Curated OER
Biodiversity Activity
Learners are introduced to biodiversiy. They use a simulation of two forests, one planted with only Douglas Fir trees, and one with diverse species of trees. Students also use the simulation of two forests, one a monoculture of only one...
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section One: What is Biodiversity?
Four intriguing and scientific activities invite learners to explore the natural resources of their town. The activities cover concepts such as genetic traits, organizing species in a taxonomy, the differences between different species...
National Geographic
Coral Reefs: Ecosystems Full of Life
Coral reefs contain some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Introduce reef residents to youngsters with a three-minute video. While the content is educational, it is not particularly engaging or clear. You may choose to skip the...
American Museum of Natural History
What is Biodiversity?
Not all dogs are the same just like not all finches are the same. An interactive online lesson helps individuals learn about the causes and limitations to biodiversity. The clickable sections describe the basics of the genetics of...
American Museum of Natural History
What do you know about Biodiversity?
What do your classes know about biodiversity? A 10-question online quiz asks questions related to biodiversity and species groups. As learners answer questions, they click on links to additional information. The lesson could be an option...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Measuring Biodiversity in Gorongosa
Take your biology class' understanding of biodiversity to a whole new level! Ecology scholars use data to calculate three different diversity indices based on the organisms in the Gorongosa National Park. The four-part activity uses an...
Montana State University
Everest Extremes: Biodiversity
How many animals can live in a climate as cold as Mount Everest's? Find out with a science lesson all about biodiversity. Activities include research, presentations, group work, coloring maps, and a simulation of a food web.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section Two: Why is Biodiversity Important?
Explore soil, genetic traits, natural resources, and pollution in a series of lessons that focus on biodiversity. Kids complete experiments to learn more about the importance of varied genes and organisms in an ecosystem.
Curated OER
Illinois Biodiversity
Students examine the amount of biodiversity in the state of Illinois. They practice using new vocabulary and listening to stories about animals. After given time to reflect, they write their own haiku. They work together to create a...
National Geographic
Sorting the Gulf Ecosystem
A dazzling drawing of the coastal and marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico is the centerpiece of this instructional activity. Display it for your class to view, and have them identify which organisms are plants, invertebrates, fish,...
Curated OER
Exploring Ecosystems
Young scholars examine the relationships between plants, animals, and the environment in ecosystems. They sort animal cards, collect natural materials from the schoolyard, and record an ecosystem web in the form of a poster.
American Museum of Natural History
Bio-Benefits
Kick-start a discussion of the importance of biodiversity with a colorful resource that touts the benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems. The images stress the interdependence of all the elements of an ecosystem.
Curated OER
The Basics of Creature Connectedness: Biodiversity Diversions
Students study biodiversity. They participate in a scavenger hunt to look for presence of wildlife and connections in nature. They create a collage about Venezuelan biodiversity in small groups and present to the class. They write a...
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – How Diverse is That?
When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...
Rainforest Alliance
Colombia Biodiversity
How diverse is the rainforest? How much more diverse is a rain forest than a temperate forest? Explore these focus questions in a lesson that explores the plants, animals, and insects in forests. After listening to a reading about...
Curated OER
Preserving Health Through Biological Diversity
Students research and explore the benefits of biodiversity, particularly as it relates to human health. They write an essay in which they explain the possible effect of human activities on the emergence of new diseases.
Curated OER
Introducing Biodiversity
Students identify the basic components necessary for biodiversity, the critical and countless benefits of habitats, as well as the serious present and future threats to their ongoing existence.
American Museum of Natural History
Cuban Wildlife Matching Game
Young biologists match Cuban wildlife to their ecosystems by dragging images of the creatures to either a forest, coral reef, cave, or wetland habitat.
ARKive
Biodiversity and Evolution – Darwin’s Finches
Teens experience natural selection firsthand (or first beak) in an activity that has them act as finches foraging for food. Using different household items to act as different beak styles, your little finches will collect as much food...
Curated OER
Backyard Birds: Who's Who Out There?
Students practice techniques of field observation and data-gathering while studying local bird population, describe ecosystem as complex combination of elements, which can affect or be affected by each other, and determine effects of...
Curated OER
Ecology Community Status
In this ecology community status worksheet, students research their state's ecosystem, make a chart of the biodiversity, analyze the chart and identify issues with wetland species. This page has several links to helpful web resources.
Curated OER
Biological Diversity and Conservation
In this biological diversity worksheets, students will use a word bank to fill in the blank of 8 statements about biological diversity. Then students will decided if 7 statements about the importance of biodiversity are true or false....
Curated OER
Measuring Biodiversity
Students explore a few key concepts associated with measuring biodiversity. They are told that biodiversity can be measured in a number of ways. Genetic diversity is a measure of the genes represented in the sample. Ecosystem...
Curated OER
Deep Sea Coral Biodiversity
Students research life forms of both tropical coral reefs and deep-sea coral reefs to discover the biodiversity of the ecosystems. They compare and contrast the diversity and adaptations of the two eco-systems, and draw a picture showing...