Hiaasen Literary Cafe: Florida Everglades - Environmental Issues

Directions For This ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Cafe Station:

Carl Hiaasen is the author of many adult and children’s novels set in the Florida Everglades.  At this café station, you will learn about the environmental issues in the Everglades and what is being done to preserve the Everglades.

Work in pairs and follow these directions to search and find information about the environmental issues in the Everglades.  

Directions:
1.  Scroll down and follow the directions in the Research Resources box to search the databases for information about the 3 main environmental issues in the Florida Everglades:

• invasive (or exotic) species
• chemicals/water pollution
• habitat loss 
  You are choosing ONE of these issues to research and read about.

2. Answer the questions and complete the Postcard Activity on your handout.

Vocabulary

Biodiversity also called biological diversity refers to the variety of life found in a particular region or area on Earth. A common measure of biodiversity is the number of species in an area and the genetic variety of each species.

Ecosystem - a community of animals interacting with their environment.

Research Resources: Researching With the Databases

1. Choose ONE of these specific environmental issues to learn more about and follow the directions to find a database article/video on that issue.

A. INVASIVE SPECIES:   
Watch a video and read an article about invasive species in the Everglades from the DATABASE:  GALE In Context - Middle School.

• Search the database using the link above with the keywords Florida Everglades. 

• In the FILTER YOUR RESULTS section on the right of the screen, click on Content Level button, select Level 3 and click Apply.

• Scroll to the Videos section and watch the first video, Species Extinction and Exotic Species (2:23 minutes).
• Go back to the Results page and scroll down to the Magazines section and select the article, Monster snake invasion: giant Burmese pythons like this one are taking over parts of Florida
• Browse this article and save this article to your Google Drive by clicking on the Google Drive icon 
• Answer the questions on your handout and then create a Save the Everglades poster using the directions on the bottom of your handout.

____________________________________________________________________________

B. CHEMICALS/WATER POLLUTION:

Locate and read an article describing the water issues in the Everglades from the DATABASE:  GALE in Context - Science

• Search the GALE In Context-Science database using the link above with the keywords Florida Everglades. 
• On the Results page, scroll down and view the Magazine articles by clicking on the heading Magazines.  In the FILTER YOUR RESULTS section on the right of the screen, select Content Level and then Level 3.  Click on the Apply button.
• Find and browse the article, Restoring the Everglades: A Major Effort is Under Way to Heal Florida's "River of Grass". 
• Save this article to your Google Drive by clicking on the Google Drive icon 
• Answer the questions on your handout and then create a Save the Everglades poster using the directions on the bottom of your handout.

_____________________________________________________________________________

C. HABITAT LOSS: 

Read an article about Habitat loss from the DATABASE: GALE In Context - Middle School

• Search the database Research in Context using the link above with the keywords Florida Everglades habitat loss. 
• On the Results screen, scroll down and view the reference articles by clicking on the heading Reference. 
•  Find and read the article titled Habitat Loss. 
• Save this article to your Google Drive by clicking on the Google Drive icon 
• Answer the questions on your handout and then create a Save the Everglades poster using the directions on the bottom of your handout.