"Invasive" Species Role-Play Game

Welcome to Mystery on Lake Superior!​

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This program is designed to get participants thinking deeply and critically about the ecosystems in which they live and the other living beings who inhabit those ecosystems with them.

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A unique workshop and wonderful gateway to deeper environmental thinking, Mystery on Lake Superior is a great companion to upper year (grade 11/12) or university courses in environmental science, biology, philosophy (particularly philosophical issues surrounding the environment), geography, or Canadian studies.

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Taking the form of an interactive, interpretive, role-play game, Mystery on Lake Superior creates intrigue and excitement for the players while they learn about Lake Superior and its inhabitants. In particular, learners will explore the complex positive, negative, and ambiguous consequences of newly introduced species to their new habitat, and how newcomer species interact with human-caused changes to an ecosystem.

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Whether in a classroom or out in a natural setting, the players set the stage for solving the mystery. Each player is a particular aquatic species, and all of them are suspects! Provided with an engaging backstory about their unique connection to Little Bay, Lake Superior, the players will discover information to help solve the mystery of the poisoning of a dog named Max. Using creativity and powers of deduction, the players will determine how the incident happened, who or what is the culprit, and what their motives are. Using the preliminary 'evidence', the information uncovered during gameplay, and the players' knowledge of the Lake Superior food web, they will have to solve the mystery.

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This game is designed to raise ecological, biological, and ethical questions regarding the notion of "invasive" species. Using a role-play style mystery game, hilarious costumes, and critical thinking, students will come to a more nuanced and empathetic view of the living beings and ecosystems around them.​