential
resources. This is also an excellent activity for introducing concepts such as habitats, limiting resources, physical
adaptations, and competition among species.
In this Biodiversity Watershed Experience, There’s a new bird in town serves as an introduction to invasive species, and
helps students connect what they’ve already learned about biodiversity with issues surrounding non-native and invasive
species introductions. This game sets the stage for students to conduct their own investigation about how invasive species
impact the biodiversity in their local watershed.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
E1 Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms based on biological characteristics and identify patterns
of similarity.
E1d.
Describe how external and internal structures of animals and plants contribute to the variety of ways
organisms are able to find food and reproduce.
E2 Ecosystems. Students examine how the characteristics of the physical, non-living environment, the types and
behaviors of living organisms, and the flow of matter and energy affect organisms and the ecosystem of which
they are part.
E2a.
List various kinds of resources within different biomes for which organisms compete.
E2b.
Describe ways in which tow types of organisms may interact including competition, and predator/prey.
Learning Objectives
 Students will be motivated to learn about invasive species: how non-native species are introduced, how they become
invasive, and the economic and environmental impact they have.
 Students will be able transfer and generalize concepts gained in this activity to understand the dynamics and impacts
of non-native and invasive species on native species.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Hands-on
Class discussion
Materials
 MnM’s
 Chopsticks
 Spoons
 Paper bowls

Species labels: Bluebird, Sparrow
Note: These are not necessary but the kids love wearing them around all day. The number of labels will depend on
the number of students.
Time Needed
Introduction: 10 minutes
Activity: 25 minutes
Debrief: 10 minutes
Activity Procedure
Caution: Some students may take the competition of this activity a little too seriously resulting in severe spoon- or
chopstick-related injuries. You may want to take the edge off a little by promising the students equal amounts of MnM’s
after the activity is over.
Preparation
1. Fill bowls with MnM’s to represent habitat. You will need one bowl for every two students.
2. Create stations where two students can work opposite each other or next to each other. Each student will need an
empty bowl.
3. List on the board the concepts you chose to focus on. They may include: Habitat, limiting resources, physical
adaptations, competition among species, native species, non-native species, invasive species.
Activity
1. Introduce the activity. Students will be competing for limited resources. One group will represent Maine’s native
bluebirds, and another group will represent sparrows (invasive to Maine).
Give students an overview of the bluebird/ sparrow history and relationship. Bluebirds are native to Maine. Maine’s
bluebird population began declining in the 1970s with the introduction of sparrows and starlings, and a decline in
suitable habitat. Bluebirds and sparrows are both cavity nesters. Sparrows are known to claim bluebird nesting sites
by killing adult bluebirds and their young and eggs. Sparrows also out-compete bluebirds for food (mostly insects).
2. Have all the students stand in the back of the room.
3. Designate half of the students as bluebirds and half as sparrows.
4. Give the bluebirds the chopsticks.
5. Tell the bluebirds to sit at a station and begin picking up the MnM’s from the habitat bowl and placing them in their
own bowl.
6. After a few minutes stop the bluebirds and introduce the invasive sparrows.
7. Give the sparrows a spoon. Tell them they must hold it by the spoon-end.
8. Tell the group that the invasive sparrows can pick MnM’s from both the habitat bowl and the bluebird’s bowl by using
the handle-end of the spoon.
Note: Listen for a chorus of “Hey, no fair!” from the bluebirds.
9. Stop the activity. Ask the bluebirds and sparrows to each count the number of MnM’s they have in their bowls. Record
class results in a table. Ask students if they see a pattern in the results. It should be clear that the sparrows were
better able to secure more MnM resources than the struggling bluebirds.
10. Discuss as a class:
a. What do the MnM’s, chopsticks, and spoons represent?
b. Why were the sparrows more successful?
c. What do you predict would happen to the bluebird population over time?
d. Would you try to control the sparrow population to help the bluebirds? Why or why not?
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
1.
Students answer discussion questions in a journal.
2.
Students are given another scenario where they transfer their knowledge by identifying examples of biodiversity,
adaptation, invasive species, predators, competition, disease immunity, habitat, and stressors.
Extension Ideas
Introduce additional stressors on the native bluebird population.
Predation by kestrels and house cats:
1. Designate 2-3 students to be predators.
2. Give predators 1 “Dead” label each.
3. Near the end of the activity, the predators may tag 1 bluebird each with their “Dead” label. They may not tag a
sparrow.
Disease:
1. Mark a few of the MnM’s in the bowls with whiteout. Do not draw students’ attention to these marked MnM’s.
2. At the end of the activity, ask the bluebirds and sparrows to check their bowls for MnM’s tagged with whiteout.
These MnM’s carry a disease that kills native bluebirds but not the invasive sparrows.
3. Add a discussion question:
a. Why were the sparrows immune to the disease, but the bluebirds susceptible?
b. How would the results be different if the disease affected the sparrows but not the bluebirds?
Environmental stress:
1. Simulate a stress to the environment such as a residential development by having the sparrows and bluebirds
start competing for resources the same time.
2. Add a discussion question:
a. Why did the bluebirds fare much worse this time?
b. How is an environmental stress good for the sparrows and bad for the bluebirds?
References
G. Radcliffe, Centreville Middle School, 2004, Introduction to Life Lab # 2: Adaptations: Beaks and Feet
http://www.qacps.k12.md.us/bird/lessons/Lab2_Adaptation.htm
Oh Deer: Invasive species style
Author(s)
Original lesson plan by:
Project WILD, www.projectwild.org
Invasive species modifications by:
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Laura Seaver
Loranger Middle School, Old Orchard Beach ME
Question
How does the introduction of non-native and invasive species to a habitat affect native species populations?
Overview
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.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
E2 Ecosystems. Students examine how the characteristics of the physical, non-living environment, the types and
behaviors of living organisms, and the flow of matter and energy affect organisms and the ecosystem of which
they are part.
E2a.
List various kinds of resources within different biomes for which organisms compete.
E2b.
Describe ways in which two types of organisms may interact including competition, and predator/prey.
