I challenged the students in multiple ways today and each time they rose to the occasion!  Today’s topic was invasive species and climate change.  Most students came in today with little to no knowledge about how climate change affects invasive species.  To investigate the real-world research that has happened on the topic, the students split into groups and each read a different scientific paper about the topic.  These papers are no joke!  By following a reading guide, and creating a summary slide, the students dove into scientific literature and were even asked to explain what they read to their classmates by presenting their summary slide.  Reading and comprehending papers like this will tremendously help the students in their future scientific careers.

Here are the papers they read today:

To recap, we had an exciting Kahoot game to see how well the students explained their paper to their classmates and saw that groups who had easy-to-understand slides with bullet points containing only the most important information were better able to pass on the information.  This was another key lesson about science communication.

The second part of our day was focused on a fishbowl debate: which invasive species’ negative effects are most amplified by climate change, and what should we prioritize mitigation for?  The students were asked to research a specific species (either the Emerald Ash Borer, Snakehead, or Feral swine) in groups of 3 to form a solid case of why their species needs to be dealt with first, and ways to minimize their invasion.  They were also asked to research other group’s species to form rebuttals and defenses.  After the research was completed, the fishbowl debate commenced, and one representative for each species entered the fishbowl to make their case.  The students cycled through the fishbowl, adding to their group members’ points and challenging the other species.  The students really got into this, everyone making very well-thought-out cases with factual backing!  It was really exciting to see how many valid points were brought up.  In the end, we all voted on which species we need to prioritize mitigation efforts on.

Tomorrow, our last lesson revolves around discussing whether humans are an invasive species.  It will be a thought-provoking final class!

Some questions to ask your students: