“Some species are critical to conserve because they serve important functions in their ecosystems..they might be sources of new medicines, or they may have unique biological features that could inspire human innovation. We don’t know if the Devils Hole pupfish has or ever will serve any of these important functions…
We do know that the pupfish, like all species, has a fundamental right to exist that is independent of its value to humans.”
- Steven Beissinger, UC Berkeley Professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Transitioning from small studies of the different ways in which humans negatively impact the natural world - industrialization, poaching, plastic littering, etc. - this lesson zooms out and examines the long-term, cumulative impact of man. After a nonfiction text feature scavenger hunt refreshes our reading strategy for navigation of the textbook, a piece of art by conservationist Asher Jay - "Hydrocarbon Hospice" and an IFL Science popular science article modernizes and intensifies the flat, impersonal overview of extinction that chapter "6-3: Biodiversity" provides. The real-life threat of a human-induced "sixth mass extinction" parallels how Eckels, in "A Sound of Thunder," presented the idea that we are in responsible for a less-than-ideal future if we are not careful in preserving the environment. And, as a cause for concern, we are responsible for far more than a single butterfly.
Textbook Chapter "Text Feature-Based" Scavenger Hunt 6-3: "Biodiversity" Instead of a traditional read-aloud of the textbook chapter that covers today's lesson topic, we took a scavenger hunt organized around the nonfiction text features in "6-3: Biodiversity." The scavenger hunt held two types of questions and/or prompts. Some provided information in the textbook, and we had to deduce which text features it most likely took the form of, identifying the page number and text feature we ultimately found it in. Others merely identified a text feature, prompting us to locate any example of it within the chapter and then briefly explain the reason why that information would be provided in that specific text feature.
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Biodiversity: the degree of variation of life; number of species in the biosphere. Endangered Species: a species whose continued existence is threatened by either human (i.e. deforestation) or natural (i.e. disease) activity.
Mass Extinction: a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of life.
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Art Analysis: Asher Jay's "Hydrocarbon Hospice" After briefly brainstorming about the "grim reaper" on a semantic web, the teacher projected Asher Jay's art, "Hydrocarbon Hospice" on the SmartBoard. The conservationist's art is provided below for viewing. As a class, we discussed its meaning. Some guiding questions included:
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Jay, A. (2010). Hydrocarbon hospice [Image]. Retrieved from http://asherjay.com/spill-response.html
Popular Science Article & CHoMP: The Sixth Mass Extinction Since the textbook is not up-to-date on extinction rates and biodiversity declines, this IFL Science popular science article modernizes the textbook's overview of endangered species and extinction to provide a scary look at our building impact on the environment. Remember that CHoMP - our during-reading note-taking and paraphrasing strategy for popular science articles - involves four steps, as outlined in the anchor chart to the right. While the teacher began a read-aloud of the article, we implemented CHoMP independently thereafter. Then, in groups of four (4), we discussed the article, reflecting on its implications - especially in terms of our unit themes (interconnectedness, individual worth, accountability). |
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Summary of IFL Science Article:
Student-Generated Metaphor Since Asher Jay links human activity to a grim reaper and the IFL Science article compares this current human-caused extinction to the deadliness of the dinosaur's asteroid-caused one, we filled in metaphor cards that prompted us to see how our current activity is as dangerous as a prehistoric asteroid and the infamous personification of death itself, the grim reaper. Pick one of the fill-in-the-blank cards and create a metaphor using a text details (or two) from the IFL Science article:
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