keepitcuriouskids.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web viewProject Based Learning: Unit 1 – Biological...

Project Based Learning: Unit 1 – Biological DiversityIn this project, we will be looking at the biodiversity that exists both within species, and between species. We will explore where that biodiversity comes from and why it is important. Our quest will take us through discussions about the mechanisms of reproduction and what the role of genetic material (DNA) has in this story about life. Finally, we will look at how the actions of humans are affecting the diversity of organisms across the planet, and what conservation tactics we have employed to preserve the biodiversity on Earth.

Driving Question: How does the diversity between the individuals in a population have an effect on the population of that species, the community of organisms around them, and the ecosystem they live in, and where does that diversity come from?

Presenting Your Learning:

Portfolio – create a portfolio (PowerPoint, poster, duotang, website, blog – your own or on edmodo, binder) of all of the below tasks. The learning that needs to be included in the portfolio is bolded for your convenience. For the tasks that require you to perform a hands-on task, take pictures using a mobile device to put in with the task.

The Learning:

Accomplishing the Learning - You’ll be working in groups to complete the following learning tasks. The higher the level you work up to, the harder the tasks will become. You will be expected to perform tasks up to your comfortability level. Some tasks are accompanied by an activity that will enhance the learning.

Checking for Understanding – Each task has a check for understanding question. This is not something you need to do, but it is something you need to be able to do. You may incorporate them into your portfolio if you wish.

Overarching Curriculum -

- Investigate and interpret diversity among species and within species, and describe how diversity contributes to species survival

- Investigate the nature of reproductive processes and their role in transmitting species characteristics

- Describe, in general terms, the role of genetic materials in the continuity and variation of species characteristics; and investigate and interpret related technologies

- Identify impacts of human action on species survival and variation within species, and analyze related issues for personal and public decision making

Grading Breakdown for the Course and This Project

Course breakdown of marks:

75% coursework and 25% final exam

There are 5 units, so each unit is worth 15% of your final grade (5 times 15% is the 75% coursework)

In each unit, your marks are broken down as such:

Project – 50% (7.5% of your final grade)

Quizzes – 20% (3% of your final grade)

Unit Test – 30% (4.5% of your final grade)

Your project is broken down into 3 parts:

Level 1 – 80% of the project grade

Level 2 – 15% of the project grade

Presentation of the main ideas – 5% of the project grade

Marking Scheme for the Project

Section Questions (1 each) Assignments (5 each) Section Total Project Breakdown % of ProjectLearning Guides 95% of Project

Divided into Seven Sections

Learning Guide 1- Level 1 9 Questions N/A 9 marks /9 times 80% =

Remark: % times 1/7 =Remark:- Level 2 3 Questions N/A 3 marks /3 times 15% =

Remark:


Remark: % times 1/7 =Remark:- Level 2 3 Questions 1 Assignment 8 marks /8 times 15% =

Remark:Learning Guide 3

- Level 1 10 Questions N/A 10 marks /10 times 80% =Remark: % times 1/7 =

Remark:- Level 2 3 Questions N/A 3 marks /3 times 15% =Remark:


Remark: % times 1/7 =Remark:- Level 2 N/A 1 Assignment 5 marks /5 times 15% =

Remark:

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Section Questions (1 each) Assignments (5 each) Section Total Project Breakdown % of ProjectLearning Guide 5

- Level 1 4 Questions 2 Assignments 14 marks /14 times 80% =Remark: % times 1/7 =

Remark:- Level 2 2 Questions N/A 2 marks /2 times 15% =Remark:

Learning Guide 6- Level 1 9 Questions 3 Assignments 24 marks /24 times 80% =

Remark: % times 1/7 =Remark:- Level 2 3 Questions N/A 3 marks /3 times 15% =

Remark:Learning Guide 7

- Level 1 6 Questions 2 Assignments 16 marks /16 times 80% =Remark: % times 1/7 =

Remark:- Level 2 1 Question 1 Assignment 6 marks /6 times 15% =Remark:

Presentation N/A N/A 20 marks /20 times 5% 5% of theProject =

Total = %

Learning Guide 1: Can We Classify Life??

