Format
1. This program begins with a discussion about the National Park Service "arrowhead" emblem.
2. Participants then watch a short introductory video about Sleeping Bear Dunes.
3. We will define producers, consumers, and decomposers and their roles in an ecosystem.
4. We will draw a food web for a freshwater aquatic ecosystem.
5. We will define an invasive species and visualize their impact on a food web.
6. We will discuss Great Lakes invasive species, focusing on quagga mussels and their impacts on the ecosystem
7. We will discuss how invasive species got to the Great Lakes, and what scientists and visitors can do to help prevent the spread of invasive species
8. Time is allowed for questions and answers.
Objectives
Students will:
• Name the elements of the NPS arrowhead and describe what they represent
• List the elements of an ecosystem
• Define “decomposer”, “producer”, and “consumer”, and give an example of each in Lake Michigan
• Describe at least three ways the introduction of aquatic invasive species impacts the native web of life / ecosystem
• Describe one way botulism impacts the ecosystem
• Name three ways SLBE is dealing with invasive aquatic species
Standards Alignment
National Standards
LS2A 3-5 -- Interdependent relationships in ecosystems
LS4D 3-5 -- Biodiversity and humans3-LS4-3
3-LS4.D
4-ESS2.E
5-LS2.A