“How might we communicate the importance of biodiversity and what actions can we take to support it?”

On February 6 and 8 our grade 9 students visited the Calgary Zoo to learn more about biodiversity to enrich their science curriculum. Students investigated three different levels of biodiversity: genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.

As students explored the nature of reproduction, they heard about the mating behaviours of some of our resident animals and learned how animals preserve biodiversity within their species. Students also heard how researchers apply this knowledge to the Species Survival Plan initiative at the Zoo as well as discover the science behind other captive breeding programs.

Grade 9 Science Curricular Outcomes connected to the Zoo Trip:

• Identify impacts of human action on species survival and variation within species, and analyze related issues for personal and public decision making
• Investigate and interpret diversity among species and within species, and describe how diversity contributes to species survival
• Identify the role of variation in species survival under changing environmental conditions
• Evaluate the success and limitations of various local and global strategies for minimizing loss of species diversity
• Observe variation in living things, and describe examples of variation among species and within species
• Describe ongoing changes in biological diversity through extinction and extirpation of native species, and investigate the role of environmental factors in causing these changes
• Identify examples of niches, and describe the role of variation in enabling closely related living things to survive in the same ecosystem