Level 1 Learning (15%)

(1) Define biotic and abiotic. On the same page, (2) create a table with biotic and abiotic in separate columns. Go outside (Ask me first if you’re doing this on school time!) and make a list of 7 things in each column from stuff you can see just outside of the school doors (you don’t need to go for a walk).

(3) What is the science of classifying organisms called? Carolus Linneaus created a system for classifying organisms in the 18th century. He began with just two groups of organisms which he called kingdoms. They were the animals (Regnum animalia) and the plants (Regnum vegetibile). We have since furthered his foundation for classifying organisms by creating more kingdoms. (4) Research the current divide in kingdoms by finding the number of kingdoms that scientists have divided Earth’s organisms into and list them. Make a 1-2 sentence description of the types of organisms that exist in each kingdom.

We can also go into more specific detail when we are looking at the classification of just one kingdom. Kingdoms are broken up into phylum, phylum are broken up into classes, classes are broken up into orders, orders are broken up into families, families are broken up into genera (plural for genus), and a genus is broken up into species. This sounds rather complicated, but your task is to (5) create a visual organizer (flow chart, triangle table, tree diagram *think of the tree of life!) for the breakdown of kingdom to species. (6) Choose an organism of your choice (literally anything, how about your favourite animal?) and research their names for each of the classifications above and put it beside your visual organizer. (Hint* Wikipedia can be a great help here! Wiki any organism and their names will be right there!). Fun mnemonic for remembering the classifications – King Phillip Comes Over For Good Spaghetti)

(7) What are the basic needs of all organisms? There are 5 that I’m looking for. Consider what is needed for the survival of the species. Think – what do I need to do to sustain my life and humanity? Or perhaps, if every human were to stop doing ______________, we would perish.

(8) Define Niche. (9) Describe the niche of each of the following organisms a) a bird of your choice, b) a fish of your choice, c) any other organism of your choice.

Continued


Collect the deck of cards called the taxonomy card game. Your task is to take the deck of cards, and sort them into whatever grouping you feel is appropriate. To be clear, you are creating your own classification system (you don’t necessarily need to use the regular taxonomy classifications, make up your own if you’d like!) (1) Take a picture of your sorting and include this in your portfolio. (2) In a paragraph, explain why you sorted the cards into the particular groupings. Think – What characteristics do all of these ‘organisms’ share? There is no ‘correct’ way of doing this task. You simply need to defend your choice by explaining why you thought your classification system was best.

(3) Describe the niche that you have in your household, comparing yourself to the other members of the house.

Checking for Understanding

Remember – this is stuff you need to be able to answer, not stuff I’m expecting in your portfolio. Think of it as a study guide for this section.

- Know the difference between biotic and abiotic- Know the essential things required for an species to live and prosper- Describe the niche of an organism, including the different parts of their niche- Know the kingdom classification system (the types of kingdoms) and the breakdown of a

kingdom all the way down to species. Remembering the mnemonic would help =)

Learning Guide 2: The Great Circle of Life – How Organisms Interact


Each organism depends on other organisms for their survival. This is called interdependence. (1) Using a food chain of your choice (make one!), (2) describe the predator-prey interdependence in a few sentences.

(3) Redraw the food chain above, and add in a second animal that consumes the herbivore (third trophic level). This would have quite the impact on the whole chain, since there would be a lot less of the herbivore for each of the carnivores since neither of them gets all of that food source. (4) Describe the expected result on the populations of all three organisms (herbivore, and the two carnivores that are eating it) after the second animal gets introduced. This phenomenon is called competition. (5) Generalize the effect of competition on the species that are competing with each other in one sentence. Species don’t ONLY compete for food as well. (6) Describe three other things that two species could compete over that would result in a negative effect on their population.

