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:
What is biodiversity?
What is the importance of biodiversity for the health of an ecosystem?
What are the historical records of biodistribution of the mammal, Bramble Cay melomys?
How has climate change lead to the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys?
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
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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.
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
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.
Use this video interview of Dr Steve Morton to understand the importance of biodiversity and its benefits.
Stress on how anthropogenic climate change may affect biodiversity.
Also emphasize how certain species may possibly go extinct due to climate change.
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.
Discuss the various case studies presented in the reading and assess the possible climatic factors responsible for the extinction of these species.
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.
Also, discuss how the inference of the proximate causes of species extinction may require scrutiny in several cases.
Explore local and global species for threat of extinction
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.
Introduce your students to the information on the extinct mammal, Bramble Cay melomys, using the IUCN tool.
