Classroom Activities and Printable Activity Sheets
Fall 2009 Alien Invasion
Supplemental Activities for the Classroom
Invasive Species Explorers - Take your class for a walk and explore the schoolyard or neighborhood in search of invasive species. With notepaper, sketch books and/or cameras, build a collection of information and images of the plants and animals you see. Using guidebooks and the internet, identify the species and determine whether they are native or non-native. Are any of them invasive? A good website to visit is the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. If you have invasive plants in your schoolyard (and they are safe to touch) form a "plant posse" to remove them. Local garden clubs with "weed watcher" groups may be helpful.
Be the Beetle - Create emerald ash borer (EAB) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) masks, like the EAB mask being modeled in the photo. Visit DEC's Land and Forests website to download the Invasive Insect Mask directions in pdf format.
Child wearing an emerald ash borer mask
Invasives on Stage - As a class, write and perform a play about an invasive plant or animal. Make it a musical by re-writing the words to familiar songs and including them in your play. Present your show to other classes in your school or to groups in your community. (If your theme is "Don't Move Firewood," you can use the EAB and ALB masks from the activity described above.)
For teachers who have participated in a Project Learning Tree or Project WILD workshop, the activities listed below complement the fall 2009 issue of C4K. For information about workshops and about how to obtain these curriculum and activity guides, visit our Teacher Workshop webpage.
Project Learning Tree: Invasive Species
Project WILD: World Travelers
Aquatic Project WILD: Aquatic Roots
Fall 2009 Conservationist for Kids Teacher Supplement pdf 67 kb