UNESCO resource kit - science and technology educa...

------------------- UNESCOModule 14: Understanding biodiversity
Gardening with biodiversity
Design and establish a garden in the grounds of your school. You will find some
ideas below.
You will also find some ideas about the importance of biodiversity. For each idea
about gardening, explain how it is linked to ideas about biodiversity:
Ideas about gardening
• Grow plants that you know grow well locally. Make sure that they suit
your soil and climate. Ask people in your community what plants grow
well, and how to grow them.
• Grow a variety of different plants, not just one type. Include vegetables,
fruit, herbs and medicinal plants.
• Choose your site carefully. You need to be near a source of water; your
garden will need to be protected from domestic animals and other sources of
interference.
• Find out about natural control of pests and weeds.
• Recycle waste materials to make compost.
• Use a mulch to save water.
• Use recycled materials for containers, plant stakes, tools and so on, rather
than buying new ones.
Ideas about biodiversity
• Living creatures live in ecosystems; the different members rely on each other
to survive.
• Ecosystems have many interdependent members.
• If an alien species is introduced to an ecosystem from outside, it may not fit
in. It may fail to survive, or it may overpower the other species.
• Some plants species naturally repel insects and other pests.
• In an established community, dead materials are naturally recycled.
• Water, like many other natural resources, can become scarce and should be
conserved.
• Many materials, once taken from the environment and used, can never be
used again, ie, they are not renewable.
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