To avoid the effects of competition, some species have learned to co-exist. Research the term resource partitioning. If you need a good example, try looking at the resource partitioning done between warbler species (a genus of birds). The big difference between two organisms competing for survival and co-existing comes down to where there are differences in their niche or not. (7) Explain how two or more species can co-exist with each other without experiencing the effect of competition based on their niches.

Some organisms have developed a special relationship with other organisms for survival. This type of relationship is called a symbiosis (‘sym’ as in together, and ‘biosis’ as in living, so ‘living together’. Note the key aspect of that, ‘living’. This part is not about predator-prey relationships. This special relationship has nothing to do with animals eating each other). There are three groups of symbiosis: Mutualism, Commensalism, and Parasitism. Collect a poster for symbiosis from resources. Read it over and consider the three types of symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. (8) For the 5 examples of symbiosis on the poster, classify each as mutualism, commensalism, or parasitism.

(9) For the 5 symbiosis you’ve classified above, describe the purpose or role that each organism has in the relationship in one or two sentences (part of good science writing is being concise – right to the point). For example, in the parasitic relationship between mountain pine beetle and pine trees, the pine tree is the host, and the pine beetle gets a safe place to lay its eggs.

Continued


Collect the graphing assignment called Populations and Graphing and a piece of graphing paper (and a spare piece if you feel you might need it). (1) Complete the assignment.

(2) Find and describe an example of mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism that involves humans as one of the species.

Consider the niche you occupy in your home. (3) Make a list of the ‘resources’ that are found in your household (simple example: the TV is a resource). (4) Select 3 of the resources you’ve listed and describe under what conditions do you compete for a resource with another member in your household, and under what conditions do you co-exist with them? (example: when both want the same couch to watch TV (living space), you could fight over it and sometimes one of the members may even back off and go watch another TV or find other means of fun, but if there are different couches to sit on, you can co-exist and watch the same TV).


Remember – this is stuff you need to be able to answer, not stuff I’m expecting in your portfolio. Think of it as a study guide for this section.

- Differences in the types of symbiosis, including: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism

- The effect that competition has between species- How co-existence is possible between species with resource partitioning- What the manipulated, responding, and controlled variables mean- Discern what the manipulated, responding, and controlled variables in an experiment

are

Learning Guide 3: Variation and the Nature of Biodiversity


(1) Define Biodiversity. The scale of biodiversity varies depending on the scope of your view. You can find biodiversity within one population of a species, just look around the classroom to see the vast diversity that exists within our species. You can also find biodiversity within a community of species. Finally you can find biodiversity within an entire ecosystem. Collect a set of biodiversity posters. Each of the posters represents a different scale of biodiversity. (2) Classify each picture as being population biodiversity, community biodiversity, or ecosystem biodiversity. (3) Explain why you’ve classified each picture as such. At each level, different things are the characteristics of the biodiversity. For example, when exploring the biodiversity within a population of dogs, you may see different sizes or coat colours. At the community level, you might compare something like behaviours of a species (coyotes and foxes look quite similar, but there are some pretty distinct differences between the way they run their lives). (4) For each picture, explain what characteristics of the population, community, or ecosystem distinguish themselves from one another.

So, why does all of this biodiversity exist? We’ll take a closer look at the where it comes from when you explore reproduction and genetics, but for now, let’s examine the mechanism of biodiversity. Imagine you have 5 rabbits, each of those rabbits are a different size, where the smallest one is half the size of the biggest one. There are some distinct advantages/disadvantages to being either large or small. Some quick background information on the niche of a rabbit: they live mostly around forested areas, they move mostly along thick bushes/brush, they eat leafy greens and browse on young sapling pine trees, they are preyed upon by mostly coyotes and lynx, who try to capture them when they move away from the thick brush to feed. (5) Make a table that has two columns, advantages and disadvantages of size. List at least 4 advantages and 4 disadvantages you think there may be for being a LARGER (or smaller if you wish) rabbit in terms of their survivability (helpful hint: think about how size would affect their ability to achieve their basic needs and avoid predators).

