Diversity of Life

Activities

  • A biodiversity activity from the San Diego Zoo.
  • Do this “Biological Diversity and Conservation” (doc) wordsearch puzzle with answers (doc).
  • The lab in this Teacher’s Domain lesson (You must register for free to access) could be started while studying “Population Growth,” The lab involves growing duckweed over a 2 or 3 week period, but students also compare it’s growth to that of other invasive species shown in the included videos.
  • A “Global Warming: Early Warning Signs” (doc) curriculum guide includes many activities.
  • Show students the “BioDaVersity Code” video, a take-off on “The Diversity Code.” The video explains in a clever way why it is important to maintain biodiversity.
  • Have students download and play “Power Up.” In the game the planet “Helios” is facing ecological devastation and you’re in a race against time to save the planet. The game was designed by a group of young people with help from IBM. It is a great way to learn about our ecological problems. (However, the game requires 1 gig of ram)

Labs

  • Try this “Biodiversity In Ponds” lab with “Pond Identification Sheet” and scoring rubric.
  • The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum has many biodiversity activities in its “Reflections on Earth: Biodiversity and Remote Sensing”  teacher’s guide. I produced this “Biodiversity Lab” (doc) with teacher notes (doc) and lab key (doc) from the Smithsonian guide.
  • If students have access to computers on the internet, try Glencoe’s, “Researching Information on Exotic Pets” Internet BioLab. Mrs. Rebello has created an “Exotic Pets” worksheet (doc) which has a better link for finding the information that students need.

Links

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