Start with Resource 1 (PDF) which shows 8 different photos of habitats (where plants and animals live) and ask students what they notice. Which has most colour, the most texture, and the most variety?

Biodiversity can be defined as the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.

Look again at Resource 1 – which do students think contain the greatest biodiversity?

The images can be printed and sorted into a rank order, with the habitat containing the most biodiversity at the top or first position and the habitat with the lowest biodiversity at the bottom or 8^th position.

The images are of:

• Tropical Rainforest
• Conifers in the UK
• Wheatfield
• Coral reef
• Desert
• Rolling Devon farmland
• Mountains
• An English Oak tree

Now watch Resource 2 which expands on the definition and explains the importance of biodiversity:

Watch Resource 2

If high levels are considered to be important, what is happening to biodiversity across the globe?

Now listen to Dr Steve Morton, an ecologist working in Australia explain what biodiversity is and why he thinks it is important:

Watch Resource 3

What are the five reasons he gives as to why we should value biodiversity? What is the surprise 6^th ‘negative’ value of biodiversity?

Next ask students to undertake some research using the internet to explore one ecosystem. They could focus on one of the 8 examples given in Resource 1 or they could select a different one and list answers against the 5 (or 6) reasons to value that ecosystem.