Lesson Plan: Biodiversity and Species Extinction due to Climate Change

by TROP ICSU

As an undergraduate Biological Sciences or Environmental Sciences teacher, you can use this set of computer-based tools to teach about biodiversity and the vulnerability of species due to climate change.

The biodiversity of plant and animal species on planet Earth is threatened by several factors such as habitat loss, poaching, disease, overexploitation of natural resources, and introduction of invasive species. Climate change is expected to be one of the leading causes of species decline or extinction. This lesson plan discusses the extinction of one mammal species, the Bramble Cay melomys. It is believed to be the first mammalian extinction due to climate change.

Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in Biological Sciences or Environmental Sciences.

Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:

  1. What is biodiversity?
  2. What is the importance of biodiversity for the health of an ecosystem?
  3. What are the historical records of biodistribution of the mammal, Bramble Cay melomys?
  4. How has climate change lead to the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys?
  5. How can climate related factors endanger the biodiversity of a region?

Teacher-submitted lesson plan, contributed by Dr. Robin Suyesh, Assistant Professor, Sri Venkateswara College (University of Delhi), India

Want to know more about how to contribute? Contact us.

About Lesson Plan

Grade Level Undergraduate
Discipline Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline Biodiversity, Conservation, Biogeography, Endemic Species, Vulnerability of Species, Susceptibility of Species, Species Extinction, Habitat Loss, Endangered Species, Threatened Species, Mammalian Extinction, Bramble Cay melomys
Climate Topic Climate and the Biosphere
Location Australia
Language(s) English
Access Online
Approximate
Time Required		 55 – 65 min

Contents

Video (~8 min) A video that highlights the importance of biodiversity and briefly discusses the challenges of preventing its degradation due to human activities.

Go to the Video
Reading (20 min) A review article that describes how climate change may alter the biodiversity of a region and potentially cause species extinction.

Go to the Reading
Reading (7 min) An editorial, ‘The Bramble Cay melomys: the first mammalian extinction due to human-induced climate change’, by Graham R. Fulton, Pacific Conservation Biology, 2017, 23, 1-3, that explains the case of the extinction of a mammalian species, Bramble Cay melomys, due to climate change.

Go to the Reading
Classroom/Laboratory Activity

(20-30 min)

 A classroom activity to explore the existential status of local and global species of organisms using the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List for Threatened Species, including the Bramble Cay melomys. The activity also includes a factsheet by the (IUCN) that highlights the susceptibility of certain species to climate change impacts.

Go to the Activity               Go to the Factsheet

Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.

1 Topic introduction and discussion
  1. Play the video, ‘What is biodiversity and why is it important’, by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, to introduce the topic of biodiversity.
  2. Use this video interview of Dr Steve Morton to understand the importance of biodiversity and its benefits.
  3. Stress on how anthropogenic climate change may affect biodiversity.
  4. Also emphasize how certain species may possibly go extinct due to climate change.

Go to the Video
2 Explore further
  1. Use the review article, ‘How does climate change cause extinction?’, by Cahill et al. (2013), from the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences), to explain to your students the proximate causes of climate change related species extinction.
  2. Discuss the various case studies presented in the reading and assess the possible climatic factors responsible for the extinction of these species.
  3. Use the findings in this review to explain to the students that there may be both direct and indirect effects of climatic variations on the survival of a species.
  4. Also, discuss how the inference of the proximate causes of species extinction may require scrutiny in several cases.

Go to the Reading
3 Further Reading Use this editorial, ‘The Bramble Cay melomys: the first mammalian extinction due to human-induced climate change’, by Graham R. Fulton, Pacific Conservation Biology, 2017, 23, 1-3, to explain the case of the extinction of a mammalian species, Bramble Cay melomys due to climate change.

Go to the Reading
4 Explore local and global species for threat of extinction
  1. Use the IUCN’s Red List to carry out a hands on activity that shows the relationship between the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys and climate change.
  2. Introduce your students to the information on the extinct mammal, Bramble Cay melomys, using the IUCN tool.

Go to the IUCN tool

Mapped Sustainable Development Goal(s), apart from 4 and 13

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