AMERICA’S
MOST WANTED:
The Burmese Python
An Invasive Species in the Florida Everglades
Grade 5 -- by Mr. Higuera
Burmese Pythons
What is an Invasive Species?
An Alien or Invasive species is an animal or plant from a different place that is now living and reproducing in a new place. The invasive is causing problems in some way. It could be disrupting the ecosystem or causing some sort of economic problems for people.
The Burmese Python
The Burmese Python is native to Southeast Asia. Some of the countries it lives in are Cambodia, China, Thailand, India, and Nepal.
Where it is Invasive?
The Burmese Pythons have invaded the Everglades in Florida (highlighted above at the southern tip of Florida). How they got there no one knows for sure, but there are many theories.
How did they get to the Everglades?
Southeast Asia is a long ways from the Everglades and no one really knows how the pythons entered the ecosystem. One theory is that some pet owners had pythons and the pets got too big. When this happened the owners let the pythons go in the Everglades. Another idea is that Hurricane Andrew helped spread the snakes into the wild. There were many exotic pet stores in and around Florida in 1992. When Andrew slammed into the coast and caused damage to these stores, the snakes may have got out and found their way to the Everglades. However they got there, the pythons are there to stay now. They are reproducing quickly and spreading. Some estimates say there are well over 100,000 pythons in the Everglades now!
Pythons WANTED: DEAD or ALIVE
Read About it Yourself
Check out the link below and read some more info from National Geographic about the Burmese Python in the Everglades.
Click above for article
Pythons in the Everglades
Quiz Question 1
Invasive species cause problems to ecosystems or cause problems economically for people.
TRUE!
FALSE!
Quiz Question 2
Burmese Pythons are from Eastern Europe.
TRUE!
FALSE!
Quiz Question 3
Humans know exactly how pythons got to the Everglades.
TRUE!
FALSE!
Quiz Question 4
Burmese Pythons are causing most or all small mammal populations to decline in the Everglades.
TRUE!
FALSE!
Quiz Question 5
People are trying to control the Burmese Python population in the Everglades because they are creating so many problems for the ecosystem.
TRUE!
FALSE!
Bibliography
Slide 1 Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_pythons_in_Florida
Slide 4 Map: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Python_bivittatus_Area.svg
Slide 5 Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Everglades_ecoregion.jpg
Slide 6 Image: Image from: "Python molurus тигровый питон" by Mariluna. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Python_molurus_%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD.jpg#/media/File:Python_molurus_%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD.jpg
Slide 7 Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Mink.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Curious_Raccoon.jpg
Slide 9: Video, Youtube, Invading the Everglades, Nicholas Righi, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hkmCCRcz_0
General Information for Slides from: http://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/nature/burmesepythonsintro.htm
http://time.com/3752598/burmese-pythons-taking-over-everglades/
CORRECT!
Sorry, you are incorrect.
Required Design Guidelines
Required Screens
EXTRA CREDIT -- Make a True / False Quiz or a Cool Facts Page
Possible Invasive Species to Study in North America
The Standards
CCSS.ELA SL.5.5 I
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer's purpose.
Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
The Standards Continued
Science Next Generation Grade 5
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.