Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Understanding biodiversity

15 minutes

Find Out: Ecosystem disruptors and supporters

25 minutes

Take Action: Who can help

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

understand the concepts of biodiversity, life cycles and food chains
examine disrupters and supporters of biodiversity.

Success criteria

Students can:

demonstrate how different elements either support or put pressure on biodiversity
identify a threat to biodiversity in their local area and investigate solutions.

Tune In: Understanding biodiversity

Step 1

Begin by introducing the term biodiversity. Explain in simple language: ‘Biodiversity means the variety of different living things (plants, animals, and microbes) and the ecosystems they form.’

Next, project the activity sheet on a digital display to broaden students' understanding of biodiversity. As a class, invite the students to count the number of different types of things they see in each example (rather than the total number). Encourage the class to work together as you create the tally.

Learning support: You may like to give students an individual copy of the activity sheet. Please note that this alternative may require more time.

Step 2

Now that students understand the diversity present in biodiverse environments, hand out the prepared Food Chain Trumps cards. Cut out the flash cards and give 1 set to groups of 4–5 students. Make sure the cards are shuffled. To play, a student starts with a producer card. The next student adds a primary consumer, then a secondary consumer, and so on to complete a food chain.

For each food chain, a card showing a biodiversity disruptor (for example, habitat loss, feral animals, pollution) can be placed down. A biodiversity supporter card (for example, revegetation, culturally significant plantings, and responsible pet ownership) can overrule the disruptor. The student who puts down the last card in the chain wins the round.

Learning support: You may need to introduce the idea of biodiversity disruptors and supporters specifically. Disruptors include habitat loss, feral animals, and pollution, while supporters include revegetation, culturally significant plantings, and responsible pet ownership.

Step 3

After playing the card game, check in with students by asking:

What would have happened to your food chains if the disruptors had been allowed to win the game?
What impact would this have had on the biodiversity of the ecosystem that your food chain was in?

Find Out: Ecosystem disruptors and supporters

Step 1

Divide the class into small groups. Provide each group with 1 of the following biodiversity disruptors or biodiversity supporters:

Disruptor	Supporter
light pollution	responsible pet ownership (for example, keeping cats indoors, walking dogs on leads unless in a designated dog-off-leash area)
habitat loss	regenerative farming
climate change	habitat protection and revegetation
introduced species	Indigenous land management
herbicide and pesticide use	controlling pest plants and animals

Hand out a Student Worksheet for each group, which will help them guide their research. Encourage them to read through the questions on the sheet before they begin, so that they can focus their research on finding the necessary and relevant information to finish the task.

Let students know that this will be a cooperative learning task. They will have 10 minutes to research their given issue. After that, there will be time to share their findings with the rest of the class so that everyone understands each issue.

Learning support: It could be helpful to ensure that 1 group member keeps an eye on the time so that they can complete the task, and another takes responsibility for ensuring that the research remains focused.

Step 2

Gather back as a class. Give each group a maximum of 1 minute to explain their disruptor or supporter to the rest of the class, briefly describing what it is and the impact it can have on ecosystems.

Take Action: Who can help?

Step 1

Ask students to think about the biodiversity of your local area by asking what sort of environment they are in. Lead students to draw a quick sketch representing that area, labelling some of the living things that they know are found there, and their habitats.

Step 2

Using their understanding from listening to the class present their research, ask students to select 1 disruptor that they think might be a threat to the biodiversity of your local area. For example, if they have identified in their sketch that there are lots of houses and gardens, pesticide use might be a threat.

Step 3

Allow students to investigate any groups or projects in your local area that are working to reduce or prevent the threat. This could take the form of online research, or you might like to prepare by collecting brochures or fact sheets from places like community centres or libraries and offering these to your students.

Ask students to collect some key information about their discoveries, and record it in the appropriate section of the Student Worksheet:

Who are they?
What do they do?
How can you help?

Step 4

Take a photocopy or photograph of this section of each student’s worksheet, and compile them to create a directory of all of the local groups and projects.

You could discuss a logical way of ordering this directory with students. For example, would it be by alphabetical order, or by cause? You can also decide whether it should be a physical or digital guide, and the pros and cons of both of these formats. This directory could then be shared with families or the school community.

Reflection

Step 1

Ask students to write down 1 threat to biodiversity they learned about today and draw a simple food chain they already know, such as one from the Tune In activity.

Using their new knowledge, they will write 1 sentence explaining how that threat affects the food chain.

Step 2

Students share their ideas with a partner, and a few volunteers can share with the class.

Threats to Biodiversity

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Summary

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