Morgan Hunt
EDUC 460
Exploring Ecology and Conservation
Extinction and Conservation
Each student should have some prior knowledge about species that no longer exist currently.
Each student should have prior knowledge of the terms extinction, endangered and how these
events affect the environment.
Each student should have some prior knowledge about species interactions (predator and prey
relationship, herbivore, carnivore, etc.)
Each student should have some prior knowledge about examples of species interactions (Types
of predators, prey, etc.)
NGSS Standard: HS-LS2-6:
“Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in
ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable
conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem”
Colorado Standard: 2.2 High School Life Science
“The size and persistence of populations depend on their interactions with each other and
the abiotic factors in an ecosystem.”
“How do keystone species maintain balance in ecosystems?”
Learning objectives (SWBAT):
Demonstrate understanding of the consequences of species extinction on an ecosystem
through creating a conservation plan.
Demonstrate understanding of conservation through completing the web quest and
creating a conservation plan.
Demonstrate real world knowledge of a practical conservation plan.
Materials
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/ecosystemconservationwebquest/home
Misconceptions: http://biodiversityyouth.blogspot.com/2012/07/6-misconceptions-aboutbiological.html
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DYwMVQJr4k
Procedure/activity
Student Activity
Engage
KWL about extinction and
conservation in science notebook
Answer questions using prior
knowledge.
Teacher Activity
Have PowerPoint with KWL about
extinction and habitat loss on the
screen when students walk in.
Ask students as a whole what they
know about conservation.
Ask students as a group what they
know about species extinction and
what causes it.
Explore
Watch video, take notes and write
down any questions
Play video
Explain
Discussion
What is their reaction to the video?
Ask students if they have heard
about these animals going extinct?
How will these species going extinct
affect the environment?
What steps can be taken to prevent
species extinction?
Elaborate
Complete web quest with a partner
Do research as directed
Compile information about their ideas
for a conservation plan
Begin creating conservation plan (This
will be finished later if not complete
today.)
Evaluate
KWL
What did they learn?
What do they want to learn more
about?
Get students in groups of two by
having them group up with another
student with the same birthday
month.
Explain what a web quest is and the
role they will be taking.
Tell students to save their work and
that they can continue tomorrow.
Ask students to fill in the KWL
chart with that they learned today
and what they would like to learn
more of.
Assessment
Formative: KWL written in their scientific notebook before and after class. Have student
turn their notebooks in at the end of class.
Summative: Conservation plan once completed or worksheet.
Anticipated misconceptions/alternative conception
Species have always gone extinct so we do not need to worry about a few animals or plants
disappearing.
Losing a species does not affect humans.
Evolution will replace any missing species.
All species have been discovered
There is nothing I can do to protect the Earth’s biodiversity
Accommodations/modifications
Some students may not be able to complete the conservation plan so here is an alternative
activity about species interactions that could cause extinctions if not resolved.
Vocabulary
Community: an area that different species occupy at the same time
Extinction: An event in which the last members of a lineage or species die. A single species may
go extinct when all members of that species die, or an entire lineage may go extinct when
all the species that make it up go extinct.
Fossils: Any trace of a living creature (body, part of body, burrow, footprint, etc.) preserved over
geologic time
Habitat: Place and condition in which an organism normally lives.
Mass Extinction: Event in which many different lineages go extinct around the same time. Mass
extinctions involved higher rates of extinction than the usual rate of background
extinction that is going on all the time
Species: the largest group of animals that can reproduce and have babies that can reproduce
Species Competition: Two animals or species need the same resource (food, water, room to live)
but only one gets it
Collect all the pebbles necessary and complete the following questions.
As of right now you are going to pretend that you are a researcher in the mountains watching
animals eat dinner in the same area. Some animals eat more fish than others and some
animals eat not fish. When too many predator species come into the area they compete
with one another for the fish. The chart explains which predator gets to eat and in what
order.
Pebbles
Species
What they eat
30 black
Fish
2 green
Deer
Consumed by other species
only for this activity
Grass and other plants
5 red
Big Horn Sheep
Grass and other plants
3 white
Mountain Lion
3 blue
Bear
5 yellow
Wolves
10 fish each
Mountain Lions eat first
10 Fish each
Bears eat second
5 Fish each
Wolves eat last
1.) The area you are watching has a stream with 25 fish nearby.
2 deer, 2 big horn sheep and 5 wolves enter the area. (Show this with your pebbles)
How many fish are left in the steam?
How does this affect the habitat? (Explain using full sentences and the vocabulary given)
2.) The area you are watching has a stream with 25 fish nearby.
2 deer, 2 big horn sheep, 2 wolves and a mountain lion enter the area. (Show this with
your pebbles)
How many fish are left in the steam?
How does this affect the habitat? (Explain using full sentences and the vocabulary given)
3.) The area you are watching has a stream with 25 fish nearby.
2 deer, 2 big horn sheep, 3 bears enter the area. (Show this with your pebbles)
How many fish are left in the steam?
How does this affect the habitat? Is it a good thing or bad thing to have that many
predators in the same place? (Explain using full sentences and the vocabulary given)
4.) The area you are watching has a stream with 30 fish nearby.
2 deer, 2 big horn sheep, 2 bears, 1 mountain lion and 1 wolf enter the area. (Show this
with your pebbles)
How many fish are left in the steam?
How does this affect the habitat? (Explain using full sentences and the vocabulary given)
5.) Extra Credit:
The area you are watching has a stream with 30 fish nearby. The bears in the area want to
start eating plants to have a balanced meal. They can eat both fish and plants in one day.
The area you are watching has 25 plants nearby to eat.
Deer eat 5 plants a day, big horn sheep eat 5 plants a day and bears eat 10 plants a day.
If 2 deer, 2 big horn sheep, 1 mountain lion and 2 bear are in the same area how many
plants are left over? How many fish are left over?
How does this affect the habitat? (Explain using full sentences and the vocabulary given)