Invasive Species Project – Grade 6 Science



Invasive Species Project – Grade 6 Science

Name: _____________________ Class: ________ Date: _____________________

In this summative project for your Biodiversity unit of study, you will be required to do research, a rough copy, a good copy (a power point presentation) and an oral presentation demonstrating your findings.

You will start this process by going to the website listed below and reading. Find an invasive species that sounds interesting to you. Do some preliminary research to make sure that you are going to be able to find enough information to answer the questions below:



Invasive species: __________________________________________________________

Key points to have in your final power point presentation

(this is a beginning list – you may find other really important/interesting information that you wish to include in your final product about your specific invasive species).

1. Name your species and kingdom (monera, protist, plant etc) that it is classified into.

2. Describe and provide visual evidence (pictures, clipart etc) of what your species looks like.

3. What does your species eat? What eats your species? Create a food chain and/or food web that demonstrates its food sources.

4. Tell about your species reproduction. I.e.: How many babies does it birth at a time? How long is the female pregnant? Where does it mate? How often does it mate? Does it have specific mating necessities? If it is not an animal, how does it reproduce?

5. Where is your species originally located? Be specific as to its country of origin.

6. Describe and provide visual evidence of your species natural habitat (i.e.: woodland, swamp etc).

7. Where are they now invading? How were they brought to this new location?

8. What impact is this species having on the ecosystem in the new location?

9. What can we do to help?

10. Other important and/or interesting ideas….

You will have four to five in-class periods to do research, conference with Ms. Rocha for pointers, write a rough copy, edit and begin your presentation with your final information. You will need to do some work at home and/or at your local library in order to complete this project on time.

Presentations will begin on October 22.

Your final project is being evaluated in a number of ways: science, reading, writing and oral communication – specific expectations being evaluated are in the chart below:

|Subject |Specific expectations |

|Science |1.1 analyse a local issue related to biodiversity and propose action that can be taken to preserve biodiversity; |

| |2.3 use specific appropriate science and technology vocabulary, in oral and written communication; |

| |3.1 identify and describe the distinguishing characteristics of different groups of plants and animals; |

| |3.5 describe interrelationships within species and between species; |

| |3.7 explain how invasive species reduce biodiversity in local environments. |

| | |

|Reading Skills |1.2 Identify a variety of purposes for reading and choose reading materials appropriate for those purposes; |

| |1.3 identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriate before, during and after reading to understand increasingly|

| |complex texts; |

|Writing Skills |1.4 sort and classify information for your own writing in a variety of ways that allow you to view information from different perspectives and |

| |make connections between ideas; |

| |1.5 identify and order main ideas and supporting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a structured, multi-paragraph |

| |piece of writing; |

| |1.6 determine whether the ideas and information you have gathered are relevant, appropriate, and adequate for the purpose, and do more research|

| |if necessary; |

| |2.7 make revisions to improve the content, clarity, and interest of your written work; |

| |2.8 produce revised draft pieces of writing to meeting identified criteria based on the expectations; |

| |3.1 spell familiar words correctly; |

| |3.2 spell unfamiliar words using a variety of strategies; |

| |3.4 use punctuation appropriately to communicate your intended meaning; |

| |3.6 proofread and correct your writing |

| |3.8 produce pieces of published work to meet the criteria; |

|Oral Speaking |2.3 communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, using appropriate organizing strategies and formats to link and sequence your ideas and |

|Skills |information; |

| |2.4 use appropriate words and phrases from the full range of your vocabulary… to communicate your meaning accurately and engage the interest of|

| |your audience; |

| |2.7 use a variety of appropriate visual aids to support or enhance your oral presentations. |

|Media Literacy |3.4 produce a media text for specific purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions and techniques |

* Phew! That’s a lot of expectations! Please make sure you are asking for help from Ms. Rocha during our science classes for any expectation above!

Invasive Species

Research Graphic Organizer

|Species & Kingdom Information |Food! What does your species eat? What eats your species? Create a food chain and/or food webs that |

| |include your species. |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|What does it look like? How big/small is it? Colour, shape etc… | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Original location of species | |

|Current location of invasion | |

|Reason(s) for invasion | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |Reproduction |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |Impact of your invading species on the natural ecosystem |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|What can we do to help the problem? | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| Natural Habitat | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Other important and/or interesting ideas. |

| |

Evaluation Guide - Invasive Species Project – Grade 6

|Subject |Student Success Criteria |Mark |

|Science |I have included information about: | |

| |Species and kingdom | |

| |Visual characteristics | |

| |Food | |

| |Reproduction | |

| |Original location & invasion location |50 |

| |Reason(s) for invasion | |

| |Impact of invasion on ecosystem | |

| |Natural habitat | |

| |What we can do to help | |

| |Bonus: | |

|Reading |In my reading and research: | |

| |I have chosen appropriate sources for researching my invasive species. | |

| |I have located all of the information needed for my project (Finding Important Ideas) | |

| |I have summarized all of the key ideas (Summarizing) |10 |

| |I have put all of the key ideas together (Synthesizing) | |

|Writing |In my writing: | |

| |I have organized all of my research information into groups that go together using subheadings. | |

| |I have included the main ideas and supporting details about each section of research. | |

| |I have edited my rough copy for spelling, grammar and punctuation. | |

| |I have included only important information and deleted any information that is not a key idea or supporting detail. | |

| | | |

| | |20 |

|Oral Speaking |In my oral presentation: | |

| |I have communicated in a clear and coherent manner. | |

| |I have organized the order of my information in a way that makes sense. | |

| |I have used appropriate scientific vocabulary to communicate. |10 |

| |I have engaged my audience. | |

|Media Literacy |In my power point presentation: | |

| |I have used titles, subtitles and/or captions to organize my information | |

| |I have used colour, pictures and/or fonts that make it visually interesting |10 |

| |I have organized my information in a way that makes sense | |

|Feedback: Final Mark: | |

| |_____ |

| |100 |

Good websites to start your preliminary research!



Environment Canada



Canadian Biodiversity website



Great Lakes Information Network



Invading Species Awareness program



Hinterland Who’s Who



Ontario Nature



Canadian government invasive species website



Invasive Plants in Canada

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download