Introduction to biocontrol
Section One. Biocontrol Basics
Navigating the Biocontrol In Your Backyard portal
Introduction Step One.
In this introduction to the biological control section of the tutorial, you will come to understand the importance of biological weed control as part of an effective integrated approach to making management decisions. We will begin with why we should care about the Problem With Weeds; and then share some shortcuts to help you easily access peer-reviewed content to become familiar with invasive plants and biological control agents: the differences in how biocontrol is used to stop weed spread.
In Step One, you will learn skill sets to seamlessly move between four Intermountain West youth education programs and their lesson plans. You will build on this skill set in Steps Two through Five to access curriculum, interactive games and activities, extras like audio plays, flash cards, PowerPoint and pdf files, and training clips and movies. For now, lets consider the Problem With Weeds and how to navigate between program specific lesson plans.
Brief overview. A weed is sometimes called an invasive plant or a noxious weed. Noxious weed is a legal definition for a native or non-native invasive plant that increases in density and abundances to the extent that its associated negative impacts are too high a cost to ecology and economy for taxpayers and land managers. Some invasive plants are native plants. Non-native invasive plants are commonly from Eurasia, and you may read or hear them called exotic or introduced invasive plants.
Let's begin exploring the portal, where you can find details about the Problem With Weeds.
Step One.
Graphic buttons with titles for each of four programs are consistently located as banners at the top of the page and icons at the bottom of the page. The program's banner and icon confirm that you are within the program's lessons and curriculum. For example, you can return to the Biocontrol In Your Backyard Home Page from this page by clicking on either the banner at the top or the icon at the bottom. The same holds true once you navigate to a program. First, you will navigate to a program to learn about the Problem With Weeds. If you open a second window and place it side by side with this window, you can easily refer to the instructions here while executing them in the second window.
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Task #1a. From the Biocontrol In Your Backyard Home Page you can link to any one of four programs by clicking on the button or the name that represents the program gateway. For example, click on the Bugs With An Attitude button to go directly to a gateway to content taught by the Whitehall Biological Weed Control Institute.
Bugs With An Attitude Gateway
Holding The Line Gateway
Idaho Student Bug Crew Gateway
Whats In Your World Gateway
Task #1b. Once you are on the Bugs With An Attitude page you can click the button Problem or the words below the buttons Problem With Weeds to access lessons plans and learn how weeds spread and why we should care about weeds.
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Task #1c. You can also from the Bugs With An Attitude Gateway main page click on the button Weeds or the blue words below the buttons What Is A Weed to learn even more.
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What Is A Weed
Interview With Todd Breitenfeldt
Task #1d. If you are interested in the Whitehall biological weed control program, you can read about its history by clicking on the button, Background, or the words below, Interview With Todd Breitenfeldt who is one of the founders and trainers for Bugs With An Attitude.
To continue the tutorial once you complete Tasks #1a-#1d, return to the Biocontrol In Your Backyard Home Page and click on the blue words for either Biocontrol Basics then Portal Navigation or Step One to review Step One or Biocontrol Basics to select other steps that you might want to explore. You can return from any program's gateway main page in the portal by clicking on the Biocontrol In Your Backyard icon at the bottom. Clicking on any program banner at the top of any page within the program will take you to the program gateway main page. You will locate the Biocontrol In Your Backyard button at the bottom of the program gateway main page.
RECAP: You can go directly to Four Youth Environmental Education Programs focused on Biocontrol in the Intermountain West
You can click on the picture icon to go directly to the program you choose. Click on the Bugs With An Attitude icon. Once you take a look at the options on the Bugs With An Attitude gateway main page, scroll to the bottom and click on the Biocontrol In Your Backyard icon to return to the Portal Home Page.
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You can also click on the program name. Click on Bugs With An Attitude Gateway in blue (or the default color you select in your own Internet preferences for linked text).
Bugs With An Attitude Gateway
Holding The Line Gateway
Idaho Student Bug Crew Gateway
Whats In Your World Gateway
You can return to Steps One through Five
There are several options for you to iteratively access resources.
In five steps, you will learn how to access resources from five different access points.
Section One. Biocontrol Basics and Portal Navigation
- Step One. The Weed Problem (program access point)
- Step Two. Why We Care About Weeds and What To Do (lesson plan access point)
- Step Three. Integrating Biocontrol Basics (Extras access point)
- Step Four. Lessons Learned (Interactives access point)
- Step Five. Training Clips (Movies access point)
You can advance to the next step by clicking the blue words, Step Two
- Content for Biocontrol in Your Backyard is provided by individual program sponsors.
- Content is formatted and uploaded by InterMedia
- The Biocontrol In Your Backyard Portal collaboration with The Bugwood Network and its content accessible
- format are sponsored by USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team.
