SUSTAINABILITY

Biodiversity

(Taught in week 9)

Tutorial - Student Version

General Education Program GESU121

Date: ____________ CRN: _________ Section: ___________

Teacher name: ___________________________ Student name: ___________________________ Student ID: ___________________________ Classroom: ___________________________

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

1

Why is biodiversity important in our lives? Use the following website to help you:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares

vocabulary meaning part of speech

biodiversity the variety of plant and animal life in the world noun (n)

conservation noun (n)

organism

noun (n)

Endemism (endemic (adj.))

noun (n)

habitat

noun (n)

tropics

noun (n)

flora & fauna

noun (n)

ecosystem

noun (n)

Services offered by a diverse environment of species: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

What would the world be like today if we had dinosaurs?

https://www.theclever.com/15-things-that-would-happen-if-dinosaurs-were-still-around/

Example

Biodiversity

Working in pairs, look up the words you do not know.

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

2

Go to the following website to find out what the six different types of ecosystems are and give an example of each:

https://sciencing.com/types-environmental-ecosystems-8640.html

What do you think are the negative human impacts on these ecosystems?

Go to the following website and calculate your ecological footprint:

http://ecologicalfootprint.com/

My ecological footprint is:

If everyone lived like you, how many planets would we need?

My carbon footprint is:

Example 1. Forest Ecosystems rainforests Example(s)

2. Grassland Ecosystems Example(s)

3. Desert Ecosystems Example(s)

4. Tundra Ecosystems Example(s)

5. Freshwater Ecosystems Example(s)

6. Marine Ecosystems Example(s)

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

3

A. In which part of the world do the following animals live?

B. What has happened to the size of their natural habitat (use different adverbs to describe)?

C. What do you think the main reasons are?

A. B. C.

A. B. C.

A. B. C.

A. South East Asia B. It has shrunk dramatically in just 100 years C. Poaching for Traditional medicine

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

4

A yes/no question:

Subject Verb Object

You are tired today.

Verb Subject Object

Are you tired today?

Practice:

A ‘who’ question:

subject be + cont. verb object

Aaesha is practicing the violin

wh-word be + cont. verb object

Who is practicing the violin?

A ‘what’ question:

subject be + cont. verb object

Aaesha is practicing the violin

wh-word be + cont. verb object

What is Aaesha practicing?

A ‘where’ question:

subject be + cont. verb object

Aaesha is practicing the violin in her room

wh-word be + cont. verb object

Where is Aaesha practicing the violin?

Grammar Focus: How to use questions.

Change the word order.

Change the subject for

who.

What replaces the

object.

Change the location for

where.

Is she your best friend?

She is your best friend.

He is good at math.

They are a great football team.

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

5

Who:

Latifa is singing in the kitchen.

Amel is driving the car.

What: Latifa is singing in a happy song.

Amel is cooking spaghetti.

Where: Latifa is meeting her friend in the park.

Amel is shopping at Carrefour.

Positive clause (is/are) Negative tag (is not/aren’t)

Sara is happy.

Maitha is writing her homework.

The boys are sleeping.

Negative clause (didn’t/won’t/can’t) Positive tag (did/will/can)

Sultan didn’t study hard.

Ahmed won’t attend the meeting.

The students can’t leave the hostel.

Note the use of the comma.

Example Sara is happy, isn’t she?

Example Sultan didn’t study hard, did he?

If the main clause in positive, then the question tag is negative

If the main clause in negative, then the question tag is positive

Tag questions change a clause into a question.

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

6

Negative:

Rehema isn’t felling very well today.

Jasem won’t come to soccer practice today.

Rouda isn’t good at calculus.

Positive:

Alia will go on holiday next week.

Nawal is being promoted.

Noura has won first prize.

The animals got out of the sheep pen.

Out of class activity 1: Practice writing some ‘wh’ questions:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

7

Out of class activity 3: Practice writing some ‘negative’ question tags:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Out of class activity 2: Practice writing some ‘positive’ question tags:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

8

1. In comparison to birds, which species is nearly twice as threatened from early extinction? 2. Give two examples of an amphibian.

3. Which percentage of fauna is threatened from premature extinction?

4. Give two examples of a reptile.

What services do you think marine systems provide to humanity?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Fishes

Amphibians

Mammals

Reptiles

Plants

Birds

24% (51% of freshwater species)

32%

25%

20%

14%

12%

Endangered natural capital: percentage of various types of

species threatened with premature extinction because of

human activities

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

9

Find the meaning of the words you do not know.

vocabulary meaning PoS

fertilization to allow the breeding of species n

pollinator n

disrupt n

nectar n

colony n

pesticide n

parasite n

fungi n

bacteria n

paralyze v

1. Three-quarters of all flowering plants in North America—including most fruit and vegetable crops— rely on pollinators such as bees, bats, butterflies, and hummingbirds for fertilization.

main idea

The importance of pollinators

main idea 2. According to a 2006 report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), populations of such vital pollinators are declining across North America, and honeybee populations have been in increasing trouble for over 2 decades. The report warns that continued decreases in wild populations of such pollinators could disrupt food production and ecosystems.

Case Study

Where have all the honeybees gone?

Example

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

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3. The report includes a specific warning on the decline of the honeybee, which pollinates more than 110 commercially grown crops that are vital to U.S. agriculture, including up to one-third of U.S. fruit and vegetable crops. Globally, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80% of that

pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Adult honeybees live on honey that they make from nectar they collect from flowering plants, and they feed their young with protein-rich pollen.

main idea

main idea 4. According to the NAS report, there has been a 30% drop in U.S. honeybee populations since the 1980s. Causes include pesticide exposure (the wax in beehives absorbs these and other

airborne toxins), attacks by parasitic mites that can wipe out a colony in hours, and invasion by

African honeybees (known as killer bees).

5. Since 2006, a growing number of bee colonies in 27 states have suffered what researchers call “bee colony collapse disorder,” or what French scientists call “mad bee disease,” in which the worker bees in a colony vanish without a trace. When beekeepers inspect what were once healthy and strong colonies, they find all of the adult worker bees gone and an abandoned queen bee.

main idea

main idea 6. More than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million honeybee colonies (each with 30,000 to 100,000 individual bees) have been lost. Possible causes include parasites, fungi, bacteria, and pesticides. Scientists also suspect a virus that paralyzes bees, which may have come from Israel or from bees imported from Australia to help replace declining U.S. honeybee populations. Another problem is poor nutrition and stress caused when colonies of bees are fed an artificial diet while being trucked around the country and rented out for pollination.

7. Scientists are also finding sharp declines in some species of bumblebees found in the United States. These bees are responsible for pollinating an estimated 15% of the crops grown in the United States, especially those that are raised in greenhouses, such as tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries. Bumblebees collect pollen and nectar to feed their young, but make very little honey.

main idea

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’

11

main idea 8. Declining bee populations have also been reported in Brazil, Taiwan, Guatemala, and parts of Europe. China, where some argue that pesticides are overused, gives us a glimpse of a future without honeybees. Apple orchards in China are now largely hand-fertilized by humans in the absence of bees. Some scientists warn that if it continues and grows, bee colony collapse disorder could lead to agricultural collapse disorder in parts of the world.

1. Many types of flora are dependent on pollinators. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. . 8.

Summary: Give a summary of the above paragraph (in note form/paraphrased)

Example