Learning Objectives
o
Students will understand that nature/ resources/ habitat/ populations are constantly changing
o
Students will understand and graph population change over time due to resource availability
o
Students will understand that good habitat with adequate resources is the key to survival
o
Students will understand how invasive species may out-compete native populations for habitat and resources
o
Students will understand the difference between non-native and invasive species
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Outdoors in school yard
Activity Type
Hands-on activity
Materials
Easel and flip-chart or dry-erase board
Marker(s)
Nerf ball
Colored head bands or arm bands (2 colors, enough of each color to outfit class)
Cones
Time Needed
30 minutes (can last longer depending on how many rounds you do)
Activity Procedure
1. Ask students to brainstorm a list of things they think a species needs to survive in its habitat. From the brainstorm list,
ask students to pick the 3 they feel are most important. Write these in a journal entry and explain why they chose each
one.
2. Review the definition of habitat and 4-5 essential components of habitat. Habitat is where an animal lives and the
basic essential components of habitat are food, water, shelter, and space. Does this “official” list of 4-5 match what
students wrote in their journals? Would they change the list? If there is disparity and students can make a great case
for changing the list, strongly consider using their list instead.
o
Habitat note: If your focus is terrestrial habitats, assume that the species have enough space in which to live.
They will need food, water, and shelter. If your focus is aquatic habitats, assume that they need food, space,
and shelter.
o
Space note: Students typically need some prompting for “space.” It helps to give an example – lots of relatives
at your dinner table, too many snakes in your classroom terrarium, too many students in gym class, …
3. Game preparation:
o
Set up your playing field. Make a large rectangle with cones at the 4 corners. There should be at least 20 m
separating the ends.
o
Set up your data table on the white board (See example table below).
4. Introduce the native species and habitat you’re focusing on. Here are a few examples of habitat-specific species to
use. Please share with us the species you use.
Stream
Native: Spinycheek crayfish
Non-native: European lobster
Invasive: Rusty crayfish
Upland
Native: Bluebird
Non-native: Rock pigeon
Invasive: Sparrow
Rocky intertidal
Native: Rock crab
Invasive: Asian shore crab
Native: Rough periwinkle
Invasive: Common periwinkle
Pond/ lake
Native: Wild brook trout
Invasive: Smallmouth bass
5. Ask the students to count off in fours. Starting the game with ¾ habitat and ¼ species typically works really well. Have
the 1’s go to one end of the field and stand in a line about shoulder-width apart. This group is the native species.
Have the 2’s, 3’s, and 4’s line up at the opposite end of the playing field, facing the 1’s. This group is habitat.
6. During each round of the activity, each native species may choose to look for any one of its three basic resource
needs. When a native species is looking for:
o
Food:
Put hands over stomach
o
Water:
Put hands over mouth
o
Shelter:
Put hands over head
o
Space:
Put arms out to sides
A native species can not change what it is looking for until the next round.
7. Each student that represents habitat should decide which habitat resource he or she wishes to be. Like the native
species, the habitat students may not change within the round, but can change the following round.
8. Before each round, count the number of native species and make a note of this number on the white board. Keep a
tally for graphing later, or chart as you go on a simple line graph (X = round/year; Y = # species in population). Like so:
# Native species
# Non-native
species
# Invasive
species
# Predator
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
….
….
9. Have the two groups (native species and habitat) turn their backs to each other. Each native species should make the
sign for the habitat resource that it is looking for, and each habitat resource should make the sign for what it wishes to
be. Give the students a few moments to decide what they will be and get their hands in place.
10. When everyone in both groups is ready, have both groups turn around and face each other while continuing to hold
their signs.
11. Give them a signal and let the native species walk/run to the habitat and find a student who has the same sign. The
native species that finds what they need will survive and reproduce and need to take the habitat resource back to the
starting place (Have species student lock arms with the resource student and bring him back to the species line. The
resource student becomes a native species). Native species that do not find the resource they need die and become
habitat (representing natural population flux). If more than one native species tries to get the same habitat component,
the one to get there first survives.
12. Tell the students that this represented one year in the life of this native species populations and ask what happened.
Most of the native species should have found what they needed and successfully reproduced. This has resulted in an
increase in the native species population.
13. Count the number of native species and record it in the table.
14. Have the students perform this activity for at least 7-10 more rounds (representing 7-10 years). Keep the pace brisk.
Note: After the first few rounds, introduce a predator. The predator may move along the sidelines, stalking the native
species. Each round the predator may throw a Nerf ball at a native species. If the Nerf ball hits a native species, it dies
and may return in the next round as habitat or as another predator. If you allow the predator population to increase,
keep data records on this population as well. You may want to limit the number of throwing attempts a predator has
each round (depending on the demeanor and accuracy of your predator!).
15. After capturing 4-6 (or less if you’re squished for time) rounds of “normal” population data, start the activity from the
beginning and introduce a non-native species. Distinguish the non-native species and the native species with
different colored headbands, armbands, tags, etc. The non-native species has come from a different place, has no
predators, and has different habitat needs:
o
Food:
Hands on hips
o
Shelter:
Hands waving wildly above head
o
Space:
Hands on knees
o
Water:
Arms making wave motions
Note: Make sure the habitat students understand that they must stick to the original habitat resource signs, and not
these new ones needed by the non-native species.
16. At the end of this round, none of these non-native species will have found the resources they need in this new habitat
and will not survive here. Discuss what happened to this species and why. The non-native species is adapted to a
different type of habitat and has different resource needs.
17. Now introduce an invasive species. Distinguish the invasive species and the native species with different colored
headbands, armbands, tags, etc. Like the non-native species, the invasive species has come from a different place
and has no predators, but has the same habitat needs as the native species:
o
Food:
Hands over stomach
Water:
Hands over mouth
Shelter:
Hands over head
o
Space:
Arms out to sides
18. Explain that the invasive species is able to out-compete the native species for food, water, shelter, and space. The
non-native species also has no predators in its new habitat.
19. Line the invasive species up in front of the native species, as far up as the half way point on the playing field. The
invasive species may select resources from the habitat first. They make take 2 habitat items each instead of just 1
each. Then the native species may select from the left-over resources. The predator may not throw the Nerf ball at the
invasive species, but may still prey on the native species. Prepare for a chorus of “Not fair!” or “Oh no!” from the native
species. Run this scenario for 1 or 2 rounds, or until the native population crashes.
o
o
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
Discuss the changes in the native species population over time. Use the flip-chart or dry-erase board to graph the native
species population over the 10 rounds/years. Encourage students to use their experience and the graph to explain what
happened to the native species population through time. Guided discussion or essay questions may include:
o
In what years does the population increase/ decrease most dramatically?
o
Why do you think the population crashed in Year X?
o
Why does the population increase in Year X?
o
Why doesn’t the population fluctuate as much in Years X through X?
o Summarize students’ ideas and claims.
