Biodiversity in New Zealand Wildlife

1. Biodiversity – What is it?

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

have knowledge of individuals and groups who work to preserve the environment;
understand biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth;
explain the ongoing threat of extinction facing many species

Teaching and learning activities

Introduce the unit and the main learning objectives. Give students the endangered species glossary sheet (word, 57kb), (pdf, 7kb), and explain that they should add new words encountered during this unit should be added to their glossary. The following website has a list of useful words: http://midwest.fws.gov/planning/mnvalldccpappb.pdf

Brainstorm, using ideas from Mind Tools website, http://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html

What do we know about biodiversity?

Print out the Biodiversity metaphor from the Kids Corner, Endangered Species section of the US Fish and Wildlife service website, http://endangered.fws.gov/kids/biodivrs.htm

Read the metaphor out to the class. In pairs, students discuss what they think the metaphor means and write a paragraph explaining their interpretation, including their definition of biodiversity.

Students write their own metaphor for biodiversity.

Brainstorm and discuss the following focus questions.

How is biodiversity affected?
What are the benefits of biodiversity?
What can we do to protect biodiversity?
What are the consequences of losing biodiversity?
What groups do we know of that work to protect the environment?

A scribe may write the answers to these questions and display them around the room.

Assessment opportunities

Use the students' definitions and biodiversity metaphors to ascertain their knowledge of biodiversity.

Curriculum links

English

What is a metaphor? Why are they effective?
What components are needed to construct a metaphor?

Science

What are the implications of losing biodiversity? Look at case studies, for example, the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak in the United Kingdom and Europe.