Science 9 – Biodiversity Research
Purpose:




describe the relative abundance of species on Earth and in
different environments
describe ongoing changes in biological diversity through
extinction and extirpation of native species, and investigate
the role of environmental factors in causing these changes
evaluate the success and limitations of various local and
global strategies for minimizing loss of species diversity
investigate and describe the use of biotechnology in environmental, agricultural or forest
management; and identify potential impacts and issues
Setting:
Conservation experts from the Calgary Zoo are investigating the effects of climate change on
various habitats, to determine the extent to which biodiversity is effected in each biome.
Terrestrial biomes:
Tropical rainforest
Temperate rainforest
Tundra/taiga
Deciduous forest
Boreal forest
Grassland/savanna
Desert
Mountain/alpine
Ice/arctic/polar ice caps
Task:
Aquatic Biomes:
Ocean
Coral reef
Estuaries
Ponds and lakes
Streams and rivers
Wetlands
Investigate the effects of global warming and/or climate change on biodiversity in the biome
selected. Analyze Human impacts contributing to these changes. Create a conservation plan to address
the issues discovered.
Incorporate the following concepts:
biological diversity
species
diversity within species
habitat diversity
niches
populations
extinction
extirpation
degradation
natural selection
non-native species
Present your research, analysis, and conservation plan on a wiki page that will be created for you.
Please remember that the wiki page is LIVE on the internet, and any information posted there should be
peer edited to check for matters of grammar and correctness 