Biodiversity in Your Water

teacher activity guide - Global Lab

habitat

A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species. A microenvironment is the immediate surroundings and other physical factors of an individual plant or animal within its habitat.

Activity-at-a-Glance

Students are introduced to aquatic biodiversity. They explore the diversity of life that exists in and around the water. In class, students brainstorm about the different aquatic habitats that exist in their body of water, and the diversity of organisms that live in those habitats.

Classroom Management and Preparation

This activity is a mixture of class-wide discussion and small group work. The brainstorming in Step 1 can be done as a class or in small groups.

Resources

The Aquatic Biodiversity and Bioindication teacher background sheet provides fundamentals for the discussion.

Water Biodiversity Field Work study sheets for students includes preparing and using the plankton net.

Waterplants Team

Macroinvertebrates Team

Microorganisms Team

Recommended Procedures

1. Have students brainstorm aquatic habitats.

Where are habitats located in and around water? What must a habitat supply in order for organisms to thrive there? As students' lists grow, push them to be creative in thinking of all possible habitats—in deep water, along the edge, in the air above the water, in the muck, under a fallen log, in the riffle zone.

2. Have student teams create concept maps connecting the different aquatic habitats and their inhabitants.

As with the brainstorming, encourage students to think creatively about the types of organisms that might form part of an aquatic habitat—from large fish or other wildlife, to birds that might make nests along the shore and swim in the water, to insects, plants, algae, and even the smallest microscopic amoebas.

When you get together you could place the word "Pond" in the center.
The next circle could be Air, Mud, Land, Water's edge
Where would students place:
Fish
Frogs
Birds
Snakes
Insects
Deer
Worms
Trees
Beavers
Reeds
Snails
Bugs

(You might prefer to give this as a journal handout.)

3. What predictions do students have about the amount of diversity in their water? What might they need to know in order to test their predictions? What factors do they think might affect the amount of diversity? This will serve to prepare students for the actual measurements.

Extensions

- Students might contact various environmental protection organizations and report to the class about any laws or regulations protecting their body of water and how they are being enforced. What are the water protection laws? Which agencies are responsible for the protection? Is it a serious issue in your area? What GL schools exist in areas where there are real biodiversity issues in the local waters?

- The upcoming biodiversity field trip can be enriched by the presence of a parent or community member who is willing to help and learn along with the students, and perhaps a naturalist or aquatic biologist who can identify and explain phenomena as they occur in the field.

Assessment

Students' concept maps are a good indication of their current understanding of aquatic biodiversity. Since they will revisit these concept maps later in the activity, both you and they will have a chance to compare this early understanding with that resulting from their water studies.

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