Name: _____________________
Date: ____________________
Grade: ______________
HS-04-Ex1
Biodiversity
1. Why should scientists record information about biodiversity?
2. How does protecting an ecosystem, such as a wetland, help to preserve biodiversity?
3. Scientists have identified about 2 million species. However, estimates of the total number of species
on Earth range from 5 million to 100 million. What are some possible reasons why scientists may not
have an accurate count of the number of species on Earth?
4. Form a hypothesis to explain why most of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are in the tropics.
5. What is the purpose of a captive breeding program?
Name: _____________________
Date: ____________________
Grade: ______________
HS-04-Ex2
6. What is the relationship between the terms community and population?
7. A person with charisma attracts attention and admiration. People sometimes use charismatic
species to help draw attention to an environmental problem. Explain why you would or would not
choose the following as charismatic species in a campaign to protect the ecosystems in which they
live.
a. polar bear
b. fern
c. blue whale
d. earthworm
Do you think that charismatic species at risk deserve to get more attention than other species at
risk? Justify your response.
8. Complete the following analogy: An ecosystem engineer is like a(n)….
9. Write a slogan for a public awareness campaign to identify three human activities that have a
negative effect on biodiversity.
Name: _____________________
Date: ____________________
10. The Ontario government began dropping tens
of thousands of food baits inoculated with a
vaccine against rabies, an alien virus, in 1989.
The graph on the right shows the number of
cases of rabies in Ontario from 1988 to 2000.
Based on the data in the graph, do you think
the campaign to control the spread of the
rabies virus has been successful? Explain your
answer.
Grade: ______________
HS-04-Ex3