I love this text for teaching balance in ecosystems. It is all about how organisms enter ecosystems and disrupt the balance. Sometimes the invasion was intentional and sometimes it was accidental. For example, it explains how fire ants arrived in Mobile, Alabama in the late 1930s from South America by cargo ship. The book shows their destruction through pictures and words.
After introducing the book to the class, I hand out copied pages from this book for students to partner read. This organizer works very well with the text. Students fill it out while they are reading.
This book is also great for reviewing cause and effect. The text is very clear about how the "invasions" affected the natural balance of the ecosystems. I created a graphic organizer for cause and effect. You can easily use the organizer with this book or any other mentor text that has a cause and effect structure.
You can download both of these form on a Google Doc by clicking on the pink button below.
Another option for using this book would be to have students research solutions to the problems being caused. I may use that as an optional end of the year activity. My students this year love using the Chrome Books for research!
If you teach ecosystems or a unit on informational reading, I highly recommend this book. It is well-organized, full of great information & illustrations, and highly engaging for our young readers.
Thank you and have a great week!
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