Student Name:________________
Grade 6 Biodiversity Science Project
RESEARCH PROJECT: Choose a living organism from the animal kingdom that you are interested in
and would like to research.
Your project must include the following information
1) Classification (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species)
Remember this trick: King Phillip Came Over For Good Spaghetti
2) Ecosystem: Create a picture/model of your animal living in its habitat (must show both
living organisms and geographic features that interact with your chosen animal in its
environment; don’t forget to label all the organisms in this habitat.)
3) 3 Adaptations of your animal (special features or behaviours that help a living thing
survive in its habitat, e.g. webbed feet, fur)
4) Common characteristics it shares with other animals in its class (e.g . identify whether it
is a bird, fish , reptile, amphibian or mammal and list the their characteristics )
5) Biodiversity: How this species contributes to the diversity of life (positively or negatively)
6) Human Activity : How does human activity impact on the survival of your animal?
7) Your own choice: Choose another aspect of your animal to research (e.g. position in a food
chain, what it eats, other interesting facts, etc.)
Final Product: To meet your own learning style, you may decide how you would like to organize the
information for your project.
Here are some suggestions:
 Bristol board poster
 Duotang/booklet
 PowerPoint Presentation
 3 dimensional display – i.e. Use plasticene/modelling clay to create the habitat on a small tray
or shoebox (instead of a 2 dimensional drawing or diagram)
Please see me if you have any other ideas. You will be given some class time to work on this, but you
will probably need to work on this at home as well.
Due Dates: ROUGH RESEARCH DUE DEC 15
o All seven parts of your research (final project) is due on __________________
1
Student Name:________________
Grade 6 Biodiversity Project
Starter Sites:
http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/
http://www.kidsbiology.com/human_biology/index.php http://animals.nationalgeographic.c
om/animals
http://kids.yahoo.com/animals
www.biodiversity911.org
www.hww.ca
http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/index.htm
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/169/biodiversity
http://www.amnh.org/ology/?channel=biodiversity#
http://www.countdown2010.net/biodiversity
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/biodiversity/index.cfm
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Student Name:________________
Biodiversity Project Outline
Name of species: ________________________________________________
Scientific classification (KPCOGS): _________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Notes on the species habitat: (Name 3-5 producers, 3-5 consumers, and 1-2 decomposers your species
would have contact with. Get species names and find pictures for each).
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Find a map, or mark a blank one, to show species’ location. Don’t forget to include climate and geographic
features (e.g. temperature, rainfall, mountains or other land characteristics)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Notes on your species adaptations (3 adaptations) and how they make it suited for its ecosystem (Be
prepared to create a labelled diagram) :___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Notes on common characteristics your species shares with other species in its class (Try to find at least 3
and be prepared to create a labelled diagram):
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Student Name:________________
Notes on how this species contributes to biodiversity (how does this species help the environment?):
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Notes on how humans interact and interfere with this species:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Notes on what can be done to help this species continue to survive: ___________________________________________
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Free Choice Topic Notes:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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4
Category
Amount of
Information
Student Name:________________
Level 2
Level 1
All topics and most One or more
questions answered topics were not
with 2 sentences.
addressed.
Information clearly Information has
relates to the main
little or nothing to
topic. No details
do with the main
and/or examples.
topic.
Level 4
All questions
answered completely
with great detail.
Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It includes
several supporting
details and/or
examples.
No grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation errors.
Level 3
All questions
answered with detail.
Almost no
grammatical, spelling
or punctuation errors.
A few grammar,
spelling, or
punctuation errors.
Diagrams &
Pictures
Diagrams and
pictures are accurate,
highly detailed and
add to the reader's
understanding of the
topic.
Diagrams and pictures
are accurate and add
to the reader's
understanding of the
topic.
Sources
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented and
include all required
information.
Overall visual
presentation is neat,
organized and
visually appealing.
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
documented, but a
few are missing some
information.
Diagrams and
pictures are
accurate and
sometimes add to
the reader's
understanding of
the topic.
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
documented, but
many are missing
some information.
Quality of
Information
Conventions
Overall
Visual
Appearance
Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It provides 1-2
supporting details
and/or examples.
Overall visual
presentation is
organized and has
some visual appeal.
Oral
Student uses
Presentation appropriate scientific
vocabulary. Student is
very comfortable with
content and answers
questions
knowledgeably.
Student uses some
appropriate scientific
vocabulary. Student is
comfortable with
content and answers
questions
knowledgeably.
Scientific
Classification
Scientific
classification is
accurate and includes
the seven (or all
available) categories.
Scientific
classification is
accurate and includes
the seven (or all
available) categories.
Overall visual
presentation is
somewhat
organized, and has
some visual appeal.
Student uses some
appropriate
scientific
vocabulary. Student
is comfortable with
some of the content
and answers some
questions.
Scientific
classification is
mostly accurate
and/or does not
include all seven
categories
Many grammar,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
Diagrams and
pictures are not
accurate OR do
not add to the
reader's
understanding of
the topic.
Some sources are
not documented.
Overall visual
presentation is
disorganized and
has little visual
appeal.
Student uses little
or no appropriate
scientific
vocabulary.
Student is not
comfortable with
the content
and/or answers
no questions.
Scientific
classification is
inaccurate.
5
Student Name:________________
6