Download PBL Assignment – Unit 1 Biological Diversity

Project Based Learning: Unit 1 – Biological Diversity
In 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?
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.
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
Learning Guides
Questions (1 each)
Assignments (5 each)
Section Total
Project Breakdown
% of Project
95% of Project
Divided into Seven
Sections
N/A
9 marks
/9 times 80% =
Remark:
/3 times 15% =
Remark:
% times 1/7 =
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/8 times 15% =
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% times 1/7 =
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/10 times 80% =
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Learning Guide 1
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Level 1
Level 2
9 Questions
3 Questions
N/A
3 marks
N/A
9 marks
Learning Guide 2
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Level 1
Level 2
9 Questions
3 Questions
1 Assignment
8 marks
N/A
10 marks
Learning Guide 3
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Level 1
Level 2
10 Questions
3 Questions
N/A
3 marks
N/A
12 marks
Learning Guide 4
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Level 1
Level 2
12 Questions
N/A
1 Assignment
5 marks
Continued 
Section
Questions (1 each)
Assignments (5 each)
Section Total
Project Breakdown
% of Project
2 Assignments
14 marks
/14 times 80% =
Remark:
/2 times 15% =
Remark:
% times 1/7 =
Remark:
/24 times 80% =
Remark:
/3 times 15% =
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% times 1/7 =
Remark:
/16 times 80% =
Remark:
/6 times 15% =
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Remark:
Learning Guide 5
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Level 1
Level 2
4 Questions
2 Questions
N/A
2 marks
3 Assignments
24 marks
Learning Guide 6
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Level 1
Level 2
9 Questions
3 Questions
N/A
3 marks
2 Assignments
16 marks
Learning Guide 7
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Level 1
Level 2
Presentation
6 Questions
1 Question
1 Assignment
6 marks
N/A
N/A
20 marks
/20 times 5%
5% of the
Project =
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 
Level 2 Learning (15%)
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
Level 1 Learning (80%)
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 
Level 2 Learning (15%)
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).
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.
-
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
Level 1 Learning (80%)
(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.
Level 2 Learning (15%)
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).
Checking for Understanding
-
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!
Level 1 Learning (80%)
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 
Level 2 Learning (15%)
Collect the importance of variation assignment. (1) Complete all parts of the assignment. You
need to include the genealogy and the analysis questions.
Checking for Understanding
-
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
Level 1 Learning (80%)
(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.
Continued 
Level 2 Learning (15%)
(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.
Checking for Understanding
-
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)
Learning Guide 6: The Microscopic Engine of Life – DNA and its
Significance
Level 1 Learning (80%)
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.
Level 2 Learning (15%)
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.
Checking for Understanding
-
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)
Learning Guide 7: What Can We Do to Conserve the Beautiful
Diversity That Nature Has Given Us On Earth?
Level 1 Learning (80%)
(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 
Level 2 Learning (15%)
(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.
Checking for Understanding
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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:
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Why variation is important between individuals in a species and between ecosystems
o Also, briefly mention how we classify this variation (taxonomy)
How a species niche affects their interactions with other species
o How overlapping niches cause competition
o How slight differences in niches can allow co-existence
o 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 see
o The types of asexual reproduction
o Advantages/disadvantages to asexual and sexual reproduction
What inheritance means
o Types of characteristics that are inherited, and types that are not
o 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