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Introduced Exotic Grasses Home Page
To the Classroom Rubric References
Data Table 1
Take It Back to the Classroom
This project can be adapted to your particular teaching situation on a variety of
levels. You do not need to be in a Costa Rican tropical dry forest to allow your students
to investigate exotic invasive species. Contact your local conservationist group to find
out which exotic invasive species may be in your region.
Quick In-Class Activities
- Transect studies of the species diversity within the school yard and football field vs.
the area beyond the school yard and football field.
Off-Campus Field Studies
- The methodology described above can be applied to any outdoor local ecosystem on or
off-campus. Take students to the campus quad, agricultural area, a local city or national
park or wildlife preserve and select organisms to study.
- Data other than population may be taken in an attempt to find correlations between
population distribution and exotic invasive species as was done in the "The Effects
of Introduced Exotic Grasses on Tropical Dry Forest Regeneration" study.
- Students may investigate water quality, soil quality, or other abiotic factors that may
influence organism populations.
- For technical and/or possibly financial support, contact the regional EPA office in your
area, local conservation groups, the National Park Service, a nearby university, or the
department of natural resources. You will find many institutions are eager to help train
students, lend equipment, and/or provide transportation for student fieldwork.
General Tips for any of the above activities:
- The in-class or schoolyard activities can be used to prepare your students for an
upcoming field trip.
- Scout locations for field studies in advance to recognize problems the students may face
when conducting their study.
- Plants are great subjects for fieldwork as they are immobile!
- Make sure that you and your students are ready to make adjustments to your methodology
on the fly, as field studies are often unpredictable.
- Have fun with it!
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