Welcome to the West Coast Sea Grant Extension WISE Program Community Showcase! This is where we post the many different kinds of invasive species projects that were developed by creative teachers and students that participate in the WISE Program, including lesson plans, power points, public outreach materials, stewardship projects, and most recently comic strips.
Many of the projects on this site were created with guidance from our curriculum: Aquatic Invasions! A Menace to the West. This curriculum offers a set of fun, challenging, and inspiring lessons and activities that build on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) principles and are designed to help kids understand what invasive species are, how they affect the environment, and what we can all do about them. The toolkit contains lesson plans, a species resource guide and a species activity guide which all highlight aquatic invasive species that are relevant for students on the west coast, including California, Washington, and Oregon.
We hope the examples here will be helpful in developing an invasive species unit in your classroom, raising awareness in your community, or to simply be inspired by outstanding student projects! Browse through the student projects and lesson plans by clicking on the list in the column to your right. We encourage teachers to use this website as a forum of discussion to share ideas and class projects as well as ask for advice on future lessons.
You are also invited to share your experiences! Have you also integrated a learning extension about invasive species into your classroom activities? Have you also been faced with the dilemma of what to do with un-wanted classroom plants and animals? Please tell us your story on the Discussion Board so that we all may learn and benefit from each others experiences.
For more information about the WISE Program or to share feedback about a recent class project involving live plants and animals or invasive species, please contact us at WISE_seagrant@oregonstate.edu
Invasive Species 101 
As an avid sportsman who enjoys fishing, I would like to see the names and or location on the streams where invasive crayfish have been discovered. Personally, I would fish for them and try to minimize their impact by selective harvesting especially egg carrying crayfish which DFW is currently requiring a fisherman/harvestor to return the egg-carrying crayfish to the waters from which it was taken.
Hi Albert,
Thanks for your comment. You make a great point, people who harvest crayfish, if properly trained on ID, could selectively remove the females with eggs from the invasive ones. You can find our crayfish ID guide that was recently developed, along with other resources here: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2011/october/102111.asp