Using books, periodicals, and electronic sources, research the environmental issues of an island, a country, a region, even a small area of land of your choosing. My students can research our campus at Madeira. Anyplace can be though of as an "island", it is just that some are more accessible than others. Focus your research on the issue of native versus introduced species and answer the following questions in the process:
What is the natural history of the area?
What are the general environmental problems there?
What are the native species?
Are there any endemic species? What are they?
What species have been introduced to the area? How? Why? When?
What happened when these species were introduced?
What has been done to try to remedy the situation, if anything?
Has it worked, has it had no effect, or has it made things worse?
What factors make it hard to keep introduced species out of an area?
What factors contribute to keeping introduced species out of an area?
Why should we care if a native species goes extinct?
Should we care more when an endemic species is lost? Why or why not?
Why should we care about loss of biodiversity of any kind?
What can be done in general to keep ecosystems in balance?
Present your research in the form of a web page, linking the various topics to each other. You will be required to do an oral presentation demonstrating your web page.