Lesson Plan

National Park Legacy - Santa Monica Mountain Lions
Grades 9 - 12

A before and after image of a mountain lion what was exposed to rodenticides.
Grade Level:
High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Subject:
Literacy and Language Arts,Math,Science,Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
90 Minutes
State Standards:
6-HS-LS4
6-MS- LS4
6-ESS3.4
Thinking Skills:
Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.

Essential Question

What are the challenges to the survival of mountain lions living within an urban-wildland interface and how are humans working to protect or causing harm to this species?

Objective

Students will analyze the effects of rodenticides on wildlife and will create a public service announcement to inform neighbors surrounding the Recreation Area about alternative practices.

Background

  1. The Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area is the world’s largest urban park with 153,075 acres and 5 area codes and 26 zip codes surrounding the park. It was established as a National Park Service Recreation Area in 1978 but SMMNRA did not own any public land until 1980. The Recreation Area is surrounded by many neighborhoods, resulting in many challenges for rangers and wildlife.
  2. Pesticides and rodenticides that are used in the surrounding neighborhoods enter the food chains within SMMNRA because small animals ingest them while foraging in the neighborhoods, then reenter the Recreation Area- bringing with them the toxins. As these same animals become prey for the larger consumers, the toxins transferred to other organisms. The toxin becomes more magnified and reaches the apex predators, like mountain lions. The damage is irreversible and can contribute to the cause of death.
  3. Anticoagulant rodenticides work by causing blood to stop clotting. A detailed explanation of the chemical change in blood follows: “Our livers make a special enzyme that allows our bodies to recycle Vitamin K. Our bodies need Vitamin K to make the blood clotting agents that protect us from bleeding too much. Anticoagulants stop this enzyme from doing its job. Our bodies store an extra supply, but if we are exposed to enough anticoagulant, the supply will run out and internal bleeding may begin.8  Warfarin was the first anticoagulant rodenticide.1 It was registered for use in 1950.4 Warfarin was discovered in moldy sweet clover that had made a herd of cattle sick. Researchers found that a fungus had converted a chemical that occurs naturally in the clover to a more toxic chemical.9 Warfarin was widely used until many rodents began to become resistant to it. This led to the development of new rodenticides.9  
  4. “Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure can lead to uncontrolled bleeding in any part of the body, but this is not always obvious. Difficulty breathing, weakness, and lethargy have been seen in animals poisoned with anticoagulant rodenticides. Less common signs include coughing, vomiting, stools marked with blackened, tarry blood, paleness, bleeding from the gums, seizures, bruising, shaking, abdominal distention and pain.9 Because the stored clotting agents have to run out, signs may be delayed for up to five days following exposure.8” http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/rodenticides.html.
  5. Testing results from the three carnivore species (bobcats, coyotes and mountain lions) monitored in a study in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area found that most of the animals in the study were exposed to anticoagulant rodenticides.
  6. Results from tested bobcats, coyotes and mountain lions and exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides during NPS study follow:
    1. Bobcats - 92% of bobcats exposed to anticoagulant poisons.
    2. Coyotes - 83% of coyotes were exposed to anticoagulants and it was the 2nd leading cause of death during the study.
    3. Mountain Lions - 92% of mountain lions were exposed to anticoagulant poisons, including a three-month-old kitten.
  7. https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/management/rodenticides.htm

Preparation

  1. Generate a PowerPoint with pictures of Santa Monica Mountains and the border of neighborhoods and the park. (google images for ‘Santa Monica Mountains Neighborhoods’ use video).
  2. Print out and have access to the provided articles.
  3. Gather lab materials and practice lab on blood clotting (see below).
  4. Create 6 posters with the facts from the Poisons Information Page.
  5. Have materials for infographic and PSA ready for students.
  6. Lions in the Santa Monica Mountains.
    1. This outlines what is happening with Mountain Lions in the park and the challenges urban sprawl and rodenticide cause with the puma population.
  7. Avoid Unintentional Poisoning
    1. Graphic and information on how rodenticides affect larger wildlife
  8. Why do Poisons Matter?
    1. This is used to generate the 6 posters and have students do the gallery walk writing summarizing statements.
  9. Dead Mountain Lion was exposed to Rodenticide
    1. SAMO in the News article about how one mountain was found dead and the autopsy showed rodenticide.
  10. Bobcats, Living on the Urban Edge
    1. This article explains how big cats and other animals are affected by rodenticides and what some alternatives could be
  11. Let the Blood Flow (Blood Clotting lab)
    1. The lab can be done as a demonstration or a full class period lab showing how blood clots and what can cause the clotting to be stopped. This applies to the lesson as anticoagulant rodenticides decrease blood clotting in animals which leads to their death.

