Description
In this investigation, students play a card game to simulate population changes and potential species loss in a temperate forest community due to realistic local factors such as habitat loss or fragmentation, pollution, invasive pathogens, overharvesting, climate change, and the establishment of invasive species. Students analyze their resulting data sets to determine which factors had a greater impact on biodiversity decline or loss within the community. They are then challenged to research one of these threats to biodiversity and propose a real-world, workable solution to the threat, or a solution to mitigate the damage created by the threat. Finally, students have the opportunity to evaluate the potential success of the solution they propose by introducing it as a rule in the modeling card game. Kit provides materials for 8 groups of students.
Unit Connection
This laboratory investigation correlates to Unit 9: Global Change, topic 9.10: Human Impacts on Biodiversity in the AP® Environmental Science Course and Exam Description.
Standards Connection
This kit addresses the following AP® Environmental Science concepts:
Big Idea 3: Interactions Between Different Species and the Environment (EIN) Humans alter natural systems and have had an impact on the environment for millions of years. Technology and population growth have enabled humans to increase both the rate and scale of their impact on the environment.
- EIN-4 The health of a species is closely tied to its ecosystem, and minor environmental changes can have a large impact.
- EIN-4.C Explain how human activities affect biodiversity and strategies to combat the problem.
- EIN-4.C.1 HIPPCO (habitat destruction, invasive species, population growth, pollution, climate change, and over exploitation) describes the main factors leading to a decrease in biodiversity.
- EIN-4.C.2 Habitat fragmentation occurs when large habitats are broken into smaller, isolated areas. Causes of habitat fragmentation include the construction of roads and pipelines, clearing for agriculture or development, and logging.
- EIN-4.C.3 The scale of habitat fragmentation that has an adverse effect on the inhabitants of a given ecosystem will vary from species to species within that ecosystem.
- EIN-4.C.4 Global climate change can cause habitat loss via changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise.
- EIN-4.C.5 Some organisms have been somewhat or completely domesticated and are now managed for economic returns, such as honeybee colonies and domestic livestock. This domestication can have a negative impact on the biodiversity of that organism.
- EIN-4.C.6 Some ways humans can mitigate the impact of loss of biodiversity include creating protected areas, use of habitat corridors, promoting sustainable land use practices, and restoring lost habitats.
Time Requirements
Teacher Preparation (before class):
- Prelab: 60 minutes
- Investigation 1: 60 minutes
- Investigation 2: 30 minutes
Class Time:
- Prelab: 30 minutes
- Investigation 1: 45–60 minutes
- Investigation 2: 45–60 minutes
- Student Presentations: 45 minutes
- Free-Response Questions: 60 minutes
The times provided are estimates. The time required may vary based on your student population and class schedule.
Digital Resources
Includes 1-year access to digital resources that support instruction. Digital resources may include teacher manual and student guide, prelab activities and setup videos, simulations, and postlab analysis and assessments.
Prior Knowledge and Skills
Students should be familiar with the following skills or concepts:
- Basic understanding of food webs as models of the directional flow of energy through an ecosystem
- Ecosystem terms such as “population” and “community”
- Interspecies interactions
- Ecological terms such as “species richness” and “species evenness”
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