Graph and discuss the changes in the native species population, non-native species population, and invasive species
populations over time. Ask students to use their experiences and the graph to explain/ talk through what happened to the
native species and the invasive species through time. Guided discussion or essay questions may include:
o
What impact did the non-native species have on the native species?
o
What impact did the invasive species have on the native species?
o
As a scientist or manager interested in maintaining native species populations, how would you ensure the
health of the native species population?
o
Would you try to manage the introduction of non-native or invasive species? If yes, at what point? What
would you target?
o
Summarize students’ ideas/ hypotheses/ conclusions.
Extension Ideas
Have a great idea to extend students’ learning? Please share it with us.
Resources
Here is a growing list of classroom management suggestions from those who have done this before. Please share yours
with us.
o
Designate an area for “circling up” before you start and in between rounds to review what is happening
o
Re-focus students and check for understanding in between rounds by asking them what happened that round.
For example: Mary, you were a sparrow and now you’re part of the habitat. What happened?”
o
Be clear when you’re introducing the non-native species that the habitat students use the same signs that it
has in past rounds. The non-native species are the only ones who will use different signs.
o
If your predator has lousy aim, have them gently tag the native species with the ball
References
Oh Deer!, Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide
Vital Signs Science Notebook
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do scientists set up and carry out a biodiversity investigation?
Overview
Scientists operate in an inquiry environment. They observe, ask questions, make predictions, record observations, analyze
data, make and defend claims, and share their conclusions with the larger community. Similarly, students will carry out
their biodiversity investigation as though they are professional scientists. An online Science Notebook (available on the
Vital Signs website) helps students organize, document, and reflect on their investigation. It guides students through each
stage of the inquiry process as they seek answers to their research questions.
Science Notebooks are a learning tool originally developed by Michael Klentschy to help students develop scientific
inquiry, literacy, and reasoning skills.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1a.
Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
B1b. Design and safely conduct scientific investigations
B1c.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
B1d. Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present data and structure convincing
explanations.
B1e.
Use logic, critical reasoning and evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models.
B1f.
Communicate, critique, and analyze their own scientific work and the work of other students.
C1. Understandings of Inquiry. Students describe how scientists use varied and systematic approaches to
investigations that may lead to further investigations.
C1a.
Explain how the type of question informs the type of investigation.
C1c.
Describe how scientists’ analyses of findings can lead to new investigations
Learning Objectives
 Students learn science through inquiry and real scientific practice
 Students use Science Notebooks as a tool to organize, document, and reflect on their investigation
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Small group discussion
Hands-on activity
Materials
Computer/ Internet
Vital Signs online Science Notebook
Time Needed
Students fill out and revisit their Science Notebooks many times throughout the Investigation process. With a Guided
Inquiry Approach, some parts will take less than 5 minutes, while others can take up to 30 minutes.
Activity Procedure
1. Log in to each of your team accounts to enter the research question for your students: Does biodiversity change or
stay the same throughout our watershed?
Note: Notebook philosophy suggests that students should not be asked to spend time copying any teacher-generated
content into their Notebooks. It shifts focus away from intended learning goals. In this Guided Inquiry investigation,
teachers are responsible for developing the research question and are thus responsible for cutting/pasting it into the
Notebooks.
2. Have students go to the Vital Signs website, www.vitalsignsme.org.
3. Have them log in using their team names and passwords (assigned by the teacher during the Investigation Set-up
process).
4. Have students go to their My Vital Signs page to add a new Notebook.
5. Ask your research question. Review your research question together. Check for understanding.
6. Make a prediction. Ask students to enter a prediction about what they think the answer to their research question will
be. To inform this prediction, make preliminary observations from the satellite view of the Vital Signs map
(www.vitalsignsme.org/explore/map), or look at the Vital Signs Sort & export table to see what others have found at
your comparison site(s).
Follow the prompt in the Notebook: I think or expect _____ because _____. Make sure students support their
predictions with the reasons why they think what they think.
7. Investigate. Because this is a Guided Inquiry investigation, explain to students where their study sites are, what data
they will collect, and how they will collect and record it.
After students collect data and publish it on the Vital Signs website, their Field Notes will automatically appear in their
Science Notebooks in the Investigate section.
8. Organize and make sense of your data. Use the Organize to Analyze activity to guide students through the steps of
finding, organizing, and making sense of their data.
9. Reflect and conclude your investigation. Have students work with their teammates to reflect on their research, and
then state their conclusion. As needed, have students use the Notebook prompts.
Note: If teams have trouble synthesizing everyone’s ideas, try using a nice big Placemat. Placemats let each student
think and write individually first. Once students see what everyone in their team thinks, they can underline common
themes, circle key points, and come up with the best possible reflections/ conclusions that reflect full team
participation.
Scientist 2
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Scientist 1
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Common points by
each team member
Scientist 3
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Scientist4
Reflection:
Conclusion:
10. Have students revisit their Science Notebooks as they plan the Student Action component of their Watershed
Experience. They will need to build a case using strong evidence from their Notebooks in order to persuade and
motivate others to join their watershed-wide data collection effort.
Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas
The Science Notebook is intended as an on-going reflection and assessment tool for students and teachers. Check
Notebooks frequently throughout the investigation to gauge student understanding and again when the investigation is
finished.
Resources
Klentschy, Michael. Using Science Notebooks in Elementary Classrooms, National Science Teachers Association
Klentschy, Michael & Laurie Thompson. 2008, Scaffolding Science Inquiry through Lesson Design, Heinemann
Spot the Difference
Author(s)
Sarah Kirn & Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do you tell different species apart?
Overview
Spot the difference is a high energy, competitive activity that helps students develop and hone their observation skills.
Students will begin to notice the often subtle differences between species.
