Diversity Statements

Question(s)

What does biodiversity mean?

Overview

Students work together to come up with their own working definition of diversity and biodiversity that everyone understands and can use effectively. This definition will lay the conceptual groundwork for students’ investigation of biodiversity in a local ecosystem through the Biodiversity Watershed Experience.

Standards (MLR)

Learning Objectives

• Students gain an individual and collective understanding of biodiversity to support their future investigations

Materials

1 group of items per station that have either high diversity or low diversity or questionable diversity

Examples of groups of items:

• White lined paper, post-it note, green index card, computer paper
• Handful of colored pencils
• See Activity Procedure for additional examples

Time Needed

Depends on the number of stations used:

• 30 minutes with five 4-minute stations and light 10-minute discussion
• 40+ minutes with more stations, longer stations, or in-depth discussion

Activity Procedure

ROUND 1.

Set up Diversity Stations around the room. Each station has a group of items with high diversity, low diversity, or questionable diversity. At each station, ask teams of students to:

• Make a simple claim about the diversity of the group of items at their station
• Is this good or bad?
• Why is this important? Why should I care?

Three example stations:

Station 1.  Colored Pencils

1. This is a diverse bunch of colored pencils. They are all different colors, different lengths, and have different degrees of sharpness.
2. Colored pencil diversity is good because it gives us more ways to express ourselves.
3. Without this diversity our drawings would be dull, boring, etc.

Station 2.  Bookshelf

1. This is not a diverse shelf of books. There are 10 copies of The Phantom Tollbooth.
2. This lack of diversity is great if we have a book group that wants to read and discuss one book together. Low book diversity is bad if we don’t like reading fantasy stories, if we want to read more than one book this year, or if we like discussing different books with our classmates.
3. A diversity of books is important because it’s more exciting for us to read different things than it is to read the same thing over and over.

Station 3. Lunch Bags

1. This is a diverse pile of lunches. All lunch bags are different and no one is eating the same kind of sandwich.
2. This diversity is good because we like trading and trying new food.
3. A diverse selection of lunches means that everyone can eat what they like eating and not be stuck with bologna and cheese or something they hate.

ROUND 2.

These Diversity Stations are focused on the living things and the living environment. The instructions are the same a Round 1, except students make statements about biodiversity.

• Make a simple claim about the diversity of the group of items at their station
• Is this good or bad?
• Why is this important? Why should I care?

Two example stations:

Station 1. School Lawn

1. The lawn outside the window is not diverse. We only see mowed grass. There may be a few bugs and some worms, but we can’t see them from here.
2. Biodiversity is low. This is good because it’s where we play kickball at recess.
3. It’s important to have a place to play kickball because we need to exercise to stay healthy.

Station 2. School Garden

1. The garden at the school entrance has high diversity. I see colorful flowers from many different plants, butterflies, insects, and birds.
2. This is good because more animals and insects have food to eat and places to hide.
3. This is important because without food and shelter, the animals and insects wouldn’t be able to live here at all.

CLASS DISCUSSION

Together create working definitions of diversity and biodiversity based on the statements made by student teams. Use these definitions to guide (but not limit) your discussion. It’s critical that students build their own understanding of these concepts.

• Diversity: A group that is made up of elements or qualities that are different from one another
• Biodiversity: The many different species of living things found within a defined geographic region

Defining an area is important when talking about biodiversity. Make a list of the places that students mentioned in their statements (lawn outside the window, garden at the school entrance, tulip garden near the soccer field). This list will be a useful reference as you start thinking about diversity in another, bigger place – your watershed – via the next activity in the Biodiversity Watershed Experience, Google Earth Diversity Trip.

Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas

After stations and prior to class discussion, ask students to read and Peer Review one another’s claims/ statements about diversity and biodiversity. Team 1 reviews the work of Team 2; Team 3 reviews the work of Team 4; and so on. In their review, ask students to add things that they think would improve their claims/ statements. They are not critiquing, but helping and extending the work of their peers.

Extension Ideas

There are 3 primary levels of biodiversity:

1. Genetic diversity within a species
2. Diversity of species within a community
3. Diversity of communities within ecosystems

Go another round, narrowing or broadening the focus as you wish to hit any or all of these levels. (http://research.usm.maine.edu/gulfofmaine-census/about-the-gulf/biodiversity-of-the-gulf)

Resources

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References

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