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CIPM | K-12 | Adult Education | Reading List
CIPM Products / Projects
- E-learning website developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and CIPM,for National Wildlife Refuge volunteers and Friends groups. Five self-study modules cover the Refuge System, the role of volunteers in invasive plant management, how refuges manage invasive plants, and tips for community outreach. Modules include quiz and web-based resources for further learning.
- The CIPM Invasive Plant Resource Guide is an online reference to materials for supporting invasive plant management and education. For each item referenced, a description is provided, as well as source information. Most items are available at no cost.
- Information to Action: Teaching Ecological IPM for Invasive Plants in Natural Areas. Teaching adult learners about invasive plants in natural areas was the focus of a discussion at the 5th National Integrated Pest Management Symposium, April 4-6, 2006, in St. Louis, MO.
- The Learning Library is a collection of online learning products developed by the Center for Invasive Plant Management in collaboration with government agencies, universities, and organizations. Also in this collection are presentations from CIPM sponsored conferences in multimedia, audio, or PowerPoint formats.
- Textbook for land managers
- See our Grants page for information on environmental education grants.
- If you have suggestions on links that you would like added to our page or resources that you need, please contact us at 406-994-7551 or email mmcfadzen@montana.edu.
Educator Resources
Resources | Science Fair Projects | K-12 Teaching Resources
 Photo provided by Teton County, WY, Weed and Pest District. |
Western Weed Resource Catalog Image Galleries Find and download images of invasive and native plants. Publications and Products Find CIPM materials and props for education and outreach programs. |
K-12 Teaching Resources
Actionbioscience.org provides a lesson to accompany the article Introduced Species: The Threat to Biodiversity & What Can Be Done (Dec. 2000) by Daniel Simberloff, University of Tennessee.
The National Ag in the Classroom web site has a tremendous teaching resource directory, with science fair projects and much more.
Alien Invasions: Examining Invasive Plant Species in Your Community. A one-hour lesson plan for grades 6-12 that adds a global and social perspective to the problem of invasive species. From the New York Times Learning Network.
"Alien Invasions - Plants on the Move" weed curriculum for grades K-12. Developed by BLM staff and a host of experts; pilot tested in schools throughout Oregon and now is ready to go. For K-12 educators, or nformation for organizational education/outreach activities, http://www.weedinvasion.org/weeds/weed_home.php
Aliens in Your Neighborhood — An Introduction to the National Parks Invasive Weeds Curriculum. A middle school invasive weeds curriculum, adaptable to other levels. Covers ecosystems, plants, invasion and spread, impacts, controls, classification, teacher's outline, glossary, resources.
Aquatic Invasive Species Education and Outreach Materials from Portland State University—Center for Lakes and Reservoirs. A searchable inventory of AIS outreach materials available to all users with a dynamic web interface that allows registered users to input their own education and outreach materials. Materials are peer reviewed maintain a high standard for submissions.
Botany: Celebrating Wildflowers. From USDA Forest Service, with contributions from every Region, Forest, Grassland and Prairie. Includes Pollinators, Beauty of it All, Native Gardening, Just for Kids, Teacher Resources, and more.
Bug and Weed Project from Townsend, Montana, School District. User-friendly, downloadable lessons for all grade levels to help transform students into knowledgeable future land stewards. Includes Ecosysterms/Native Plants/Weeds, Weed Management, Weed I.D., Dichotomous Keys, and other topics. All the lessons (units) are matched to Montana standards to make it easy for educators to use them.
BLM'S War against Weeds in Nevada How to make a difference by getting involved, learning to identify invasive plants, and preventing their spread. Discusses financial impacts of weeds, BLM's management efforts, and more.
California Weed Education Clearinghouse of Educational Materials. A source for many education and outreach products and resources, and a place to contribute your own weed education product.
Captain Planet Foundation. The mission of the Captain Planet Foundation is to fund and support hands-on, environmental projects for children and youths. Our objective is to encourage innovative programs that empower children and youth around the world to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities.
CIPM Invasive Plant Resource Guide An online reference to materials for supporting invasive plant management and education. Topics range from national weed management strategies, to natural resources, to "working with people" skills. Each item is accompanied by a brief description and source information. Most items are available at no cost.
CIPM's Activities and Ideas for Students K-12 Eleven activities to introduce students to weed identification, invasiveness, adaptation, and seed characteristics — developed for specific age groups by education specialists at the Center for Invasive Plant Management.
Classroom Gardening Resources for Teachers, from Howtodothings.com. Many gardening projects for the classroom.
