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Preparation time: 30 min
Teaching time: 90 min

Remedy for biodiversity

Students will investigate biodiversity on a local and a global scale. They will investigate what is happening to habitats and how they are threatened. In groups, they will create and present ecological garden designs which create an agreeable habitat for both wildlife and people.

Format

  • Discussion
  • Group work
  • Presentation

Age

  • 12+

What

The possible connections with your curriculum

  • Biology

Who

The people who take up the teacher role

  • Teacher

Where

The locations where learning takes place

  • Classroom

With

The community stakeholders to collaborate with

-

Ready for action?

Resources

Web links

Tangible Resources

Photos of two gardens – one natural garden which might look a little neglected, and a modern one with leveled pavement and mown grass; two satellite images of the Amazon rainforest – one taken recently and one a few years ago; research materials (i.e. books, internet); materials to make posters.

Preparation

Prepare photo resources.

Goals, messages & concepts

Specific goals

  • To investigate biodiversity on a local and a global scale.
  • To design gardens as a suitable habitat for wildlife.

Specific messages

  • Human activities threaten natural habitats.
  • Humans and wildlife are codependent, and we should protect wild habitats.

Main terms

  • habitat
  • ecosystem
  • deforestation
  • rewilding

Practices & skills

STEM practices

  • Constructing explanations and designing solutions
  • Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
  • Asking questions and defining problems

Soft skills

  • Empathy
  • Teamwork and collaboration

Management skills

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Course of activity

step 1

Display pictures of the two gardens and encourage students to look for differences between them. Students should make notes and discuss their observations. Ask additional questions:

  1. What would you smell in each garden?
  2. Can you see movement in them?
  3. Who or what would you meet in each one?

step 2

Students will write their answers to the 3rd question on the board. Add other possible examples: bat, hedgehog, squirrel, lizard, toad, frog, sparrow, bluetit, great tit, woodlark, Cinderella fly, corncrake, starling, nuthatch, woodpecker, red-bellied warbler, woodpecker, jay, linnet, goldfinch, redwing, blackbird, bumblebee, swallowtail, robin, warbler, grosbeak, cabbage snail, cockchafer, dung beetle, flycatcher, ladybird, goldfinch, dragonfly, damsel fly, buzzard, red kite, rat.

step 3

Working in groups, students will choose one creature to research. They will find out about its characteristics, needs and preferred habitat. They will then design a garden where their creature would flourish, bearing in mind it must also be friendly to humans. They will present their research and ideas in the form of a poster.

step 4

Groups will present their work to the class. Discuss the destruction of biodiversity at a local level.

step 5

Next, present two pictures of the Amazon rainforest demonstrating recent deforestation, as an introduction to a discussion on the destruction of biodiversity by man at a global level. Students will discuss how this problem could be remedied. Describe and record the results of the discussion on paper or on a whiteboard.