Biodiversity & Resilience
CONCEPTUALExplain what biodiversity means, why high biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient, and describe the ways human activity threatens biodiversity (habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, climate change)
Mastery Evidence
- Defines biodiversity at the species, genetic, and ecosystem levels
- Explains why high biodiversity makes an ecosystem more stable and resilient to disruption
- Identifies at least three human activities that reduce biodiversity
- Discusses why biodiversity loss matters for humans as well as wildlife
Assessment Prompt
“If [child] was asked why it matters if a rainforest is cut down even if lots of species survive elsewhere, could they explain what biodiversity means and why losing it makes whole ecosystems more fragile?”
Curriculum Standards2 alignments
MS-LS2-4Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Middle Schoolcodes onlyKS3.Sci.Bio.Adaptation.3The national curriculum in Englandthe importance of biodiversity and the potential impact of human activity on biodiversity
Prerequisites2
- Species Distribution & ChangesoftAges 12—13
- Food Webs & InterdependencehardAges 11—12
Show full prerequisite tree
- Species Distribution & Change soft
Biodiversity loss is a consequence of the environmental changes affecting species distribution
- Food Webs & Interdependence soft
Understanding how species distribution changes affects food webs and ecosystem interdependence
- Ecology Vocabulary hard
Constructing food webs and understanding interdependence requires food web, producer, decomposer vocabulary
- Food Chains & Energy Transfer hard
KS3 food webs and ecosystem interdependence extends KS2 introduction to food chains with producers, predators and prey
- Rainforest Food Webs soft
Rainforest food webs enrich curriculum food chains topic (exploratory age 7 -> curriculum age 8)
- Rainforest Layers hard
Plants taught in context of layers (epiphytes in canopy, lianas climbing trunks)
- Animal Nutrition soft
Nutrition knowledge supports understanding why animals occupy different trophic levels
- Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivores soft
Carnivore/herbivore/omnivore classification supports understanding nutrition differences
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic survival needs before learning about nutrition types and food groups
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Simple Food Chains hard
Must understand simple food chains before constructing complex ones with producer/predator/prey terminology
- Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivores hard
Must know carnivore/herbivore/omnivore to understand food chains
- Habitats & Basic Needs hard
Must know about habitats and interdependence before learning food chains
- Where Are the Poles? soft
Polar regions enrich the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Describing how habitats provide for basic needs requires habitat, environment, conditions, shelter vocabulary
- What Is a Rainforest? soft
Rainforest habitat knowledge enriches the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Living, Dead & Never Alive hard
Must distinguish living from non-living before understanding habitats that support living things
- Living Things Vocabulary hard
Comparing living, dead, and never-been-alive things requires the life processes vocabulary to give reasons
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
- Ocean Animal Variety soft
Food chains benefit from knowing the variety of animals that eat each other
- Minibeasts in the food chain soft
Garden minibeast food chains provide concrete examples for curriculum simple-food-chains
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must know common minibeasts before placing them in food chains
- Rainforest Animals soft
Rainforest animals provide rich examples for simple food chains (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Ecology Vocabulary hard
Constructing and interpreting food chains requires producer, consumer, predator, prey vocabulary
- Whales & Dolphins Are Mammals hard
Classifying marine mammals vs fish builds on whale/dolphin are mammals concept
- Ocean Animal Variety soft
Food chains benefit from knowing the variety of animals that eat each other
- Reading Food Web Diagrams hard
Constructing and interpreting food webs requires the food web diagram representation
- Reading and drawing circuit diagrams soft
Reading food web arrows requires the same diagram-reading conventions as circuit diagrams — both are directed-graph notations
- Changing Environments hard
KS3 species distribution and climate change extends KS2 understanding that environmental change can threaten living things
- Habitats & Basic Needs hard
Must understand how habitats support organisms before understanding what happens when they change
- Where Are the Poles? soft
Polar regions enrich the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Describing how habitats provide for basic needs requires habitat, environment, conditions, shelter vocabulary
- What Is a Rainforest? soft
Rainforest habitat knowledge enriches the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Living, Dead & Never Alive hard