Designing the Perfect Plant: Activities to Investigate Plant Ecology. Written by MSU faculty under an NSF gratn.
Environmental Inquiry is a web site and curriculum series developed at Cornell University to help high school students conduct environmental science research. Together with the National Science Teachers Association, they publish a curriculum on Ecology of Invasive Species, with an accompanying book, Invasion Ecology.
Explore Montana's Ecosystems. K-12 education site from MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks. Teachers' Guide, Ecosystem Glossary, field toolkit, videos, and many more resources.
High-School Weed Curriculum available through Townsend, Montana, School District'sBug and Weed Project (see above). Includes Ecosysterms/Native Plants/Weeds, Weed Management, Weed I.D., Dichotomous Keys, and other topics. All the lessons (units) are matched to Montana standards to make it easy for educators to use them.
Illinois Natural History Survey site contains educational materials on insects and biological control (video, insect photo identification cards, posters).
Invasive Plants: Taking Root in Alaska, 9-12 Curriculum, from the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District. The curriculum includes a variety of modules including labs and an online mapping exercise where students can check out local maps of invasive ornamental plants in Alaska. Introuduces core concepts of invasive species biology.Ddeveloped for Kenai Peninsula science teachers but much of the material is appropriate for use statewide.
Junior Master Gardener An international (U.S. and Canada) youth gardening program of the University Cooperative Extension network. In the Operation Thistle module, middle school and junior-high students learn about plant growth and development with the invasive plant bull thistle as an example.
Montana War on Weeds will educate you about Montana State Noxious Weeds in a user-friendly, how-to series of pages packed with information, links, and pictures. The students of Whitehall High School, who researched and wrote over 90% of the site, are dedicated to Integrated Pest (Weed) Management, so any and all reasonable weed control methods are offered on the site.
Montana Weed Awareness Campaign provides education and outreach materials for weed education in Montana.
The Montana Weed Project Teachers Handbook, an interdisciplinary environmental weed education curriculum for grades 5 through 12, is available through the Missoula County Conservation District. There is a charge for mailing the curriculum.
Montana Weed Project
Missoula County Conservation District
3550 Mullan Road, Ste. 106
Missoula, Montana 59808-5125
Phone: (406) 829-3395
National Invasive Species Information Center Educational Resources General resources for students K-12; also species-specific information. Many links to invasive species websites by universities, state governments, organizations, and others. The National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC) is the gateway to invasive species information from Federal, State, local, and international sources.
NBII Teacher Resources. The National Biological Information Infrastructure offers lesson plans, curricula, and a wealth of other resources arranaged by topic.
National Science Teachers' Association: Global Environmental Change: Introduced Species (Grades: 9 - 12) is one of four books in the Global Environmental Change series, a joint project of the National Science Teachers Association and EPA. The other books in the series are Biodiversity, Deforestation, and Carrying Capacity
Plant and Fire Ecology video class Amy Ballard of the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota offers four programs to middle-school students on plant and fire ecology via video-teleconferencing. This live broadcast technology allows two-way communication between Amy, the instructor, and students from many schools simultaneously. If you are interested in bringing this program to schools in your state contact Amy Ballard at aballard@fs.fed.us or 605-343-1567.
Plants in Peril A guide to exploring biodiversity and rare native plant conservation for middle school educators. From the Center for Plant Conservation.
Posters from the Regional District of Central Okanagan (BC). A search on "weeds" leads you to posters, brochures, and other resources.
The Purple Pages website, offers a comprehensive guide focusing on wetland stewardship, habitat protection, and biological control of purple loosestrife. A secondary school activity set can be downloaded. Order the PLP Cooperator's Handbook for more info and elementary school lessons.
Pushy Plants and Alien Animals Produced by the North Carolina Museum of Natural History, this teacher's guide uses the school grounds as an invasive species teaching resource. Students K-12 use survey forms for collecting data and teachers enter it into a data form that is linked through the Internet to the Museum.
Return of the Natives is a restoration education project in the Watershed Institute of California State University-Monterey Bay. Includes A Curriculum and Online Toolbox for the Restoration of Native Plants and Eradication of Invasive Weeds and other teacher resources, calendar of educator training events, and more.
Science 4 Kids, developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, includes ideas for science fair projects and activity packets for teachers. "Bridging the gap between science, agriculture, and you."
Science NetLinks from Thinkfinity, an educational partnership that includes the AAAS, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Council on Economic Education, the National Geographic Society, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The site provides a wealth of standards-based resources for K-12 science educators.
WA Noxious Weed Control Board Education Page provides the Noxious Weed Coloring Book (pdf), handouts on invasive ornamentals, alternatives, non-invasive garden plants, and more.