Students play Spot the Difference to train their eyes to closely observe plants and animals, and to find characteristics
that make them the same species or a different species. Students look at two plant parts or animal parts at the same time
and compare their various characteristics. In one column, they list everything that is the same about the two organisms. In
another column, they list everything that is different. This game can be played competitively or as a team-building exercise
depending on your classroom learning goals.
Species observation skills built while playing Spot the Difference will be used by students during their biodiversity
fieldwork to help them decide whether or not the native or invasive species they are looking for is at their study site. They
will need keen observation skills to come up with evidence to support their claim.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
E1. Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms based on biological characteristics and identify patterns
of similarity.
E1a.
Compare physical characteristics that differentiate organisms into groups.
E1c.
Explain ways to determine whether organisms are the same species.
Learning Objectives
 Students will practice observation skills.
 Students will notice the often subtle differences between species.
 Students will be well-prepared to figure out if a plant and animal species they are looking for is in their study area.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Hands-on
Class discussion
Materials
Specimens to compare:
 Plant parts (leaves, stems, flowers, tree bark)
 Periwinkle shells
 Crab carapaces
Timer (3-5 minutes)
Worksheet with 2 columns, one labeled “Same” and the other labeled “Different”
Vital Signs species identification cards
Metric rulers
Time Needed
20 minutes
Activity Procedure
Collect specimens (at least 2 species to compare per pair/team of students). If you would like plant parts to endure more
than one use, consider pressing them first, mounting them on cardstock, and then laminating.
Competitive version
1. Pair students up. Have each student pick a similar species (i.e., both pick a leaf or both pick a crab shell, etc.).
2. Start the timer.
3. Ask each student to write down in their table all of the differences and similarities they see between their own pick and
their partner’s pick.
SAME
DIFFERENT
4. Stop the timer after 3-5 minutes of observation.
5. Award points
 1 point for every characteristic that you have, but that your partner does not have
 No points for a characteristic that both you and your partner have
6. Ask the pair to work together to make a claim about whether they think that these are the same species or different
species based on their observation results.
Vital Signs species cards version
1. Download species cards from the Vital Signs website.
2. Have students use the diagram on the card to introduce new vocabulary and improve lists.
3. Challenge students to pull out a fancy science term before their partner does.
Reflective version
1. In small groups (up to 4), have each student pick out a similar species (i.e., all pick a leaf or all pick a crab shell).
2. Together the small groups write down the similarities and differences among the species.
Version to get at individual variation within a species
1. Collect multiple examples of several species (crab carapaces, leaves from the same plant or tree that are of different
sizes, etc.)
2. Begin the activity by asking groups sort the big pile of material into species groups (all Jonah crabs, all green crabs, all
sugar maple, all Norway maple, etc. Note that you don’t have to know the name of the species to do this exercise,
especially if you collect leaves from different trees).
3. Proceed with having participants describe the characteristics of each pile of specimens of the same species.
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
1. Write on the board the following categories: Color, Shape, Size, Texture
2. Ask students to look at their same/different lists, and to put a checkmark underneath the categories that they used
when comparing species.
3. Are there categories missing that anyone would like to add? How many used these other categories?
4. Discuss the most popular categories.
 Were they the most reliable?
 Are these the characteristics you would definitely use again next time?
Looking Closely
Author(s)
Beth Bisson
Maine Sea Grant
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do you tell different species apart?
Overview
Students practice Looking Closely at a leaf, flower, leg, wing, shell, etc. to really hone their observation skills and see the
pieces and parts they wouldn’t otherwise see. Species observation skills gained during this detailed drawing activity will
help students tell different species apart when they do their own investigation. This activity may be done as individuals or
as a team.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and traits of scientific inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1e. Use logic, critical reasoning and evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models.
E1. Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms based on biological characteristics and identify patterns
of similarity.
E1a.
Compare physical characteristics that differentiate organisms into groups.
E1c.
Explain ways to determine whether organisms are the same species.
Learning Objectives
 Students practice forming hypotheses and making observations to test their hypotheses
 Students improve scientific observation skills
 Students practice communicating their hypotheses and observations with one another and learning through scientific
discussions
 Students learn how to identify key physical features and adaptations that provide clues about a species’ preferred
habitat, prey, and behavior
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Laboratory
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Hands-on
Class discussion
Materials
 Trays of animal and plant specimens (some native and some invasive)
 Paper, pencils, crayons, and markers
 Microscopes
 Field Guides
 Vital Signs species identification cards
Time Needed
60 minutes
Can be adapted for longer time frames with additional discussion/ extensions
Activity Procedure
This activity is written specifically for marine intertidal species, but can be used with all types of animals and plants from
coastal, freshwater, and upland ecosystems. When doing this activity with students, start with a simple and familiar plant
or animal (a leaf, a worm). In subsequent rounds move on to a specimen that requires greater attention to detail (a
periwinkle shell, a crab carapace).
1. Students choose a marine intertidal species to examine more closely and place one on your tray.
2. Ask students to take a minute or so to look at all parts of their species, and write down three or four observations they
can make about its physical characteristics.
3. Have them put their species aside, and draw a picture of it from memory. Have them try to depict or label the
characteristics they wrote down.
4. Ask students to look at their species again and add features they might have missed during the memory drawing,
using a different color. Have them make a hypothesis about what habitat their species is adapted for, based on their
observations of its physical characteristics.
5. Now, have students look more closely at their species under a microscope or with a hand lens, and write down any
additional observations they can make.
6. Have them draw their species again, including these new observations, or add to the original drawing using a third
color. Ask them to check their hypothesis: Did it change?
7. Now, ask students to look up their species in a guidebook to identify it. Have them look at the photo/drawing, and read
what it says about their species. Have them check their hypothesis again: does it match the description in the book?
8. Ask students to take a final look at their species to see if they can see anything new after learning a bit more in their
reference book.
9. Have students use a “Turn to Your Neighbor” sharing session to analyze and conclude:
 Did you miss anything with your naked eye, or with the microscope?
 Did looking more closely help you understand your species? Did it improve your hypothesis about what type of
habitat it is adapted for? Could you make a hypothesis about what it likes to eat, or how it protects itself?
 Which important details did you miss that are critical for identifying your species, or for telling it apart from a lookalike species?
 If you found out your species is invasive, did you see any unique characteristics during your observations that
might make it a particularly good invader?
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
Collect written hypotheses, observations, and drawings as part of a student portfolio. They should be arranged in
chronological order, from when they started their observations, to when they finished.
