Traveling Trunk Adventure
Bring an adventure into your classroom!
Dive into Environmental Learning
Aquatic invasive species pose a real threat to our lakes and wetlands — without natural predators, they often displace native species and negatively impact recreation, water quality, pollutant cycling, and habitat.
Teachers and their students can play an important role in helping our environment by learning about aquatic invasive species and how to stop them from spreading.
Choose from two different Traveling Trunk Adventures:
Exotic Aquatics — for ages 9 to adult
Get up close and personal with exotic aquatic animals and plants! Your students will have fun learning about and touching zebra mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil, sea lamprey, purple loosestrife, and Eurasian ruffe — all invaders that are in the news and may be in a lake or wetland near you.
What’s in the Trunk?
- 9-lesson curriculum — developed in cooperation with University of Minnesota researchers and state environmental agencies — integrates math, social studies, geography, language arts, and other subjects
- Museum-quality preserved specimens of zebra mussels, Eurasian ruffe, purple loosestrife, Eurasian watermilfoil, and spiny waterfleas
- A realistic rubber sea lamprey
- Imitation rusty crayfish
- Models of native clams
- Books
- Maps
- Posters
- Magnifying glasses
- An award-winning video produced by the Minnesota DNR
How much does it cost to rent?
- $40 for a ten-day period if shipped outside the Duluth-Superior area. Cost does not include return shipping.
- $15 for a ten-day period if you pick it up.
Contact:
- Doug Jensen
- (218) 726-8712
- djensen1@umn.edu
Exotic Aquatics Lending Centers
Michigan
- Isle Royale National Park
- Houghton (906) 482-0984
- Michigan Sea Grant College Program
- East Lansing (517) 353-9748
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- Empire (231) 326-5134 ext. 330
Minnesota
- Minnesota Sea Grant Program
- Duluth (218) 726-8712
- University of Minnesota
- Bell Museum of Natural History
- Minneapolis (612) 626-2299
- Yoyageurs National Park
- International Falls (218) 283-9107 ext. 6163
Wisconsin
- St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
- St. Croix Falls (320) 629-2148
- Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
- Green Bay (920) 683-4697
Zebra Mussel Mania — for ages 8 to 14
Learn all about zebra mussels and other invasive species with this award-winning science kit and curriculum. Zebra mussels, which invaded North American in 1998, have caused serious economic and environmental problems. They spread rapidly from the Great Lakes region in to many inland waterways and are found in 23 states.
Zebra Mussel Mania includes experiments, role-playing games, stories, and other hands-on activities. This Traveling Trunk, which meets National Science Education Standards, will help you teach kids about a wide range of problems associated with zebra mussels and other invaders. Students will learn through inquiry and discovery while understanding how to become involved in community action projects that will help prevent the spread of zebra mussels.
What’s in the Trunk?
- A teacher-friendly curriculum guide with 10 activities that integrate science with mate, social studies, geography, language arts, and other subjects
- Student activity sheets
- Zebra mussel shells
- Native mussel shells
- 4 video programs
- Posters
- Shell classification guide (dichotomous key)
- Web of Life ecology game
- Pre- and post-tests
- A teacher resource portfolio filled with background reading
Contact:
- Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
- (217) 333-9448
- www.iisgcp.org/edk-12/mania/mania.htm
Zebra Mussel Mania Lending Centers
California
- UC Sea Grant Extension
- San Bruno (510) 219-9125
Connecticut
- Maritime Aquarium
- Norwalk (203) 852-0700
Illinois
- Children’s Discovery Museum
- Normal (309) 433-3444
- National Great Rivers Museum
- Alton (618) 462-9676 ext. 7807
- Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
- Chicago (773) 755-5100 ext. 3047
- Southern Illinois University
- Office of Science & Mathematics Education
- Edwardsville (618) 650-2149
- University of Illinois Extension
- Grundy County (815) 942-2725
- Orpheum Children’s Science Museum
- Champaign (217) 352-5895
Indiana
- 4-H Youth Development
- Purdue University
- W. Lafayette (765) 494-8433
- Great Lakes Research & Education Center
- Indiana Dunes in Porter (219) 929-1707
- Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District
- Crown Point (219) 663-0588 ext. 3
- Project WILD
- Natural Resources Ed Center
- Indianapolis (317) 547-3104
Louisiana
- Louisiana Sea Grant
- Baton Rouge (225) 578-1558
Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant College Program
- Cambridge (617) 253-9308
Michigan
- Belle Isle Nature Zoo
- Detroit Zoological Institute
- Royal Oak (313) 852-4056 ext. 202
- MSU Extension - Michigan Sea Grant
- Ann Arbor (734) 764-1118
Minnesota
- Great Lakes Aquarium
- Duluth (218) 740-2007
- Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Bloomington (952) 858-0731
New York
- Finger Lakes Institute Geneva
- Geneva (315) 781-4380
- National Aquatic Species Clearinghouse
- Brockport (585) 395-2516
- New York Sea Grant Institute
- Buffalo (716) 645-2088
Ohio
- Lake Erie Nature and Science Center
- Bay Village (440) 871-2900 ext. 202
Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania Sea Grant
- Chester (814) 898-6421
Texas
- San Antonio Zoo
- San Antonio (210) 734-7184 ext. 1505
Vermont
- ECHO — The Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
- Burlington (802) 864-1848
West Virginia
- Oglebay Zoo
- Wheeling (304) 243-4033
Wisconsin
- Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve
- Appleton (920) 731-6041
- Heckrodt Wetland Reserve
- Menasha (920) 720-9349
- Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education
- Stevens Point (715) 346-4950
- Disovery World
- Milwaukee (414) 347-1489
Canada
- Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters
- Peterborough, Ontario (705) 748-6324 ext. 238
Doug Jensen