Weedbuster Game from Western Australia Dept. of Agriculture Weedbuster program — students learn that weeds are not just a regional problem.
The Wisconsin Fast Plants Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers a plant growth and development curriculum for all ages with complete teaching guides covering a variety of Fast Plants topics and activities.
Science Fair Projects
An Intenet Search on Yahoo, Google, or other search engines on "science fair projects" will lead you to hundreds of sites. Some good ones are described below, with the most comprehensive ones at the top of the list.
Where to start:
IPL: The Internet Public Library. Science Fair Project Resource Guide. Produced by University of Michigan. Emphasizes understanding scientific method; assessing what makes a good project; choosing a topic. Includes many links. Some of the sites listed Under "Choosing a topic” are listed below.
Science Fair Central from Discovery Education offers a wealth of information, and suggests projects on plants and gardening, among many other topics. Soup to Nuts Handbook covers scientific method, topic and project research, a sample project, how to prepare the report and display, and presentation and evaluation.
Centreville Middle School Math/Science Fair. A terrific “how to” site, info on dealing with data, writing up the experiment, finding an idea, etc.
Other sites:
Ag Science projects from USDA Science for Kids
Ag in the Classroom Science Fair Projects
USDA/ARS Agricultural ideas for Science Fair Projects
BugInfo. Projects for those interested in insects, from the Smithsonian Institution.
Photosyntheis Science Fair Projects from Arizona State University. Includes links to many photosynthesis resources on the web.
A list of project ideas from Betsy Ross Arts Magnet Middle School, New Haven CT. Includes diagram on how to set up a display.
Science Fairs Homepage from CLLI, The Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation, Newfoundland and Labrador Dept. of Education. Includes useful links.
Science Fair Resources from CA State Science Fair. Includes links to resources by subject and What Makes a Good Science Fair Project? Guide written by judges from CA state science fair.
Adult Education Resources
E-Learning—Engaging Volunteers and the Public in Invasive Plant Issues & Management. The US Fish & Wildlife Service and CIPM announce a new e-learning website with five self-study modules aimed at engaging volunteers and the public in invasive plant issues and management.
Invasive Species Citizen Science Program The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum trains volunteers as "citizen scientists" to identify and track invaders. This volunteer program contributes invasive species data to a national database.
Land Manager Resources
CIPM provides materials and resources that land managers can use to further their knowledge of invasive plant management.
Our online textbook, Invasive Plant Management, covers topics ranging from the ecological processes involved in plant invasion to monitoring weed populations. Our reading list below offers more information on ecological principles in weed management. See also Further Reading below.
Online Materials
CIPM Publications and Products — Educational aids, Extension publications, and more.
Grass and Grass-like Weeds of California CD-ROM by Dr. Joe DiTomaso, UC Davis and the Weed Research & Information Center. This CD allows you to identify 200 weedy grasses using only plant parts visible to the naked eye. The intuitive keys offer a great way of self-tutoring on grass identification. Adaptable to other states as well. $30.00 + $3.00 shipping + CA tax.
Interactive weed ID databases on CD-ROM available from XID Services, Inc., $49.95 plus shipping. Two CDs available:
— Pacific Northwest Illustrated CD, with over 600 weed images
— 1,000 Weeds of North America Illustrated CD
The National Invasive Species Information Center is the gateway to invasive species information covering Federal, State, local, and international sources, and the Web site for the National Invasive Species Council, which coordinates Federal responses to invasive species.
The National Biological Information Infrastructure is a great source for biological information about invasive species, biodiversity, and much more.
Radcliffe's IPM World Textbook — The University of Minnesota's electronic textbook of Integrated Pest Management with contributed chapters, continually updated. Site includes IPM and biocontrol links.
Western Weed Resource Catalog — CIPM's searchable online catalog containing over 1000 items such as fact sheets, University Extension Service publications, handbooks, and much more.
Further Reading
Books and Journals
Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States. Covers ecology, safety testing, nontarget impacts, and the processes of identifying, introducing, distributing, and monitoring biological control agents. Describes 39 target plants and 94 agents, including their origin, biology, habitat, impacts, and distribution.
Biological Invasions — A journal publishing research papers on the patterns and processes of biological invasions in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
Control of Invasive Species from Transportation Research Board: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). Covers efforts of state departments of transportation to control invasive species, successful practices and lessons learned, Integrated (Roadside) Vegetation Management, along with physical, chemical, biological, and cultural control mechanisms.
