Invading Invasives - Activities

What's an Invasive Species?

Non-native or invasive species are plants and animals that are brought into an ecosystem from somewhere else.
Invasive species can change food webs. They usually don't have any predators and outcompete other species for nutrients.

Watch the video below to learn about an invasive species in the Great Lakes...
The Sea Lamprey

Video Discussion Questions

1. How were sea lamprey originally kept out of the Great Lakes?
2. Why are sea lamprey a concern in the Great Lakes?

Activity 1

Sea Lamprey Photo Gallery

Sea lamprey are not like other fish in the Great Lakes. They are part of an ancient family of jawless fish that existed before dinosaurs.
Sea lamprey are like sharks or your ears. Their bodies are made out of cartilage.
Search through the photo gallery for information to answer the questions below. With this information you will be able to identify sea lamprey.

1. Why do sea lamprey have teeth?
2. What do you think the teeth feel like?
3. Do you think sea lamprey will latch on to humans?
4. How long does it take for the larva to become adult lamprey?
5. How many eggs can a sea lamprey lay at once?

Alternative Activity

Sea Lamprey Freeze Tag

Activity Objective: Interactively learn about how difficult it is to get rid of sea lamprey. Uses the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

1. This activity needs to take place in a large space, either outside or in a gym or similar space.
2. Depending on group size pick one or more students to be "sea lamprey." This is the tagger role.
3. All other students are "fish" in the lake.
4. Once the "sea lamprey" tags a "fish," the "fish" is frozen.
5. One all, or most of the fish are frozen, the game ends.
6. Play one more round, but now choose a few students to be "scientists." These players can tag frozen students to bring them back into the game. "Scientists can also tag "sea lamprey" to remove them from the game.
7. Following this game have a short discussion with students on the following or similar questions"
   • Were you surprised with how fast fish were frozen in the first game?
   • How different was the speed of the games? Did the "scientists" make it easier or harder for the "sea lamprey"?
   • Based on this activity, do you think invasive species are hard to stop?