Keeping those rabbits in mind, let’s imagine this year is a tough one for rabbits in terms of predators, since the year before there were lots of coyotes born, and they are all ready to hunt. (6) In a paragraph (5-7 sentences), write about which rabbits will survive and WHY, and also include which rabbits would die and WHY. This is a hypothetical situation, so there is no absolute correct answer. Again, in science we often need to defend our position or explanation (hypothesis). Then we conduct actual experiments to see if our hypothesis matches up with reality. Your paragraph above is a hypothesis, nothing more!

Continued

Now, switch it up. Let’s imagine instead of predators being the main pressure for survival, its lack of food for the rabbits. (7) In a paragraph (5-7 sentences), write about which rabbits will survive and WHY, and also include which rabbits would die and WHY. Again, hypothesize.

We’ve just explored an extremely important part of biology. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it is the most significant factor for the survival of anything living here on Earth – a fight for survival called natural selection. (8) Define natural selection. The key idea to natural selection is that it is about the population of the species. Only the fittest survive to pass on their genes. Imagine if your hypothesis about the size of rabbits and survivability was true. (9) What would happen to the size of rabbits over several generations if there were a few decades of high pressure from the coyotes? Which rabbits would die off (according to your hypothesis) and which would survive? (10) Comment on how you think the variability within a population of a species is important.


Look at biodiversity poster 4. Try and make sense of the picture. (1) Describe what the connection between the different levels of biodiversity are using the picture.

The pressures of natural selection can be quite fierce on a species. There have been millions of species that have existed on the earth that have gone extinct for many reasons. Natural selection has played its role in many species going extinct. Research a species that is predicted to go extinct due to global climate change. (2) Cite which species you’ve researched and explain how natural selection will play a role in its extinction.

Consider again the niche you occupy in your household. In Learning Guide 2, you were asked to consider what resources you compete for with other household members in your ‘ecosystem’. Keeping that in mind, (3) what slight variations exist between you and other household members that allows you to co-exist? (to continue with the example given in Learning Guide 2, if you and another household member wished to watch different shows on TV, that would create competition, but if the shows you wanted to watch were on at different times, you could easily co-exist with that resource because there is no overlap, the overlap being the key aspect of competition).


- The differences between a population, community, and ecosystem- What is meant by genetic diversity- How variability affects the survivability of a population of any species- How natural selection affects a population- How environmental natural selection affects organisms

Learning Guide 4: The Mechanisms of Reproduction – More Than Sex!


Sexual reproduction is not the only way that offspring are produced. (1) Define Sexual Reproduction and Asexual Reproduction and differentiate (explain the difference) between them (helpful memory trick, when a word has an a in front of it, like asexual, it means ‘absence of’ or ‘without’).

There are several types of asexual reproduction used by lots of different species. Some of those include 1) binary fission, 2) budding 3) spores, and 4) vegetative reproduction. Research each of these types of asexual reproduction. (2) Draw a sketch of each of the types of asexual reproduction listed above. (3) Describe the basic idea behind each type of asexual reproduction, and (4) list some organisms that use that type of asexual reproduction.

The mechanisms of sexual reproduction are different for each species. However, the basic idea is the same for all of them. The goal is to have a male sex cell combine with a female sex cell (another term for ‘sex cell’ is ‘gamete’, so there are the male and female gametes). There are two big categories of sexually reproducing organisms that have male and female gametes: plants and animals. (5) Research the names of the plant male and female gametes. (6) Draw a diagram of the basic flower, including at minimum the male sex organs and the female sex organs of the flower. Different types of plants have evolved different tactics to get the male gamete to the female gamete of a different flower (it is never in the flower’s interest to get its male gametes to its own female gametes, it even has defenses against it. That would be similar to a human mating with their sibling or parent). (7) Describe different ways the male gamete from a plant can get to the female gamete in the process called pollination.

