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Biodiversity

Date: 30 Nov 1999

 

Samantha - Earth Force student at Klein Elementary School “Being in Earth Force helps save our environment and wildlife habitats. Animals are dying because of loss of habitats.” Samantha, Klein Elementary School, Erie

Environmental Theme: Biodiversity
Background Information


The resources listed below are included in this module to help teachers prepare for and conduct their Earth Force Project that deals with Biodiversity.
Designed for Grades 4 and up.

Why do we need biodiversity?

The Earth's biodiversity supports our basic needs by providing
us with food, fiber, fuel, medicine, clean air and water.

Every time we lose a species, we lose an option for the future. We lose a potential cure for AIDS or a virus-resistant crop. So we must somehow stop losing species, not just for the sake of our planet but for our own selfish needs and uses." Sir Ghillean Prance, Kew Gardens.

Issues that could be addressed by an Earth Force Project:

The Issue: How should deer herds be maintained at levels that support healthy and sustainable forests?

The Event:
Changes in hunting regulations to reduce deer population.
The Problem: Overabundance of deer inhibiting natural forest regeneration

The Issue: Frog Fatalities or What makes amphibians susceptible to decline?

The Event:

  • Habitat Destruction: Because most amphibians feed and breed in wetlands, the loss of wetlands means the loss of amphibians. In the past half-century the lower 48 states have lost more than half of their estimated original wetlands.
  • Disease and Pollution: The cause of deformities, which range from missing eyes to extra limbs, could be due to water contaminated with heavy metals or pesticides, amphibian parasites or a combination of factors.
  • Acid Rain: Research conducted in central Pennsylvania has linked acid rain precipitation to the decline of wood frogs and several species of woodland salamanders.

Subject Area: Biological and Environmental Science


Standards in Environment and Ecology addressed: 4.7. Threatened, Endangered and Extinct Species
4.3.7. Environmental Health

  • 4.3.7. A Identify environmental health issues
  • 4.3.7. B Describe how human action affect the health of the environment
4.9.7. Environmental Laws and Regulations
  • 4.9.7. A Explain the role of environmental law and regulations

General Teacher Resources:

Documents on Biodiversity:
Glossary A-P; Glossary Q-Z

Websites with Biodiversity information:

General Information


News and Information Services

Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History

Habitat Loss

Introduced Species

Pollution

Population Growth & Over Consumption