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Material

Resource — Indigenous and Introduced Species Cards (WA)

Printable card resource for Lesson 3. Picture-and-word cards of Western Australian indigenous (native) species and introduced species for students to sort into a T-chart, with teacher background notes on why introduced species disrupt food webs and on First Peoples' knowledge of native species. Supports the Food Webs and Decomposers worksheet and the cross-curriculum priorities of Sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures.

Print one set per group on card and cut out the cards. Students sort them into a T-chart of indigenous (native) species — those that have lived here for a very long time — and introduced species — those brought to Australia by people, mostly in the last few hundred years.

T-chart headings

INDIGENOUS (NATIVE) SPECIES
Native to Western Australia
INTRODUCED SPECIES
Brought here by people

Cards to print and cut

CardCardCardCard
NumbatRed foxQuenda (bandicoot)Feral cat
Black-flanked rock wallabyEuropean rabbitWedge-tailed eagleCane toad
EmuSheepBobtail lizardCow
KangarooCamelHoney possumFeral goat

Teacher answer key

CategoryCards
Indigenous (native)Numbat, black-flanked rock wallaby, emu, kangaroo, quenda, wedge-tailed eagle, bobtail lizard, honey possum
IntroducedRed fox, European rabbit, sheep, camel, feral cat, cane toad, cow, feral goat

Teacher background

Introduced species can disrupt a food web in several ways: by preying on native animals (feral cats and foxes hunt small mammals such as numbats and quendas), by competing for the same food (rabbits eat the grasses that rock wallabies rely on), or by changing the habitat (hard-hoofed animals like goats and camels damage plants and soil). Because a food web is connected, removing or reducing one native species has flow-on effects for everything linked to it.