(8) Research the names of the animal male and female gametes. (9) In a paragraph, describe the formation of a zygote from animal male and female gametes into an embryo.

Reproduction is the engine behind variation. Both types of reproduction result in an interesting twist on the amount of variation within the population of that species. (10) In a couple of sentences, describe how variation of a population differs between sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction.

Sexual reproduction has some advantages and disadvantages, and so does asexual reproduction. (11) Complete a two column, 2 row table. In the two columns, put advantages and disadvantages. In the two rows, put sexual reproduction, and asexual reproduction.

(12) Research an organism that reproduces BOTH sexually and asexually and explain in a few sentences how that can be an advantage for that organism.

Continued


Collect the importance of variation assignment. (1) Complete all parts of the assignment. You need to include the genealogy and the analysis questions.


- How the amount of variation in a population is different for the species that reproduce sexually compared to those that reproduce asexually

- The gametes (sex cells) for both plants and animals- The mechanisms by which a plant transfers its sex cells in the process called pollination- The very basic information on the stages of development of a zygote into an embryo - The different mechanisms for asexual reproduction- Advantages and disadvantages to sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction- That some organisms can reproduce sexually and asexually

Learning Guide 5: You Truly are Unique – A Close Look at Inheritance


(1) Define continuous trait and discrete trait. You’ll be doing a full lab-write up for this section. Collect the assignment called Continuous or Discrete Graphing Lab and (2) complete the lab write-up.

Continuous and discrete traits just barely scratch the surface of inheritance. Those are traits we each have, but where do they come from? The obvious answer is from your parents, but… does every one of your traits come from your parents? Let’s look at one of the first attempts at explaining inheritance, done by a man named Jean Baptist Lamarck. (3) Research Jean Baptist Lamarck’s explanation of inheritance called ‘inheritance of acquired characteristics’ and describe why it was wrong. (4) Make a table with two columns, one for inheritable characteristics and one for non-inheritable characteristics and list of different characteristics in each column. Of your inherited traits, they are ones that are predetermined for you by your genetics that you get from your mom and dad. For example, your height is a factor of your mom and dad’s genetics. But… are there factors that could result in your height not reaching its maximum? For your body to grow, you need energy and nutrients from your food. There are environmental factors that also play a role in your characteristics. (5) Describe a situation where someone would not achieve their maximum height because they do not receive what is needed for their body to do so.

Of the characteristics you get from your parents, some come from your mom, some come from your dad, some come from a combination from both, and some seem to come from neither of them (but they do!). What an interesting predicament that is. A man named Gregor Mendel is often called the father of genetics as a title that he has ‘inherited’ by modern biologists. He began with this question of how we receive the characteristics we do, and designed an experiment with peas, being the first to successfully explore inheritance. Mendel grew his plants in a two hectare area over 30 years, studying some 29000 plants to come to his conclusions. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of space or time, so let’s look at the key aspects of his discovery. Collect the Activity ‘A Closer Look at Inheritance’. (6) Complete the assignment.

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(1) Pick 10 traits of yourself and compare them with your parents and determine if the traits you have are from your mom or dad (dominance), seemingly from neither (recessive), or a mixture of both (incomplete dominance).

There is a way of organizing traits to determine the odds of a trait being expressed in an offspring. They are called Punnett Squares.

Go to the website http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/Punnett/punnettsquares.html and follow through the activity, learning a bit more about the transfer of genes. (2) Write a paragraph about how to use a Punnett square and how it is useful in determining what the offspring will look like.


