EXPLORING BIODIVERSITY: A Guide for Educators Around the World

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p help students identify what they are seeing. Students can collect specimens to take back to the classroom, although some things should not be collected: animals (including insects), delicate or rare flowers, dangerous plants, and threatened plants (see “Collection Tips” on pg. 21). Have the students draw sketches of items that should not be collected or that are hard to describe. Pass out plastic bags and any small containers you have for use in specimen collection. 10. Finalise findings. Give the teams time to review and identify what they found and to consolidate information. Have them make notes and make a sketch of the area they surveyed to indicate where certain things were found or where animals or plants were concentrated. You may even have the students prepare a presentation around any specimens they collected to share with the class. 11. Share results. Have the groups report on their findings and discuss the processes they used. How many different living things did they find? Where did they find different things? Did they find any native species? Non-native species? Were species evenly distributed across the site or did the students find greater variety in particular areas? If there were distribution differences, where did they find the greatest diversity? Do they think that as a group they found everything out there? What factors might have affected the number of species they found? For example, would they have expected to find the same number and types of species if they’d done their BioBlitz at a different time of year? What if it had been night time? Did one team have a way to complete the investigation that worked particularly well? What was the hardest thing about conducting their BioBlitz? Were they surprised by anything they found or didn’t find? FINISHING UP Have the students look back at the questions they generated when they created their survey plans. Based on their recent field experience, is there any other information they need to know about the land to make a complete inventory of its biodiversity? What kinds of organisms have they probably missed? Do they think these kinds of rapid assessments are useful? (It’s often difficult to find all the species in an area in a short amount of time. Because animals tend to come and go from different areas, they can be missed if the amount of time spent looking for them is too short. Very small or microscopic organisms can be hard to find and identify. Also, there are often seasonal changes in the organisms in an area, so an inventory conducted at one time of year might be very different from an inventory of the same area at a different time of year. However, despite their problems, rapid assessments are often very useful because they are a way to quickly get a good idea of the diversity of species in an area.) Have your students write an article explaining the process they used to collect their data, including any conclusions they may have drawn during the activity. 22
SECTION 2 BIODIVERSITY CONNECTIONS 4 The Spice of Life . . . . . . . . . .28 5 Biodiversity Performs . . . . .33
Page 1 and 2: EXPLORING BIODIVERSITY: A Guide for
Page 3 and 4: Exploring Biodiversity is a joint p
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .
Page 7 and 8: Exploring Biodiversity is packed wi
Page 9 and 10: of selecting activities to do with
Page 11 and 12: p SECTION 1 WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY? 1
Page 13 and 14: p Where Is the Diversity? Some area
Page 15 and 16: Malaria once infected nine out of t
Page 17 and 18: p WHAT TO DO 1. As a group, create
Page 19 and 20: ACTIVITY 2: THE WEB OF LIFE BACKGRO
Page 21 and 22: Encourage students to think creativ
Page 23 and 24: ACTIVITY 3: BIOBLITZ OBJECTIVES: Na
Page 25: 6. Set the stage. Ask your students
Page 29 and 30: Intensive agricultural production o
Page 31 and 32: The Nature Connection The desire of
Page 33 and 34: 3. Put up the statements and read e
Page 35 and 36: • Will photographs and films that
Page 37 and 38: ACTIVITY 5: BIODIVERSITY PERFORMS O
Page 39 and 40: Plants convert the sun’s energy i
Page 41 and 42: q SECTION 3 THE STATE OF BIODIVERSI
Page 43 and 44: q important differences, however, b
Page 45 and 46: chemical fertilisers to remain prod
Page 47 and 48: Ironically, this “greenhouse effe
Page 49 and 50: Aliens Are Among Us! Another contri
Page 51 and 52: q WHAT TO DO 1. Explain what “thr
Page 53 and 54: q teristics that might make species
Page 55 and 56: q clothing) to mark the boundaries.
Page 57 and 58: q Ask the students why animals need
Page 59 and 60: 7. Discuss protected area design: M
Page 61 and 62: SECTION 4 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Page 63 and 64: a creating conservation corridors,
Page 65 and 66: a often boosts local economies by c
Page 67 and 68: ACTIVITY 8: THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW
Page 69 and 70: a WHAT TO DO 1. Create student grou
Page 71 and 72: a next round, but this time introdu
Page 73 and 74: ACTIVITY 9: COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS O
Page 75 and 76: a Tips for Interviewing • Careful
Page 77 and 78:
a WHAT TO DO 1. Explore project top
Page 79 and 80:
a decision-making process as possib
Page 81 and 82:
SECTION 5 APPENDICES Appendix A: Ex
Page 83 and 84:
organic garden or compost pile; imp
Page 85 and 86:
extinct: refers to a species that n
Page 87 and 88:
pollination: the process by which p
Page 89:
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