Ecology of Weeds and Invasive Plants: Relationship to Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, 3rd Edition; Radosevich, Holt, and Ghersa, August 2007. The classic reference on weeds and invasive plants, revised and updated.
Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest, P. D. Boersma, S. H. Reichard, A. N. Van Buren, eds.), University of Washington Press, 2006, paperback, $29.95. Describes 108 invasive species of fish, plants, invertebrates, mammals, and birds, with photos, maps, life history, impacts, control methods, and more.
Weeds of California and Other Western States (Tomaso&Healy), 2 vol, 1900 pages. Most complete book on weed ID ever produced in the US; 750 species, 3000 color photos, detailed morphology and biology. Includes CD with all photos, copyright- free for educational use. $100 + tax and shipping.
Weeds of the West— A full-color, easy-to-use guide with over 900 color photographs showing the early growth stages, mature plants and features for positive identification of each weed discussed. Includes descriptions, habitats and characteristics of important weed species in the Western United States. Written by seven Extension Specialists and published by the Western Society of Weed Science. Widely available.
Western Wetland Flora — 300 species, photos, distribution maps, illustrated glossary of plant terms. USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.
Publishers and Booksellers
American Botanist Booksellers specializes in out-of-print books on agriculture, horticulture, olericulture (vegetable growing) and their history. Search on "weeds" for an interesting variety of publications, including out-of-print extension publications.
Apollo Books specializes in entomology, but includes field guides and natural history books on many topic froms publishers worldwide.
CRC Press, publishers on scientific and technical topics, including environmental science.
CSIRO Publishing Australian publisher of books, journals, multimedia on natural and biological sciences, including pest and weed control.
Flora & Fauna Books A Seattle bookstore and online service with new, hard-to-find, out-of-print and rare books on the life sciences, including gardening, botany, ornithology, mammals, insects, herpetology and more. A keyword search on "weeds" or "invasive" yields many interesting titles.
Island Press publishes approximately 40 new titles per year on topics ranging from biodiversity and land use to forest management, agriculture, marine science, climate change, and energy. A few titles of interest are Alien Species and Evolution, Nature out of Place, and Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers, and Citizens
Sinauer Associates, Inc., publishers of college-level textbooks in biology, psychology, and neuroscience.
Timber Press is a Portland, Oregon, publisher of books about gardening, horticulture, botany, natural history, and the Pacific Northwest. Search on "native plants" for many books on gardening with natives.
University of Nebraska Press publishes North American Wildland Plants: A Field Guide, covering 200 of the most important wildland plants of North America and designed for a general audience as well as natural resource professionals.
Weed Science Society of America Books can be ordered from the website.
- Invasive Plants of Range and Wildlands and Their Environmental, Economic, and Societal Impacts Provides comprehensive information on the acreage infested, rate of spread and damage caused by sixteen important invasive plant species. Order from the Weed Science Society of America website; click on "book" in left panel.
- Interactive Encyclopedia of North American Weeds, 3rd Edition. Features 85 additional weed species, revised distribution maps that include Canada and Alaska, an expanded illustrated glossary of 565 botanical terms, and updated common and scientific names.
Selected reading on ecology and weed management
- Booth, B. D., S. D. Murphy, and C. J. Swanton. 2003. Weed ecology in natural and agricultural systems. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK.
Explains ecological principles essential to understanding how weeds function in the environment. Emphasizes why weed management strategies within an IWM approach should be based on ecological knowledge. For readers with an understanding of basic biology. - Luken, J. O., and J. W. Thieret. 1997. Assessment and management of plant invasions. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Places the issue of nonindigenous plant invasion in a broader ecological context that includes human activity in managing natural resources, designing regulations, and dispersing organisms. Discusses pre-invasion ecological interactions as well as post-invasion management interactions. - McPherson, G. R., and S. DeStefano. 2003. Applied ecology and natural resource management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Provides practical guidelines for integrating applied ecology with natural resource management. Focuses on plant ecology as a foundation for management; describes how concepts and approaches used by ecologists to study communities and ecosystems can be applied to management.
- Radosevich, S., J. Holt, and C. Ghersa. 1997. Weed ecology: Implications for management, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
Focuses on interactive features of weeds, especially as they occur in agriculture, forest, and rangeland situations. By considering weeds foremost as plants and by relying on the concepts of plant ecology, the authors hope to provide a better understanding of weeds that will lead to better crop and weed management. - Sheley, R. L., T. J. Svejcar, and B. D. Maxwell. 1996. A theoretical framework for developing successional weed management strategies on rangeland. Weed Technology 10: 766-773.
Provides the mechanistic framework necessary for developing successional weed management systems that shift plant communities to a desired state.
