Created by Oregon Sea Grant Extension WISE Program (Watershed and Invasive Species Education), this site is for those interested in invasive species education and awareness in their local watershed. Here, you will find many different kinds of invasive species projects from creative teachers and students that participate in the WISE Program, including lesson plans, power points, public outreach materials, stewardship projects, and most recently comic strips.
FEATURING the new Invasive Species Comic Strips: Teachers are using the art of developing comic strips to help students learn about invasive species and to share information with others. Check out our gallery of student comic strips in the “Comic Strips Featuring Invasive Species” category to the right. Also, PLEASE share your student’s comics; to do so, contact the Program Coordinator, Tania Siemens, firstname.lastname@example.org. For guidance on creating invasive species comics, check out our Stone Soup: Cartooning and Invasive Species Lesson Plan in the Aquatic Invasive Species Menace to the West Toolkit.
Many of the other projects throughout this website can also be found in this Toolkit, which is a set of fun, challenging, and inspiring lessons and activities that build on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) principles and are designed to help kids understand what invasive species are, how they affect the environment, and what we can all do about them. The toolkit contains lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, a species resource guide and a species activity guide which all highlight aquatic invasive species that are relevant for students on the west coast, including California, Washington, and Oregon.
We hope the examples here will be helpful in developing an invasive species unit in your classroom, raising awareness in your community, or to simply be inspired by outstanding student projects! Browse through the student projects and lesson plans by clicking on the list in the column to your right. We encourage teachers to use this website as a forum of discussion to share ideas and class projects as well as ask for advice on future lessons.
You are also invited to share your experiences! Have you also integrated a learning extension about invasive species into your classroom activities? Have you also been faced with the dilemma of what to do with un-wanted classroom plants and animals? Please tell us your story on the Discussion Board so that we all may learn and benefit from each others experiences.
For more information about the WISE Program or to share feedback about a recent class project involving live plants and animals or invasive species, please contact Program Coordinator Tania Siemens, tania.siemens (at) oregonstate.edu