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Teacher Page		Oral Presentation Tips
Search Engines		PowerPoint Help
Research Page		Wetlands
Louisiana		Geography

You have been subpoenaed by the by the State of Louisiana to act as an expert witness in the case of ‘The People of Louisiana versus Nathan Nutria et al.’. As an expert witness, you will be asked to give testimony that will aid the judge in coming up with a ruling. Remember, the judge needs your expert opinion to make a fair and unbiased ruling.

The task calls for you to do research on the nutria. You will be assigned a role and create an argument for or against the nutria. These roles are: trapper, historian, animal rights advocate, nutria (Nathan/Nadine Nutria), and environmentalist.

Using the information found from your research, you will complete the following items:

1. Create a PowerPoint presentation of your findings;
2. Use a word processor (i.e. MS Word/Works) to write persuasive argument to support you research;
3. As a group you will come together and participate in a mock trial. Each member of the group will make a presentation of his/her findings.

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Animal Rights Activist Team—

Your team is sensitive to the needs of all animals and you pride yourself in protecting every creature…big and small. You feel the nutria has a right to co-exist in the bayou and you feel that the nutrias are victims of bad media press and social misunderstandings. Counsel has chosen your team to be expert witnesses for the defendant. Your job is to gather enough information from selected web resources to present an oral argument and PowerPoint presentation for the defense of Mr. And Mrs. Nathan Nutria. Your counsel has provided guidance questions to assist you in building a rock solid argument.

Your team’s Objectives:

• Investigate the nutria’s lifestyle
• Compare and contrast the various ways nutrias are trapped.
• Find demonstrations of nutria co-existing peacefully
• Investigate the profit rate of the fur industry

Open the guidance questions worksheet and begin reviewing the following sites.

Guidance Questions Worksheet

www.nutria.com

www.cancrueltraps.com/New/FurTradeToday030513.htm

www.wildlifedamagecontrol.com/animaluse/trapresearch/animaldamage/nutria.htm

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Environmentalist Team—

Conservation of the Louisiana Wetlands is your team’s career. Your focus is the amount of coastal land loss (due to the rodents) and the nutria’s inescapable non-native diet. Counsel has chosen your team to be expert witnesses for the Plaintiff. Your job is to gather enough information from selected web resources to present an oral argument and PowerPoint presentation for the conviction of Mr. And Mrs. Nathan Nutria. Your counsel has provided guidance questions to assist you in building a rock solid argument.

Your team’s Objective:

• Collect data for wetland land loss
• Study the nutria’s diet.
• Make predictions about future erosion.
• Investigate the effects of land loss on people and other animals.

Open the guidance questions worksheet and begin reviewing the following sites.

Guidance Questions Worksheet

www.nutria.com

www.iisgcp.org/EXOTICSP/nutria.htm

www.nwrc.usgs.gov/special/landloss.htm

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Trapper Team—

You earn your living as fur trappers and now the state of Louisiana has called upon your expertise in eradicating the bayous from the damaging population of nutria. Your business is a regulated establishment that brings profit to the state and delicate meat to the table. Counsel has chosen your team to be expert witnesses for the Plaintiff. Your job is to gather enough information from selected web resources to present an oral argument and PowerPoint presentation for the conviction of Mr. And Mrs. Nathan Nutria. Your counsel has provided guidance questions to assist you in building a rock solid argument.

Your team’s Objectives:

• Document the history of the Louisiana trapping industry.
• Find the economic value of trapping nutria.
• Investigate the preparation of nutria fur and meat.
• List the various ways nutria are trapped.

Open the guidance questions worksheet and begin reviewing the following sites.

Guidance Questions Worksheet

www.nutria.com

www.american.edu/TED/NUTRIA.HTM

www.southerner.net/v3n1_2002/nutria1.html

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Historian Team--

You are very knowledgeable about the nutria’s journey from Argentina to the bayou, and every place in-between. You have the facts about their interaction with people throughout the years.

Counsel has chosen your team to be expert witnesses for the Plaintiff and for the Defendant. Your job is to gather enough information from selected web resources to present an oral argument and PowerPoint presentation for the in support of both parties. Your counsel has provided guidance questions to assist you in building a rock solid argument.

Your team’s Objectives:

• Indicate scientific name of the nutria.
• Research the ‘homeland’ of the nutria.
• Map the route traveled by the nutria from its homeland to Louisiana.
• Compare/contrast the environments of Louisiana and the homeland of the nutria.
• Determine the impact of the presence of the nutria to the Louisiana environment since the 1940’s.

Open the guidance questions worksheet and begin reviewing the following sites.

Guidance Questions Worksheet

www.indo.com/distance/

www.southerner.netv3n1_2002/nutria

www.yahoo.com/maps

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Nathan Nutria, etal.

Open the guidance questions worksheet and begin reviewing the following sites.

Guidance Questions Worksheet

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/7720/nutria.html

http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/walkers_mammals_of_the_world/rodentia.capromyiadae.myocastor.html

http://nis.gsmfc.org/nis_factsheet.php?toc_id=213

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Well the time has come. You will be testifying in a court of law. YOUR TESTIMONY IS IMPORTANT!! Remember that your testimony will help the judge come to a decision. A rubric will be used to assess you testimony (See rubric for categories). You will be graded on both the Oral and PowerPoint presentations. Good luck, the fate of the South Louisiana is in your hands.

Project Rubric           Oral Argument Rubric

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Congratulation, you have just completed your WebQuest. Now that you are finished, you should have an opinion about the nutria. Think about the following questions and discuss them with your partners.

1. Does man have a right to introduce a foreign species into alien environment? What are the consequences? What are the benefits?
2. Once a foreign species is introduced into the alien environment, what can be done to contain it? Will the solution be more damaging that the problem?
3. Who is responsible for damage done by a foreign species? Can anything be done to rectify the situation?
4. Does government have the right to regulate a person's way of life in order to protect the environment?
5. Are there any areas around you where the government stepped in to protect the environment? What were the consequences? Who was helped and who was hurt by this intervention?

All of these are important questions that affect your life today. Hopefully you learned something from the WebQuest and will be encouraged to go out and use what you learned to make a difference.

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