Preserving Biodiversity
Snapshot lessons with informational graphics
To accompany chapter 40 (Preserving Biodiversity) of
Biology: Concepts and Investigations (author: Hoefnagels)
Unit Goals
At the end of the lessons, students will be able to…
… list what groups of species are most threatened.
… describe five specific examples of why biodiversity is important.
… list the causes of habitat loss and describe how it contributes to loss of biodiversity.
… list the causes of pollution and describe how it affects biodiversity.
… list the causes of climate change and describe how it affects biodiversity.
… list the causes of overexploitation and describe how it can affect biodiversity.
… list actions that average citizens can take to preserve biodiversity.
… explain how specific actions minimize threats to biodiversity.
Our long-range goal is that students use biology to become more informed citizens.
Specific ways to relate goals to curriculum
The Preserving Biodiversity chapter of Biology: Concepts and Investigations has an overall learning
outcome of: “explain the factors that affect biodiversity.” These factors include:
Ways in which humans are negatively impacting the environment.
Ways in which humans can restore biodiversity after it has been lost.
This is the general framework around which these lessons will be created. The content is already
delivered in narrative form within the textbook, and interactive online questions test student
understanding. This unit of instruction delivers the content as snapshots that will be useful either as a
broad overview of the chapter before it’s read, as a review of a chapter after it’s read, or as a resource
for stimulating active learning activities in the classroom.
This unit of instruction aligns with the National Science Education Standards in the area of “Science
in Personal and Social Perspectives.”
a. Students should develop understanding of environmental quality.
b. Students should develop understanding of natural and human-induced hazards.
c. Students should develop understanding of natural resources.
d. Students should develop understanding of science and technology in local, national, and global
challenges.
Characteristics of the students for whom this unit is intended
Students accessing this unit of instruction will be those using the Introductory Biology textbook that
the unit of instruction will accompany (Biology: Concepts and Investigations). The students will be in
their first college-level biology course, and many of them will have had no biology training in high
school. Most students will be majoring in something other than biology, and many will not ever take
another biology course. Therefore, the target audience has a limited background in biology and may
have low motivation to retain the information taught in the course. Approximately half of the students
using the unit of instruction will be in courses set in a classroom or lecture hall; the other half are in
either exclusively online courses or online-classroom hybrid courses.
Student’s present level of performance and knowledge
It is recommended that these lessons be used near the end of a semester-long biology course, as
some of the content will be easier to understand if students already have a basic understanding of three
topics within biology—chemistry, evolution, and ecology. All students using the lessons must also be
competent at using a computer, as well as logging on to and navigating the Internet.
Classroom layout and grouping of students
The lessons are designed for online learners. Students are expected to review the materials on their
own and participate in discussion forums or other media (such as blogs) to share what they have learned
with other members of the class. However, we have also modified each lesson to also work in traditional
classrooms. In a classroom, students should work in groups of three or four and have access to a
computer or tablet. A chalkboard would be useful for discussion before and after student participation
in the learning activities of each lesson.
Introductory procedures
Orient students to the media associated with this unit of instruction (see below). Stimulate interest
in the concepts covered in this unit of instruction with the following videos.
Introduction to Biodiversity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-PE3ve3w2w
Human Actions Threaten Biodiversity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5qllCbXW5U
Pollution and How Recycling Can Help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Ffs5gMk4g
Materials and media
Students completing this lesson should have access to the course’s Biology: Concepts and
Investigations third edition (author Mariëlle Hoefnagels) textbook, as well as the e-book. Several online
tutorials and interactive questions accompany the book in the publisher’s course management system:
http://connect.customer.mcgraw-hill.com/. Graphics associated with this unit of instruction are found at
the following URL: http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/matthewtaylor/506/BiodiversityHome.html.
Visuals
1. Introduction: This visual uses images from the other graphics to define conservation biology and
to set up the three lessons that follow.
2. We need biodiversity: This visual uses photos and text to show some of the roles that other
species have in our lives, from agriculture feeding us to microbes making our medicines. It
also lists some numbers that reveal how many other organisms humans rely on.
3. Biodiversity is threatened: This visual lists several threatened groups of organisms, each
accompanied by a simple graph showing how many species in that group are currently in
danger of going extinct.
4. Habitat destruction: This visual shows the many ways that we destroy habitat. It includes photos
of a grassland being transformed into a farm, of a river being dammed, and of a forest
becoming a city.
5. Pollution: This visual uses an image of a factory with smoke stacks next to a river to show both
air and water pollution. The accompanying text discusses the implications of both types of
pollution on species.
6. Climate change: This graphic lists specific ways that climate change affects the environment and
species. It also presents a simplified version of an International Panel on Climate Change
graph that shows the human effect on global temperature.
7. Overexploitation: This simple graphic shows a Sumatran rhino (an endangered species) in the
sights of a gun. Surrounding the rhino are four causes of overexploitation, as well as an
example of each.
8. You Can Help: Text and simple art explains how minimizing wastes, reducing energy use, and
thinking locally can reduce the threats to biodiversity.
Assessment and evaluation of learner understanding
Students will be assessed using the publisher’s assessment questions found at
http://connect.customer.mcgraw-hill.com/. The following relates these assessment questions to the
learning outcomes of this unit of instruction.
Assessment questions tagged with “Section 40.1” will target the following learning outcomes:
List what groups of species are most threatened.
Describe five specific examples of why biodiversity is important.
Assessment questions tagged with “Section 40.2” will target the following learning outcome:
List the causes of habitat loss and describe how it contributes to loss of biodiversity.
Assessment questions tagged with “Section 40.3” will target the following learning outcome:
List the causes of pollution and describe how it affects biodiversity.
Assessment questions tagged with “Section 40.4” will target the following learning outcome:
List the causes of climate change and describe how it affects biodiversity.
Assessment questions tagged with “Section 40.5” will target the following learning outcome:
List the causes of overexploitation and describe how it can affect biodiversity.
Assessment questions tagged with “Section 40.6” will target the following learning outcomes:
List actions that average citizens can take to preserve biodiversity.
Explain how specific actions minimize threats to biodiversity.
Students will also be assessed using composition and concept map-building assignments. The
following are the prompts for these assessments, each followed by the learning outcomes that the
assessment relates to.
Why is biodiversity important to humans? How might it be important to ecosystems? What types of organisms
are most threatened? What might be the consequences if these organisms went extinct?
List what groups of species are most threatened.
Describe five specific examples of why biodiversity is important.
Compare and contrast how habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation threaten
biodiversity. Provide specific examples of each threat to biodiversity in your response.
List the causes of habitat loss and describe how it contributes to loss of biodiversity.
List the causes of pollution and describe how it affects biodiversity.
List the causes of climate change and describe how it affects biodiversity.
List the causes of overexploitation and describe how it can affect biodiversity.
Create a concept map using the following terms: Biodiversity, Habitat destruction, Pollution, Climate change,
Overexploitation, Minimizing wastes, Reducing energy use, and Thinking locally.
List actions that average citizens can take to preserve biodiversity.
Explain how specific actions minimize threats to biodiversity.