Ask students to write a scientific explanation in their scientists’ notebooks of how they used a series of observation
strategies and tools to test and modify their hypotheses. They should explain why they modified their hypothesis as they
went along (if they changed it), and whether/how the “Turn to Your Neighbor” discussion with their classmates affected
their final hypothesis.
Extension Ideas
Use this activity to compare observations of native species and a look-alike non-native species, and test hypotheses about
which species is native and which is invasive.
Use this activity as a way for students to observe, identify and catalogue samples of the species they find during field
surveys.
Resources
Field Guides:
 Vital Signs species identification cards, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, www.vitalsignsme.org
 Guide to Marine Invaders in the Gulf of Maine, Salem Sound Coastwatch, URL: http://www.salemsound.org/chimp.htm
 Peterson, RT. 1999. Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore: From the Bay of Fundy to Cape Hatteras. Sagebrush
Education Resources.
 Watling L, Fegley A, Moring J, and White S. 2003. Life Between the Tides: Marine Plants and Animals of the
Northeast. Tillbury House Publishers. Gardiner, ME.
 National Audubon Society. 1998. Regional Guide to New England. Alfred A. Knopf. New York.
 Marine Invasive Species Information Websites:
 MIT Sea Grant, Center for Coastal Resources, Marine Bioinvasions Web Page, Links and References. URL:
http://massbay.mit.edu/exoticspecies/links.html
 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), Marine Invasions Research Lab, URL:
http://www.serc.si.edu/labs/marine_invasions/
 U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Science Center, Marine Nuisance Species Web Page: URL:
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/stellwagen/didemnum/index.htm (focus on the tunicate, Didemnum sp.)
Size Matters
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do you tell different species apart?
Overview
Students hone critical measurement skills, and learn to quickly estimate size using their own body parts. These
measurement and estimation skills will come in handy when students try to determine whether or not they find the native/
invasive species they will look for at their study site during the Investigation Component of the Biodiversity Watershed
Experience.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1c.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
B1f.
Communicate, critique, and analyze their own scientific work and the work of other students.
E1. Biodiversity. Students differentiate among organisms based on biological characteristics and identify patterns
of similarity.
E1a.
Compare physical characteristics that differentiate organisms into groups.
E1c.
Explain ways to determine whether organisms are the same species.
Learning Objectives
 Students will practice measurement skills in order to compare lengths, widths, heights of various plant and animal
parts for identification purposes
Grade Level
7
8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Hands-on
Materials
Metric rulers
A Pile of Stuff to Measure that has representatives from these size categories: 0-2cm, 2-5cm, 5-10cm, and greater than 10
cm long/ wide/ tall
Yourself
Time Needed
20 minutes
Activity Procedure
1. Ask students to find one thing in your Pile of Stuff to Measure that fits the Vital Signs datasheet size categories:
 0-2 cm
 2-5 cm
 5-10 cm
 Greater than 10 cm
2. Students label each item with its size category and display their labeled stuff in front of them.
3. Students do a Gallery Walk around the room with rulers in hand. They visit each student’s labeled stuff, and measure
and check the work of their classmate. If they agree with the measurement, they write their initials on the label. If they
disagree with the measurement, they write on the label the size category that they think it should be in instead.
4. After the Gallery Walk, students return to their own stuff. They read through the review of their work, and make
adjustments. Discuss discrepancies that remain and see if you can come to a conclusion as a class.
5. The next round involves measuring your own body parts. Scientists often find it useful to know how wide their thumb
is, how long it is from their wrist to elbow, how far their knee is from the ground, etc. They can use their thumb,
forearm, and leg to make a quick estimate of size in the field without needing to take out a ruler.
6. Each student finds 3 body parts to measure that fit the Vital Signs size categories.
7. Ask students to hold up the body part that fits the 0-2 cm range, the 2-5 cm range, and so on. Make a class list of
student body parts that typically fall within each size range for later reference when you are in the field doing your
investigation.
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
Have one challenging Pile of Stuff at the front of the classroom. Without rulers, ask students to use their body part
estimators to put the stuff into the correct size categories.
Extension Ideas
Can you use your thumb as an estimate of things in the 2-5 cm range for the rest of your life? Investigate! Compare thumb
width or length across the whole class. Collect thumb width or length measurements from teachers. Collect thumb
width/length from younger and older siblings. What do the results tell you about your current thumb estimator?
Heeeere banana, banana, banana!
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do you prove that you find or don’t find the species you are looking for?
Overview
Students conduct this simple investigation with familiar materials to get in the groove of looking carefully for something,
making a claim that they found it or did not find it, and supporting that claim with solid, bullet proof evidence. Students plan
and carry out a short, sweet investigation to determine whether or not a “species” is in an “ecosystem” or not. They figure
out for themselves the importance of careful observations skills.
It’s fairly easy to understand why a scientist would want information about where you find a native or invasive species. It’s
a bit less intuitive to understand why a scientist would want to know where you look for, but do not find a native or invasive
species.
Documenting where an invasive species has not established a population is just as important as knowing where a species
actually is. This “absence data” is useful for management decisions (e.g., species x is not in this intertidal, so we may
target our limited resources elsewhere; species y is not in this lake with this nice inviting boat ramp, so target resources
here to keep it free of species y). Absence data also provides an important baseline measure to gauge changes over time
(e.g., species z was not found here in 2009 & 2010, was first found in 2011, and appears to be expanding its population in
2012).
As a further challenge, it is far more difficult to prove that something is not there, than it is to prove that it is there. Absence
data is subjective and not often reliable as it depends on the observation skills, identification skills, patience, and care
taken by the scientist to look closely and rule out the species she is looking for.
Important skills built during this short, silly, easily accessible investigation will be put to use when students investigate
biodiversity in a local watershed and whether they find or do not find invasive species.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1a. Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
B1b. Design and safely conduct scientific investigations
B1c. Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
C1. Understandings of Inquiry. Students describe how scientists use varied and systematic approaches to
investigations that may lead to further investigations.
C1a. Explain how the type of question informs the type of investigation.
Learning Objectives
 Students will practice observation skills, planning an investigation, gathering data, making claims, supporting claims
with evidence, analyzing results, reflecting, and concluding their investigation.
