Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: What is biodiversity?

20 minutes

Find Out: Research a species in your local area

25 minutes

Take Action: Developing your conservation action plan

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

research local biodiversity
analyse threats to biodiversity and how science and First Nations knowledge contribute to solutions.

Success criteria

Students can:

identify at least 1 species in their local area that plays a key ecological role
explain how environmental threats impact biodiversity and propose conservation actions.

Tune In: What is biodiversity?

Preparation

Prior to the lesson, use available resources (such as threatened species in Victoria) to determine if there are species in your local area that are declining. You can then help students in verifying which species occur in your local area using ‘Explore’ in the iNaturalist resource outlined in the lesson.

Choosing ‘Observations’ shows a map view, while choosing ‘Species’ shows a grid of species recorded in that area.

In the filters, you can choose to look at all species or just threatened species. If you are not getting many records or species showing up in an area, try unticking threatened species.

Show a map of your students' local area using Google Maps and ask students:

What animals and plants live here?

Step 2

As a class, use iNaturalist (inaturalist.org) to investigate your local area further. Enter your location (such as suburb and state) and move the map to show your school. You can leave the search set to your suburb, or draw a circle or box over the area you are interested in. iNaturalist will show you species that have been recorded in the set search area.

Step 3

Have students pick an animal or plant from the list. Give students 3 minutes to quickly write a list of factors that make a species important to an ecosystem. Students may choose to do this in their exercise book or on a blank piece of paper.

Step 4

Invite students to share their list with the class. If needed, refer to the example list of factors below:

food source (producer, prey)
native predator
decomposer
pollinator
photosynthesises
filters water
binds soil and reduces erosion
stops land degradation

Reiterate to students that biodiversity is the word we use to describe all the different living things in the world and how they are connected. It includes every kind of plant, animal, and microbe, from the tiniest insect to the tallest tree. It also covers the ecosystems they live in, like forests, oceans, rivers, and deserts.

Biodiversity is important because each species has a role to play. Plants produce oxygen and food, insects pollinate flowers, and animals help spread seeds. Together, these connections keep ecosystems healthy and balanced. When biodiversity is high, ecosystems are stronger and more resilient. When it is low, ecosystems can become fragile and struggle to cope with changes such as pollution, climate change, or the loss of habitat.

Find Out: Research a species in your local area

Step 1

As a class, brainstorm the key threats to biodiversity. Begin by asking students what they think makes it hard for animals, plants, and ecosystems to survive. Record their ideas on the board, then guide them to identify major threats such as:

habitat loss (for example, land clearing, urban development)
climate change (for example, rising temperatures, extreme weather)
introduced species (for example, cats, foxes, cane toads, blackberries, willows, gorse, lantana)
pollution (for example, plastics, chemicals)
overharvesting (for example, overfishing, unsustainable logging).

Encourage students to give examples from their own experiences or local community (such as seeing plastic waste in waterways, hearing about bushfires, or noticing less wildlife in certain areas). Group the brainstormed ideas under categories and discuss how these threats might be connected.

Step 2

Now, divide students into small groups. Guide students to investigate a species in their local area and record their responses in the table on the Student Worksheet.

Take Action: Developing your conservation action plan

Step 1

Now that students have a greater understanding of the biodiversity in their local area, their task is to create a biodiversity action plan outlining a chosen species' local conservation strategy in its group.

Students can find information in iNaturalist on the ‘About’ tab and check the ‘Status’ tab to see if a species is threatened at a state, national, or global level. They can also look up other reliable websites, like the Australian Museum.

The plan should include the following key points:

Describe the species’ ecological role and cultural importance.
Describe what the species needs to survive (eg diet, shelter or breeding habitat needs).
Describe threats to its survival.
Propose conservation actions and how they would help.

It is recommended that students create this plan using a digital device. They can choose to present their ideas in a poster, digital infographic, or podcast.

Learning extension: Invite students to share their biodiversity action plan beyond the classroom. They could present it to another class, display posters around the school, or record their podcast/infographic to share with families. Encourage them to include a clear call to action, such as steps the school community could take to help protect the chosen species.

Reflection

Step 1

As a class, discuss the presentations using the following questions:

What themes do we notice?
Which threats are most common?
Which actions are practical for our community/school?

Investigating Local Biodiversity and Threats to Culturally Significant Species

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Summary

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