Snakehead fish released into local pond.

Snakehead fish

Lose 1 eco-token.

Feral pig

Found rock snot on boat, but cleaned it before leaving the lake. Earn 1 eco-token.

Ask the player on your right one question, if they get it wrong they s, they give you 1 eco-token.

Went camping & took firewood from home to the woods. Could spread bad bugs.

Lose 2 eco-token.

Start

Finish

You came back from vacation with some plant seeds stuck in your shoes.

Lose 1 eco-token.

Answer a question.

If you get it right, Earn 1 eco-token.

If you get it wrong,

Lose 1 eco-token.

Japanese beetle

Fell asleep in the boat – got sun burned.

Lose a turn.

Ouch.

Watched the OPB video “Silent Invasion”

Earn 1 eco-token.

Caught mitten crab in Oregon and called the Invasive Species Council.

Earn 1 eco-token

Got goatgrass seeds on your tractor, but you washed it off before you went to another field.

Earn 1 eco-token

Planted native plants in your yard.

Earn 1 eco-token.

Called Oregon Council on Invasive Species when you saw sickly alders.

Earn 1 eco-token.

Brought plants home from visiting cousins where they have Japanese beetle.

Lose 1 eco-token.

Volunteered to help plant native plants around your school.

Earn 1 eco-token.

Answer question.

If you get it right, Earn 1 eco-token.

If you get it wrong,

Lose 1 eco-token.

Giant hogweed

Knocked over bait bucket, golden shiner escaped into the lake.

Golden shiner

Lose 1 eco-token.

Lose 1 eco-token

Studied live rusty crayfish in class, didn’t release them gave to another class to study.

Earn 2 eco-tokens

Ask each player 1 question, if they get it right, you each earn 1 eco-token. If they get it wrong, they lose 1 eco-token.

Feral pigs escape from illegal breeding farm.

Lose 2 eco-tokens

Volunteered to help plant native plants in a wetland.

Earn 2 eco-token

Found giant hogweed growing near the pond in the neighborhood.

Reported it.

Earn 1 eco-token.

Mitten crab

Eastern snapping turtle

Dead man’s fingers

Fell in the bay, got dead man’s fingers on your boots and forgot to wash them out.

Lose 1 eco-token

Stopped little brother from dumping aquarium in the pond!

Earn 1 eco-token

Caught a mitten crab and reported it to the Oregon Invasives Coumcil.

Earn 1 eco-token

Went off the trail without a compass, got lost.

Lose a turn.

Went duck- hunting with your dog & cleaned him off before you came home. Earn 1 eco-token.

Answer question.

If you get it right, Earn 1 eco-token.

If you’re wrong,

Lose 1 eco-token.

The Eastern snapping turtle you brought home from vacation escaped

Lose 1 eco-token.

Went through boat inspection and cleaning station.

Earn 1 eco-token.

Game Instructions

This is a simple game intended to help kids learn about invasive species and how to prevent them from being introduced into our environments. Of course, playing the game is expected to come after introducing the basic ideas to the class.

Requirements:

· Printout of the “board” – all four pages

· Tape for taping it together (optional)

· 1 standard die

· Supply of eco-tokens – they can be pennies, golf tees, Monopoly money, etc.

· each player will need 10 or 15 to start the game

· Earned tokens will be given from this supply

· Game piece for each player – any small object to be used as a place marker on the board.

· List of questions, included in this file.

· Create your own questions if you like.

· Can ask students to create questions of their own.

Instructions:

Each player starts with 30 tokens.

A player rolls the die and counts that many spaces on the board and follows the instructions from the square they land on.

Many squares outline a potential scenario for preventing or allowing an invasive species into the ecosystem. Tokens are earned for prevention behavior and lost for introduction behavior.

Some squares refer to a question list, which is provided on a separate page. (These questions could be printed on paper “cards” and cut out and used to draw from, instead of read off the list.) If the player answers correctly they earn tokens, if not they lose tokens.

The winner of the game is the one with the most tokens when the game is over.

There is also an information/data sheet included for each species referenced on the game. That is where the answers can be found for the quiz questions.

Game Questions

1. Is it a good idea to dump a bait buckets in the lake when we’re done fishing?

Answer: No

2. When we visit a lake, what should we do to our equipment before we leave?

Answer: Wash all the algae, plants, mud, and sand from our water equipment before we go.

3. If you pulled an invasive kelp onto your boat, should you throw it back in?

Answer: No.

4. If you travel to go camping, should you bring home leftover firewood?

Answer: No, it could bring invasive beetles with it.

5. What is wrong with felt bottom on waders?

Answer: The felt can pick up critters from the and can’t be washed out. Rubber bottoms are better.

6. Is it safe to flush dead goldfish down the toilet?

Answer: No, could spread disease or algae.

7. How can mitten crabs cross the ocean to get here?

Answer: In ballast water in big ships.

8. How can you tell a crawdad is a rusty crayfish?

Answer: It has rust-colored spots on its side, just above the tail.

9. How much water does it take to transfer rock snot from one lake to a new lake?

Answer: Only one drop.

10. Is it okay to drain your aquarium water onto your lawn?

Answer: No, tiny plants or disease organisms could be washed into the streams in the next rain.

11. What should you do if you find an invasive species?

Answer: Report it to the Oregon Invasive Species Council.

12. Should people plant Giant hogweed in their yard?

Answer: No.

13. Do Eastern snapping turtles make good pets?

Answer: No, and don’t let them go in the wild either.

14. Can aquarium plants grow from just a tiny piece of leaf or root?

Answer: Yes, so we should be careful with old aquarium water.

15. Is it a good idea to wash your boat when you take it out of a lake, before you go to a different lake?

Answer: Yes.

16. Rusty crayfish are fun to study in class, should you let them go in stream when you’re done?

Answer: No way.

17. Can fish diseases be passed to new places by not cleaning fishing gear, boats, skis, etc?

Answer: Yes.

18. How could snakehead fish cause problems if they got loose in local waterways?

Answer: They eat baby native fish, native frogs, could be very bad news.

19. What does Dead man’s fingers invade?

Answer: Shellfish beds.

20. What harm to Japanese beetles cause?

Answer: They feed on roots and leaves of plants, make lawns look really bad.