- The difference between a discrete and continuous variation- The difference between inheritable and non-inheritable characteristics- How the environment can affect your characteristics despite your genes- A basic understanding of the patterns seen the offspring based on the parent genes

(dominant vs recessive genes)

http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/Punnett/punnettsquares.html

Learning Guide 6: The Microscopic Engine of Life – DNA and its Significance


What makes a human different than a dog, or bacteria, or even our closest genetic cousin the chimpanzee. Even more curious, why does a dog always give birth to a dog? These types of questions are fundamental parts of the understanding DNA. DNA – Deoxyribonucleic Acid – is a very special molecule to all life. Every living organism ever discovered has DNA. (1) Where is DNA located in your body? (2) What does the structure of DNA look like? Get a picture to back-up your description. (3) Research what DNA is, and what it is responsible for (there is a good chance you will find some very complicated information, just look for the basics of DNA and what it is used for). The code of DNA comes from the four chemicals that make up the inside of the DNA – Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), and Thiamine (T). Think of them as the alphabet of DNA and (4) Describe how DNA is the ‘blueprint for life’.

When looking at the question of dominance of genes, we discussed that when a parent makes a baby, they contribute one set of genes. The other parent also contributes one set of genes. But wait a second… they both start with two? This should prompt your curiosity and probe you to ask “how do they manage to give only one set of genes?” The answer lies in the very special molecule that an organism’s DNA is split into – chromosomes. (5) What is a chromosome? (6) How many chromosomes does a human have?

We’ve been exploring the traits that you and other people in the class have. It’s been stated that these come from your genes. So… (7) what is a gene? Each gene codes for one specific thing, for example your eye colour. But, there is more than one colour your eyes can be. Each gene has small variations that lead to the small differences, such as eye colour. These slightly different genes are called Alleles. For example, the alleles for coat length for dogs depend on the breed of dog, but they are all the same basic gene, they code for coat length. So, while all dogs share the gene for coat length, they don’t necessarily share the same allele of that gene. (8) Give an example of a gene in humans and state what some of the alleles are for it.

Time to put it all together: (9) What is the relationship between genes, chromosomes, and DNA?

Continuing with the seemingly bizarre idea that your chromosomes are split in two when you mate, let’s look at how chromosomes are divided up. There are two types of chromosome divisions: Mitosis and Meiosis. (10) Collect the mitosis and meiosis introduction activity and complete it.

Continued

With our knowledge of how genes work, humans have been able to manipulate the genetics of organisms in a few different ways. The first of which is artificial selection. (11) Collect the case study ‘A Closer Look at Natural and Artificial Selection’ and complete it.

Artificial selection is not the only way that we humans affect the genetics of organisms. We have created certain biotechnologies that alter the genetics of different organisms, all with the intention of it being for our ‘benefit’. There is some definite controversy involved with each biotechnology though that needs to be discussed and debated. (12) Collect the Bioengineering in Agriculture Activity and complete it.


On the internet, search up McGraw-Hill Mitosis Animation. Watch the animation of the finer details of cell division. Your task is to sketch out certain key parts of the cell division. (1) Sketch out the part of mitosis where the chromosomes in the cell have thickened and separated out individually, where the chromosomes line up in the center of the cell, where the chromosomes a pulled apart to either side of the cell, and finally where the cell divides into two new cells each with a full set of chromosomes.

Every biotechnology we create has a definite value in our society, however, they always come with a consequence that we didn’t originally foresee, or perhaps we just felt it not significant enough to be concerned with. In either case, there is always a controversy over new biotechnologies. (2) Go onto the website www.sciencenews.org and search for biotechnologies. Research another biotechnology other than genetic engineering that is used in agriculture or forestry and create a table for the pros and cons of it. (3) Briefly discuss why you believe it to be more beneficial or more negative. Remember, defending your position is the important part here, focus on they why.


- DNA as the inherited material responsible for variation within species- Genetic Code as the instructions for life- Chromosomes as packages of DNA- Genes as uninterrupted segments of DNA- What alleles of a gene means- Mitosis as a process of asexual reproduction of cells- Meiosis as the process for creating gametes- Differences between mitosis and meiosis- Artificial selection as a process of selecting desired traits in organisms- Risks of biotechnology with animals and plants (and how gene banks help)

http://www.sciencenews.org/

Learning Guide 7: What Can We Do to Conserve the Beautiful Diversity That Nature Has Given Us On Earth?


