Download Activity: Diversity of Species

Name ________________________________________________
Date ______________
Activity: Diversity of Species
Goals:
1. To examine the relative abundance of types of organisms on
Earth.
2. To represent the diversity of species on Earth using a bar
graph.
Background information: Here’s a challenge: Imagine if you can, every single living
thing on Earth. There are millions of species of plants, reptiles, mammals, fish,
shellfish, amphibians, insects, arachnids, and microorganisms. Try to imagine them all,
on a planet teeming with life. Don’t forget to put yourself in the picture! Now think about
what makes each of those species different from the others. Got a headache yet?
Think about what makes them look and act different, what different kinds of habitats and
climates they live in, what their different needs are, and how they interact with one
another. If you can, imagine even what differences you’d like to see if you could look at
each one through a very powerful microscope. If you can do this, you’ve got a good
idea of what the term biodiversity means. It’s a mind-boggling concept, because it
covers Earth’s variety of life in all its forms and processes. Biodiversity is really about
the ways that life is organized and interacts on our entire planet. And that’s a lot to think
about!
When most people speak of biodiversity, what they really mean is species
diversity. Species is the lowest level of taxonomic classification. There are about 1.4
million named species on Earth, but we know that many unnamed species exist. The
total number is probably between 5 and 15 million. Most of the evidence for numerous
unnamed species comes from studies of insects in tropical rainforests: when the canopy
of a tropical rainforest is fumigated and all the dead insects are collected, large numbers
of previously unknown insects are frequently collected.
Materials: calculator, colored pencils, graph paper
Procedure:
1. What I Know: Write at least one sentence describing what you know about the
variety of life on Earth.
2. Study the table provided and fill in the missing column. Calculate the percentage
of total species for each group. To do this, divide the number of species for a
group by the total number of species and then multiply by 100 to get the
percentage.
# of species in a group X 100 = % of total species
1,411,900
3. Use your results to create a bar graph. Label your x-axis Diversity of Various
Species and the y-axis Percent. Create a bar for each group of species. Label the
exact percentage for each group at the top of the bars. Be sure to use colored
pencils to create the bar graph.
3. What I Did: Briefly describe the procedure for this activity.
4. What I Observed: This will include the completed table and your bar graph.
Table:
Type of Species
Bacteria
Protists
Fungi
Plants
Insects
Other Animals
TOTAL
Number of Species
4,800
57,700
69,000
248,400
751,000
281, 000
1,411,900
Percentage of Species
5. What I Learned: Write at least two sentences summarizing what you learned
from this activity. Refer to the goals of the activity and provide examples or
evidence from your data.
6. What I Wonder: Write a “how” or “why” question that you still have about this
topic or still wonder about?
7. Questions:
A. How many percentage points is each box on the graph equal to?
B. Which group accounts for the most diversity of species on Earth?
C. What percent would represent the entire animal kingdom’s contribution to
biodiversity?
Types of Species
Other Animals
Insects
Plants
Fungi
Algae & Protozoa
Bacteria
Percent Total of Species
Diversity of Various Species
Bar Graph
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