WWF and other leading organizations assess biodiversity around the world in order to evaluate the status of our planet and determine necessary actions so both people and nature can thrive. Scientists look at a number of different factors when determining an area’s biodiversity health. In this activity, students will follow similar guidelines and survey the biodiversity of their school or community grounds. Based on results, they will strategize ways to increase and protect biodiversity by making the area more habitable for species.
Career and Technical Education (CTE): Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources, Career and Technical Education (CTE): Architecture & Construction, Career and Technical Education (CTE): STEM, Engineering, Environmental Education, Science
Students utilize design tools (e.g. online drafting tools) to assess their campus’s capacity and need for solar energy. Students will design a solar master plan to present to their district’s energy management team. For schools that already have solar photovoltaic energy, students can create a master plan for another building or campus in their community.
Students will use solar panels, fans, light bulbs, and buzzers to create circuits. Students will analyze their communities use of solar and make suggestions for added solar energy usage.
Students will plan and investigate energy vampires using an Energy Monitor to measure the energy consumption of different electrical devices. Students will collect and chart the data from their investigation and calculate how much money could be saved by unplugging energy vampires.
Students will discuss the value of electrical energy in their everyday lives. Using a power plant diagram and web-based sources, students will analyze steps to the electrical generation process and research information on renewable (alternative) energy sources.
When our planet thrives, it’s because species and habitats interact to contribute to healthy, functioning ecosystems within the biomes where they exist. Students will learn about the interdependence between species and their habitats, and about the current threats facing our planet’s biodiversity, by participating in a role-playing activity that demonstrates how we’re all connected.
In a mosaic, individual pieces are combined in order to reveal the bigger picture. Similarly, in order for nature to be able to support and provide for our ever growing world, we need all the components that comprise its foundation—biodiversity—to be strong and healthy. To represent a similar collective effort, students will design individual squares that reflect what biodiversity means to them and then assemble all the squares in a mosaic to raise awareness about the bigger picture: the importance of protecting biodiversity.