 Students will understand that reporting that they looked for something and did not find it is just as important in science
(or cooking) as reporting that you looked for something and found it.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Hands-on
Class discussion
Materials
Fruit salad with or without a slice of banana
1 bowl for the whole class
(or) Separate bowls for small teams of students
Spoons
Sorting trays or bowls
Banana identification resource
Time Needed
45 minutes
Activity Procedure
1. Make a fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, oranges, grapefruit, and one very small sliver of banana.
Note: A hefty bag of Halloween candy, or a colorful bowl of MnMs & Skittles is often more engaging (and distracting!).
2. Present your Issue Statement: I am allergic to bananas and can not eat this fruit salad if there’s a banana in it. Or
something more dramatic like this: I want to serve this fruit salad to my mom tomorrow on Mother’s Day, and if there’s
any banana in it it’ll spoil the whole bowl by morning and will ruin Mother’s Day! (Oh the drama.)
3. Ask your Research Question: Is there any banana in this fruit salad?
4. Ask students to come up with a prediction based on a quick glance. They can look at the salad from all angles, but
can not touch or stir.
Example predictions:
 We don’t think there is any banana in this fruit salad because we looked all around and don’t see any.
 We think there is banana in this fruit salad because we can smell it!
5. Ask students to come up with a plan/method for how they would investigate to make absolutely certain that the fruit
salad either has banana or is completely banana-free.
 Would you look at it and make a decision from a distance?
 Would you look at it up close?
 Would you smell it?
 Would you feel it?
 What tools would you use? (spoon, smaller sorting bowls, ID reference….)
 Would you ask the person who made it?....
6. Investigate!
7. Can I eat the fruit salad? Make a claim/recommendation that is well-supported by written and visual/photo evidence. If
evidence statements need a boost, consider using Prove it! Convince me with words. Show me with photos, an
activity that is coming up next in this Biodiversity Watershed Experience.
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
Discuss as a whole class or in small teams:
1. Review the method of investigation that each team chose:
 What worked well?
 What you would never do again?
 What skills and tools were critical?
2. Discuss how you would transfer what you learned from this investigation to a similar investigation looking for animals
or plants outdoors in a local habitat. Plants and animals may not be as familiar to you as a banana.
 What would you want to know ahead of time about the plant or animal before you start to look for it?
 What resources and tools would you want to bring with you to help look for the plant or animal?
Extension Ideas
Whole class or small teams: This activity can be done as a whole class with one bowl of fruit, or in small teams each with
their own bowl. With a whole class, there is opportunity to facilitate some great student-student discussion, and to model
for each other best practices. With small teams, there is opportunity to emphasize the importance of a strong investigation
plans – comparing methods and how methods may influence results.
Banana or no banana: This investigation works just fine both ways. Either put one slice of banana in the fruit salad, or
don’t. If you use small teams, you may want to put banana in 1-2 bowls and leave the others banana-free. Take note of
which bowls have the banana, though, to check for careful observation.
Prove it! Convince me with words. Show me with photos.
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do you prove that you find or don’t find the species you are looking for?
Overview
Students use Prove It! to practice using words and photos to craft solid evidence statements. Students make statements
about things that they believe to be true, and things that they believe to be not true. They practice supporting these claims
with written and photo evidence. The activity moves students from simple everyday statements to more complicated
statements about species. Skills built during this activity will ultimately help students convince the Vital Signs community
that they found or did not find the species they will look for during their biodiversity investigation.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1e. Use logic, critical reasoning and evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models.
B1f. Communicate, critique, and analyze their own scientific work and the work of other students.
Learning Objectives
 Students will practice supporting their claims with written and visual evidence.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Hands-on
Class discussion
Materials
Vital Signs species identification cards (optional)
Cameras (optional)
Star stickers
Time Needed
40 minutes
Activity Procedure
Note: Please model this activity and thought process for students a few times before asking them to do it themselves.
1. Students write down something that they believe to be true, and 2-3 pieces of written evidence that they have for
believing it. Do this with easy, everyday, even silly examples to get the hang of it, and then move towards statements
about species. Once students have their evidence written, ask them to think of the photos they would take to further
support their claim with visual evidence.
Here is an example of a progression of claims and evidence to get you started:
a. Claim: I think that Mr. Jones lives at school.
Written Evidence: (1) He’s always here before I come to school in the morning. (2) I smell his socks. (3) He is
here for all the nighttime basketball games.
Photo Evidence: Mr Jones at his desk in the early morning; clock in the background showing the time
b. Claim: I think the orchestral piece I hear playing on the radio has a piccolo playing.
Evidence: (1) I hear notes that sound flute-like. (2) The notes that I hear are too high for it to be a regular flute.
Photo Evidence: As with identifying birds by their calls, this claim would be quite impossible to support with photo
evidence. A photo of the radio might be the best bet.
c.
Claim: I think that this is an invasive zebra mussel.
Evidence: (1) It has a yellow and brown shell. (2) The shell is tiny and is shaped like a D. (3) It has light and dark
stripes like a zebra.
Photo Evidence: Zoom in on the shell; focus on the color and the stripes; ruler in background showing size
d. Claim: I think that there is invasive purple loosestrife at our study site.
Evidence: (1) It has opposite leaves with heart-shaped bases. (2) The stem feels square and a little fuzzy. (3) It
has tall flower spikes.
Photo Evidence: Zoom in on the leaf bases; show flower spike
2. Students write down something that they believe to be not true, and 2-3 pieces of written evidence that they have for
believing it. Here is another example of a progression of claims and evidence:
a. Claim: I think that Mrs. Smith does not live at school.
Evidence: (1) Her car is in the parking lot. (2) She gave my mom her home telephone number to call when I don’t
get my work done. (3) She is never here for nighttime events like basketball games and concerts.
Photo Evidence: Mrs. Smith’s car in the parking lot during the school day; an empty parking spot after school
b. Claim: I think that this is not an invasive common periwinkle.
Evidence: (1) It has a long spiraled end. A common periwinkle has a short spiraled end. (2) The shell opening is
darker than the outside shell. A common periwinkle has a lighter colored opening.
Photo Evidence: Wide shot of entire animal; zoom in on the spiraled end; zoom in on the opening
c.
Claim: I think that native lowbush blueberry is not at our study site.