(1) Collect 5 facts of your choice about the numbers of species or number of animals on the planet.

The Earth’s rainforests are considered in amongst the highest areas of biodiversity on the planet. (2) Include a picture or map of the distribution of rainforests on the Earth (google it!). There is something special about the location of most of the Earth’s rainforests. (3) Describe where you find the world’s rainforests on Earth’s surface in a few sentences. These rainforests have some of the highest levels of biodiversity on our planet, and consequently some of the highest richest resources to go with it. (4) Research the rate at which we are destroying our rainforests, and (5) why it is important to protect them.

We humans have spread ourselves across the globe. One-by-one, every ecosystem is feeling the wrath of our expansion, whether it is a direct impact like clear-cutting, or an indirect one like climate change. In the wake of the destruction are the shattered animal populations, some on the brink of extinction and others are long gone. (6) Collect the Species at Risk research assignment and complete it.

Humans have never had the mindset that we need to cause all of these species to go extinct (except if we could banish mosquitoes!), it isn’t a desire that we have. However, it is happening, and we want to defend these animals from ourselves. There are numerous conservation efforts across the globe to protect important ecosystems and animals. (7) Define in-situ conservation and ex-situ conservation. One of those efforts in North America is the Y2Y project. It stands for Yellowstone to Yukon. It is a massive conservation effort across the national parks that span from Yellowstone to Banff to further northward into the Yukon Territories. (7) Collect the Y2Y Conservation Effort research assignment and complete it.

Continued


(1) Collect the Earth’s Biodiversity Distribution assignment and complete it.

There are some key ecosystems on the globe that are being heavily affected from humanity’s presence. A good indicator for the healthiness of the ocean is the coral reef. Another good example is the arctic with the threat of global climate change. Also, the rainforests offer a lot for our planet, and they are being lost at an alarming rate. There are many other very important ecosystems on our planet being threatened, and the reduction in biodiversity that will come with their destruction will have a lasting effect on us humans. In light of that, (2) research another program (other than the Y2Y) that is attempting to protect the species diversity and evaluate its successes and limitations with at least 2 of its target species and its success or limitations as a whole project in half a page written discussion.


- Extinction vs extirpation and how it happens naturally or by humans- How extinction and extirpation affects biodiversity- In-situ conservation Vs. ex-situ conservation- How ecosystems are protected, and what the government’s role in the protection is

Presentation (5%)

Now we need to put your learning together. This is where you make your presentation by putting together the unit to drive home your understanding.

Big helpful hint here – use the work you’ve already done in your portfolio! Re-use your own answers, refer to previous assignments, discuss activities you did, etc… Don’t reinvent the unit when you’ve already done it! This is just putting the ideas all together in one place.

You can do your presentation in any format of your choice, some suggestions are: essay format (written description), PowerPoint, Video (could be a talk, animation, or anything that shows the information), audio recording of a discussion, poster, website, blog, or any other presentation method of your choice. This is an open-ended way present your learning.

The key theme in this unit is biodiversity. All of the topics discuss the importance of variation, so your presentation will emphasize that theme of biodiversity, include in your presentation the following content regarding biodiversity and variation:

- Why variation is important between individuals in a species and between ecosystemso Also, briefly mention how we classify this variation (taxonomy)

- How a species niche affects their interactions with other specieso How overlapping niches cause competitiono How slight differences in niches can allow co-existenceo How symbiosis can occur

- How natural selection can affect the organisms in a population- Reproduction’s role in biodiversity

o How sexual reproduction leads to the variation we seeo The types of asexual reproductiono Advantages/disadvantages to asexual and sexual reproduction

- What inheritance meanso Types of characteristics that are inherited, and types that are noto Difference between discrete and continuous traits

- The connection between DNA, chromosomes, and genes- The basics of DNA replication (cell division) for both mitosis and meiosis- What artificial selection is, and how it is used by humans- The controversy behind biotechnologies (the good and the bad)- Why it is important to protect our biodiversity

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