Biodiversity & Resilience
Explain what biodiversity means, why high biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient, and describe the ways human activity threatens biodiversity (habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, climate change)
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Biodiversity includes variation within species, between species and among ecosystems. Resilience means resisting a disturbance or recovering after it. Diversity can support resilience when organisms respond differently or provide overlapping functions. More species alone does not guarantee safety from every disturbance. Safety: No wildlife collection or release. Stop: Stop after analysing the paper networks. Do not introduce, remove or count organisms outdoors.
Materials: Paper; Pencil 1. Make three labelled examples: genetic—different inherited drought tolerance within one grass species; species—grasses, bees and beetles in a meadow; ecosystem—nearby meadow, woodland and wetland. Explain why the examples describe different levels. 2. Copy this illustrative pollination network: bee A visits flower X; bee B visits X and Y; fly C visits Y. Cross out bee A after a fictional disease. Show which pollination links remain. Compare with a second network where only bee A visits X. 3. Write threat → change → possible consequence chains for forest clearance, fertiliser pollution reaching water, an introduced predator becoming invasive, and greenhouse-gas-driven warming. An introduced species is not automatically invasive; harmful spread is the concern. 4. Choose two consequences for people: reduced crop pollination, changed water quality or lost habitat protection. Explain the link. Add one missing fact before forecasting recovery, such as whether bee B is also affected by the disease. Done: Complete the three-level examples, two network comparisons and at least three threat chains. Proof: Keep the network sheet. Note if an adult named the remaining link or supplied a human benefit. Stop: Stop after analysing the paper networks. Do not introduce, remove or count organisms outdoors.
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NASA Climate Kids · Practice link — not the full lesson
Plants and Animals
Before you open · source notes
Plants and Animals supports Biodiversity & Resilience. An adult previews and guides; this is a learning page, not a scored quiz.
Free educational page, no sign-in required for the tested path.
Before you openAsk the learner one fact they learned and one question they still have.
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Public NASA Climate Kids page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. An adult should preview and guide the learner.
NASA Climate Kids. “Plants and Animals.” External page; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute materials.
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Check understanding
- Defines biodiversity at the species, genetic, and ecosystem levels
- Explains why high biodiversity makes an ecosystem more stable and resilient to disruption
- Identifies at least three human activities that reduce biodiversity
- Discusses why biodiversity loss matters for humans as well as wildlife
“If your child was asked why it matters if a rainforest is cut down even if lots of species survive elsewhere, could they explain what biodiversity means and why losing it makes whole ecosystems more fragile?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Ecosystems & Habitats
- Age range
- Ages 12–14
Standards