Evidence: (1) All of the plants in our site have opposite or whorled leaves. Lowbush blueberry has alternate
leaves. (2) We don’t see any plants with flowers. It’s late May, so we would see white bell-like flowers on a
lowbush blueberry plant.
Photo Evidence: Wide-view shot of plants with opposite and whorled leaves with no flowers
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
Peer Review reflection & assessment exercise:
1. Present one claim to the whole class. Ask each student to make a case that either supports the claim being true, or
disproves the claim. Regardless of their stance, they must provide both written and photo evidence.
2. Post the evidence statements on the wall around the room. Delete names; anonymity is important. Post evidence that
supports the claim on one side of the room, and evidence that disproves it on the other.
3. Ask students to review all of the evidence statements.
4. Give each student 4 stars. Have students put a star next to the 2 best pieces of written evidence, and 2 best pieces of
photo evidence they see.
5. Tally the star ratings. Based on the best evidence posted around the room, pull together the very best suite of written
and photo evidence.
Peer Review & Quality Check
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How can I make sure the observations I publish online are complete and rigorous?
Overview
Before students publish their data to the Vital Signs website and make it available to the public, their data must undergo a
Peer Review Quality Check. Peer Review is a process the scientific community uses to check and validate scientists’ work
before it is published. This is the very best way to make sure that students’ very best work is available for the Vital Signs
community to use. This Quality Check is a first step in the online review process.
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1f.
Communicate, critique, and analyze their own scientific work and the work of other students.
Learning Objectives
 Students will understand the importance of data quality in scientific practice
 Students will contribute complete, rigorous, scientifically useful data to Vital Signs that reflects their best possible work
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Materials
Peer Review Checklist
Vital Signs Review & Submit Data Tab
Time Needed
5-10 minutes
Activity Procedure
1. After a team of students has entered all of their data into the online Vital Signs data entry form, they finish on the
Review & Submit Data Tab that conveniently summaries all of their data for them.
2. Pass out the Peer Review Quality Checklist (below).
3. Ask the team to go through the list and check off in the Team Review column that they have completed each task, or
met the standard. Have students fix whatever needs fixing until they are pleased with their work.
4. Ask someone outside the team (preferably a student peer) to go through the team’s Review Tab and check off in the
Peer Review column that the team has completed each task, or met the standard. The more thoughtful the critique,
the better!
Note: It may take several rounds of back and forth between the team and Reviewer before the Reviewer is satisfied.
Allow enough time for this process to work its magic.
5. When the Reviewer is pleased with the team’s work, they may proudly and confidently hit the Publish button!
6. Once a team’s data has been published online, their species observations will be closely reviewed by a Vital Signs
Species Expert. Their entire observation will undergo an informal Community Review by students, teachers, scientists,
and citizen scientists in the Vital Signs Community.
Team Review
Peer Review
Field Trip Details
All fields have the correct information
Study Site Details
Study site photo is in focus
Study site photo shows just the scene (no faces!)
Habitat is correct
Data show up in the right place on the map (correct
Latitude & Longitude)
Field Work Notes
Notes are well-written with no spelling mistakes
Notes have useful information
Species Observations
Sampling method and species photos are in focus
Photos show just the scene or species (no faces!)
Evidence photos show important identification features
Evidence photos support the written evidence
“I think I found it” or “I think I didn’t find it” selection is
correct for each species
Abundance fields filled in & match the paper datasheet
Species detail fields filled in & match the paper datasheet
Habitat Data
Water quality measurements match the paper datasheet
Water quality measurements have the right units
Species diversity field filled in & matches the paper
datasheet
Reflection or Formative Assessment Idea
In the Reflection section of their online Vital Signs Science Notebooks, ask students to note whether or not they benefited
from the Peer Review Quality Check.
 Did they feel more confident about the data they published?
 How would they improve the process next time?
Organize to analyze
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Questions
Where are the species observations and biodiversity counts I need? What do they mean? How can I use them to answer
my research question?
Overview
Organizing data before students start the analysis process is a critical and often overlooked step. Students use the Vital
Signs Sort & Export table to find the data they need (their own, that of their classmates, and data from their comparison
site). They use Venn Diagrams and T-charts to organize data before trying to make sense of it
Science & Technology Standards (MLR)
B1. Skills and Traits of Scientific Inquiry. Students plan, conduct, analyze data from, and communicate results
of investigations, including simple experiments.
B1c.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
B1d. Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present data and structure convincing explanations.
Learning Objectives
 Students will use graphic organizers to manage and arrange data before they analyze it.
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Skill-building activity
Materials
Computer
Internet
Vital Signs Sort & Export Table
Venn diagram
T-chart
Time Needed
40 minutes
Activity Procedure
1. Have students make a T-chart to organize their biodiversity data:
Biodiversity at our class study site and our comparison site(s)
Name of class study site
Comparison site 1
Comparison site 2
(X) biodiversity counts
(X) biodiversity counts
(X) biodiversity counts
1.
2.
3.
X.
1.
2.
3.
X.
1.
2.
3.
X.
AVERAGE:
AVERAGE:
AVERAGE:
2. Have students fill in their T-charts with biodiversity data from the Vital Signs Sort & Export data table
Note: If it is not part of your learning goals for students to find data, find it for them ahead of time and export it to Excel
or Numbers. Have them start off right away organizing data rather than finding it.
Note: There are many ways to find the diversity data you need through Search & view observations, View on map, or
Sort & Export data pages. We encourage students to try their own way. If they get stuck, here is one way to use the
Sort & Export table:







Go to the Vital Signs Sort & Export data table (Explore > Sort & Export data)
Select “My School’s Data” from the drop down list.
Use the Advanced Search to limit the date range to only those days you collected data pertinent to this
investigation.
Sort the table by “Site name” by clicking on the “Site name” column header
Find the column labeled “Diversity of species”
You can do a lot of scrolling back and forth in the online table to find your data OR you can Export your data
to Excel or Numbers where you’ll have more options to manipulate the order of columns, hide columns, and
rearrange columns to your heart’s content.
To find data from your comparison site, do an Advanced Search for the town, site name, school name (if it is
student-collected data), etc.