Must distinguish living from non-living before understanding habitats that support living things
- Living Things Vocabulary hard
Comparing living, dead, and never-been-alive things requires the life processes vocabulary to give reasons
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
- Simple Food Chains soft
Food chain knowledge helps understand knock-on effects of environmental change
- Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivores hard
Must know carnivore/herbivore/omnivore to understand food chains
- Habitats & Basic Needs hard
Must know about habitats and interdependence before learning food chains
- Where Are the Poles? soft
Polar regions enrich the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Describing how habitats provide for basic needs requires habitat, environment, conditions, shelter vocabulary
- What Is a Rainforest? soft
Rainforest habitat knowledge enriches the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Living, Dead & Never Alive hard
Must distinguish living from non-living before understanding habitats that support living things
- Living Things Vocabulary hard
Comparing living, dead, and never-been-alive things requires the life processes vocabulary to give reasons
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
- Ocean Animal Variety soft
Food chains benefit from knowing the variety of animals that eat each other
- Minibeasts in the food chain soft
Garden minibeast food chains provide concrete examples for curriculum simple-food-chains
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must know common minibeasts before placing them in food chains
- Rainforest Animals soft
Rainforest animals provide rich examples for simple food chains (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary soft
Discussing how environments change and pose dangers uses habitat and conditions vocabulary
- Food Webs & Interdependence hard
Biodiversity's role in ecosystem resilience is best understood in the context of food webs and interdependence
- Ecology Vocabulary hard
Constructing food webs and understanding interdependence requires food web, producer, decomposer vocabulary
- Food Chains & Energy Transfer hard
KS3 food webs and ecosystem interdependence extends KS2 introduction to food chains with producers, predators and prey
- Rainforest Food Webs soft
Rainforest food webs enrich curriculum food chains topic (exploratory age 7 -> curriculum age 8)
- Rainforest Layers hard
Plants taught in context of layers (epiphytes in canopy, lianas climbing trunks)
- Animal Nutrition soft
Nutrition knowledge supports understanding why animals occupy different trophic levels
- Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivores soft
Carnivore/herbivore/omnivore classification supports understanding nutrition differences
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic survival needs before learning about nutrition types and food groups
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Simple Food Chains hard
Must understand simple food chains before constructing complex ones with producer/predator/prey terminology
- Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivores hard
Must know carnivore/herbivore/omnivore to understand food chains
- Habitats & Basic Needs hard
Must know about habitats and interdependence before learning food chains
- Where Are the Poles? soft
Polar regions enrich the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Describing how habitats provide for basic needs requires habitat, environment, conditions, shelter vocabulary
- What Is a Rainforest? soft
Rainforest habitat knowledge enriches the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Living, Dead & Never Alive hard
Must distinguish living from non-living before understanding habitats that support living things
- Living Things Vocabulary hard
Comparing living, dead, and never-been-alive things requires the life processes vocabulary to give reasons
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
- Ocean Animal Variety soft
Food chains benefit from knowing the variety of animals that eat each other
- Minibeasts in the food chain soft
Garden minibeast food chains provide concrete examples for curriculum simple-food-chains
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must know common minibeasts before placing them in food chains
- Rainforest Animals soft
Rainforest animals provide rich examples for simple food chains (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Ecology Vocabulary hard
Constructing and interpreting food chains requires producer, consumer, predator, prey vocabulary
- Whales & Dolphins Are Mammals hard
Classifying marine mammals vs fish builds on whale/dolphin are mammals concept
- Ocean Animal Variety soft
Food chains benefit from knowing the variety of animals that eat each other
- Reading Food Web Diagrams hard
Constructing and interpreting food webs requires the food web diagram representation
- Reading and drawing circuit diagrams soft
Reading food web arrows requires the same diagram-reading conventions as circuit diagrams — both are directed-graph notations
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