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Choose your Weapon

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Students investigate and choose a biocontrol agent for a fictitious weed.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Explain how scientists find potential biocontrol agents.
  • List 4 criteria for choosing biocontrol agents.
  • Explain why careful selection of biocontrol agents is important.

Suggested prior lessons

  • What is a weed?
  • Cultivating weeds

Curriculum Connections

Science, levels 2-6

Vocabulary/Concepts

Biocontrol, biological control, biocontrol agent, ecology, organism, family, genus, parasitic, endangered, endemic, native

Time

1 – 1 ½ hours

Materials

  • copies of The Scenario, Rules for Selecting Biocontrol Agents, Biocontrol agent clue cards, and Choose Your Weapon record sheet
  • Video — Heather Beetle: a born killer