3. Have students use Numbers, Excel, or big paper & colorful markers to make a simple bar graph of your data, like so:
Biodiversity
(# of different plants & animals found)
Class study site
Comparison site 1
Comparison site 2
4. Have students make Venn Diagrams to organize their invasive species observations. Invasive species are one factor
that may influence the number of different species living at each of their sites.
Invasive species FOUND at our class study site and our comparison site(s)
Our class site
Comparison site(s)
Found at
both/all
study sites
Invasive species LOOKED FOR AND NOT FOUND
at our class study site and comparison site(s)
Our class site
Comparison site(s)
Found at
both/all
study sites
5. Have students fill in their Venn Diagrams with species data gleaned from the Vital Signs Map: Explore > View on map.
Students use the Advanced Search just as they did with the Sort & Export data table.
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
1. Have student teams go to their My Vital Signs page to edit their Science Notebook
2. Ask them to use the prompts in the Reflection and Conclusion sections of their Notebook to start making sense of their
well-organized data.
3. If students have trouble synthesizing everyone’s ideas, try using a nice big Placemat. Placemats let each student think
and write individually first. Once students see what everyone in their team thinks, they can underline common themes,
circle key points, and come up with the best possible reflections/ conclusions that reflect full team participation.
Scientist 2
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Scientist 1
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Common points by
each team member
Scientist4
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Scientist 3
Reflection:
Conclusion:
Persuade and Motivate
Author
Sarah Morrisseau
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Vital Signs Program
Essential Question
How do I convince someone to do something I’d like them to do?
Overview
Students use Persuade and Motivate to guide the creation of their action projects. Persuasive writing may be something
that students are unfamiliar with or unpracticed at, but they all have personal experiences to draw from where they tried to
get someone to do something they wanted them to do. This writing guide will help them formulate the perfect persuasive,
motivational message. Let students then design, create, and publish their own media projects to convey their message to
their audience.
Social Studies Standards (MLR)
A2. Making Decisions Using Social Studies Knowledge & Skills. Students make individual and collaborative
decisions on matters related to social studies using relevant information and research and discussion skills.
A2a.
Develop individual and collaborative decisions/plans by contributing equally to collaborative discussions,
seeking and examining alternative ideas, considering the pros and cons, and thoughtfully and respectfully
recognizing the contributions of other group members.
A2b. Make a real or simulated decision related to the classroom, school, community, civic organization, Maine,
or beyond by applying appropriate and relevant social studies knowledge and skills, including research
skills, and other relevant information.
A3. Taking Action Using Social Studies Knowledge & Skills. Students select, plan, and implement a civic
action or service-learning project based on a school community, or State asset or need, and analyze the project’s
effectiveness and civic contribution.
Learning Objectives
 Students will take action based on the knowledge gained through their biodiversity investigation
 Students will write and creatively deliver a persuasive message to an audience outside their school
Grade Level
7, 8
Setting
Classroom
Activity Type
Hands-on activity
Materials
Computer
iMovie, Garage Band, Keynote, or other creative presentation software
Time Needed
40 minutes to craft a persuasive, motivational piece
80 minutes to create a project
Activity Procedure
1. Review with students their Science Notebook reflections. Concentrate on what holes they may have noticed in their
data. Where would they go to collect additional data to help answer their research question? What types of data would
they collect next time?
2. Revisit students’ Google Earth diversity trip. Were there places in your watershed that students were particularly
curious about or interested in?
3. Capitalize on these student-identified data needs and interests to select a place(s) in your watershed where you want
to try to involve others who will extend your investigation.
4. Once students have their place(s) selected, have them do some research to see who in that area might be willing and
excited to help them. Look for schools, Vital Signs citizen scientists, volunteer monitoring groups, conservation
associations, land trusts, town officials, garden clubs, etc. Visit the Vital Signs map
(www.vitalsignsme.org/explore/map) to take another look at your watershed. Is there someone already active
collecting data in the area you are interested in? Nearby?
5. Think about what would motivate one of those individuals or groups to do a biodiversity investigation. What motivated
you? What motivated your teacher? Do you think these groups would be motivated by the same things?
6. Have students journal about an experience they have had trying to convince someone to believe something, do
something, or take a different point of view.
 Getting your dad to let you go to a friend’s house.
 Getting your mom to wear her seatbelt in the car.
 Getting your teacher to believe you really did your reading assignment.
 Getting your brother to understand why he annoys you.
Were you successful? What types of things did you say or do to get them to believe you or to do what you asked or to
understand your perspective?
7. Together brainstorm a list of persuasive tactics – things you say, tools you use when you really want to be convincing.
Your list may include:
 Solid, specific evidence
 Sound reasoning
 Examples
 Experiences
 Sharing information/ facts
 Explaining the desired outcome
 Explaining how it benefits them, or something/ someone they care about
8. Start the writing process.
Think of a strong introductory statement, interesting fact, question, or emotional hook that will catch your audience’s
attention. Some ideas:
 Did you know that biodiversity….?
 Oriental bittersweet is an invasive species that….
 Have you ever wondered why….?
 Are you concerned about….
 We are impressed with your data on the Vital Signs map…!
 Your evidence photo of Rosa rugosa is beautiful…!
Make a clear statement of your purpose for writing to them.
 You would like their help because….
 You would like to work specifically with them because….
Explain your investigation, your results to date, your evidence.
Explain how their involvement will help you answer your research question.
Explain how their involvement will benefit them, your shared watershed, scientists in Maine…
Use the other motivational, persuasive ideas you came up with during your brainstorm (see Step 7).
Conclude by restating your purpose for writing to them and why you’d like their help.
Include your contact information.
9. Once students have outlined their persuasive, motivational message, they decide how they would like to present it to
their audience. Options include:
 Formal letter
 Video using iMovie with still photos from their investigation and an audio track
 Video using a video camera
 Podcast
 Keynote presentation
10. Students upload their media projects to the Vital Signs Project Bank (www.vitalsignsme.org/share-your-ideasprojects), and send the link to their intended audience.
Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas
Students Peer Review one another’s persuasive, motivational messages before they begin work on their media projects.
Do they have the essential components? What parts are missing? Do they think it will be a convincing, effective message?
How could it be stronger?
Once projects are in the Vital Signs Project Bank, students leave online constructive comments for their classmates about
the effectiveness of their videos, presentations, etc. in communicating their message.