Climate: Climate Change & Biodiversity

• In this activity, students will learn how climate change affects biodiversity and how media messaging can influence people's perspectives on a topic. 
• This resource includes a student worksheet, a lesson plan, a PowerPoint presentation, and a student handout. 

Positives

• Students will learn that climate change destroys habitats and limits biodiversity.
• Teachers can adapt this lesson for virtual learning by presenting the PowerPoint over Zoom or sharing it on a virtual platform.

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers must create a free account to access the materials.
• Teachers may want to go over this handout on analyzing media messages before students complete the worksheet.
• The lesson plan refers to a "constructivist media decoding process;" these materials will help teachers to understand the goals and design of the lesson.

Differentiation

• Students could respond to questions individually or in small groups before discussing the questions as a class.
• Biology classes could research invasive species in local ecosystems. Students could discuss how the invasive species are making it difficult for native species to survive.
• Other resources on this topic include this interactive mapping tool that shows the restoration potential for sites around the world, this video about the importance of biodiversity, and this TED-Ed video on the need for ecosystem and species diversity.

This resource is recommended for teaching students to understand how to use nature-based solutions to protect their biodiversity and other ecosystem services being impacted by climate change. There is no contradiction in the resource.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.