Materials

Background information on how rodenticides impact wildlife.

Download Rodenticide Fact Sheet

Infographic on how poison magnificence through the food web.

Download Biomanification infographic

Lesson Hook/Preview

Santa Monica Mountain Lions:Highly Affected by Anticoagulant Rodenticide

230 minutes; 2-4 class periods.

Procedure

 
  1. Begin the class by showing pictures of our native environment asking students to brainstorm on their papers all the animal species they know of that live here. Have them share their lists with their neighbors. Share out as a class. Then show several pictures of the border of Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Mountains. Have students write down all the conflicts they can imagine when the animals they identified earlier meet the business of the city. After several minutes of writing time, allow them time to share their ideas with their partners then share out as a class. Identify the main species that would have a difficult time surviving in this type of situation. Introduce the focus of this lesson is Urban Sprawl and effects of rodenticide use.

Divide the class into groups of 4. In those groups have students form pairs. Hand out copies (or make them digitally available) of the article “Lions in the Santa Monica Mountains?” In each group of 4, one pair will read the “Intro”, “Big Cats”, “Big Challenges” and the “Restoring Habitat” sections. The other pair will read the remaining section. As students read their given sections have them, as a pair, write down 3 things they thought were interesting, 2 things they want to learn more about and 1 question they have. 

Once groups are finished with their 3,2,1 have the students share them in their groups of 4. When they are finished, as a group of 4 have them create an infographic (digital or by hand) outlining the situation of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains. They should include the main sections of this article as well as the questions they now have.

Ask students how they think humans influence the environment in ways that impact the mountain lions and other predator species in the Santa Monica Mountains. Discuss as a class some of the ideas.

Conduct the lab demonstrating blood clotting [teacher should practice lab prior to class] Depending on time this lab can be done as a demonstration, or as a full class period.

Using the findings from the lab/demo explain why blood clotting is important and how it can be affected by poisons. Introduce the idea of pesticides and rodenticides used in areas surrounding the park. I think maybe it would help to provide teachers with a resource here…maybe photos of common products sold, like Raid, D-con, etc? Have students do a “Think, Write, Pair, Share” on how they think wildlife comes into contact with pesticides and rodenticides.

Using the Poisons information page posters hung around the room, ask students in groups, (same groups as before or different) to do a gallery walk. Each group should have a specific color marker. Have one group start at each poster, they read the information and as a group come up with a one sentence summary and write it on the poster. Give groups several minutes at each poster to read the information and the previous sentence summaries previously written on the poster. Groups can write sentence summaries or questions they then have after reading the information.

Have students remain at their last poster. Ask a spokesperson to read some of the summaries that the class recorded. Have a class dialogue about the information. When finished have students do a journal entry, or some writing piece to reflect on what they learned about pesticides and rodenticides. Show the graphic from “Avoiding Unintentional Poisoning” as students write in journals. 

Read the article “Dead Mountain Lion was exposed to Rodenticides” and “Bobcats: living on the Urban Edge” as a class. Have a brief discussion on what the articles explain and then introduce their assignment.

Ask students to brainstorm how SMMNRA can help residents reduce and eventually eliminate the use of anticoagulant rodenticides. In groups of 2, they will create a public service announcement to reach the surrounding neighbors and encourage them to stop the use of these toxins. Students should create a graphic, slogan, pitch, etc. They should do research on what has been done in neighboring cities (i.e. Camarillo urging the ban of sales of rat poison) Students can pick a specific city/neighborhood surrounding the park and target their PSA to them. 

Students can present their PSA to the class, or just turn them in. Teachers choice.

 

Vocabulary

  1. Rodenticide – substance or preparation for killing rodents
  2. Habitat – The natural environment of an organism; a place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism.
  3. Biomagnification – biological magnification, the potency of a poison increasing as it moves up the food chain.
  4. Anticoagulant – preventing coagulation in the blood.
  5. Food chain/trophic levels- producers, primary, secondary and tertiary consumers and energy and biomass is passed as it moves up the food chain into different trophic levels.
  6. Urban Sprawl – Uncontrolled spread of urban development, often causes habitat fragmentation.

Assessment Materials

Rodenticide PSA

Project based learning activity where students design a PSA to inform the public on the impacts of rodenticides on wildlife.

  1.  
In groups, students will create and possibly present a PSA informing the public on ways in which rodenticides affect wildlife and what alternative methods could be used.
Students should demonstrate their understanding of the impact rodenticides have on wildlife and provide realistic alternatives to using poisons.

Additional Resources

Excelling students can research wildlife crossings in National Parks and evaluate the work being done in the Santa Monica Mountains. There is a wildlife crossing proposed in Liberty Canyon, this article addresses.

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Last updated: January 20, 2022