Grade 08 Science - EC: S8.B.3.2.2
Grade 08 Science - EC: S8.B.3.2.2
Continuum of Activities
The list below represents a continuum of activities: resources categorized by Standard/Eligible Content that teachers may use to move students toward proficiency. Using LEA curriculum and available materials and resources, teachers can customize the activity statements/questions for classroom use.
This continuum of activities offers:
- Instructional activities designed to be integrated into planned lessons
- Questions/activities that grow in complexity
- Opportunities for differentiation for each student’s level of performance
Grade Levels
8th Grade
Course, Subject
Science
Related Academic Standards / Eligible Content
Activities
- Define biodiversity.
- The level of biodiversity that involves a variety of habits and communities is:
- Genetic diversity
- Population diversity
- Endemic diversity
- Ecosystem diversity
- List two main reasons for protecting entire ecosystems rather than individual species of animals and plants.
- List and define the three type of biodiversity.
- How can the increased use of the Amazon rain forests for agricultural activities like cattle ranching and farming, affect the environment? Provide two examples.
- Which effects biodiversity loss the most – habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, human population growth, or over-consumption? Choose one and defend your answer.
Answer Key/Rubric
- Biodiversity is the variety of life forms in an area.
- D.
- Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
- Ecosystems may contain species that have not yet been identified.
- Some species in an ecosystem may not have been studied enough to determine whether or not they are endangered.
- All species are preserved when the ecosystem as a whole is maintained.
- The health of the earth is dependent on the health and maintenance of its ecosystems.
- Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
- Ecosystem diversity – the variety of environments produced by the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors
- Genetic diversity – the variations between individuals of a species; characteristics passed from parents to their offspring
- Species diversity - the variety of different living things
- Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
- Clear cutting the Amazon rainforest has a serious effect on biodiversity. First, it damages the ecological balance of this very fragile environment by destroying habitats that are home to over half of the earth’s species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Indigenous tribes, which are also a part of the rainforest ecosystem, have been either displaced or destroyed to make room for cattle ranches and farms. Secondly the loss of trees reduces the recycling of carbon dioxide into oxygen.
- Response will depend on student’s choice
