Topic 18: Biodiversity, classification and conservation (CIE A-level Biology)

Hours of research and planning has gone into each and every one of the 9 lessons that are included in this lesson bundle that covers topic 18 of the CIE A-level Biology course . Conscious that some students do not fully engage in the topics of biodiversity, classsification and conservation, the lessons have been designed to contain a wide range of tasks which will motivate the students whilst the content of the following specification points are covered:

18.1: Biodiversity

• Define the terms species, ecosystem and niche
• Explain that biodiversity can be considered at three different levels
• Explain the importance of random sampling in determining the biodiversity of an area
• Use suitable methods to assess the distribution and abundance of organisms in a local area
• Use Spearman’s rank correlation to analyse the relationship between the distribution and abundance of species and abiotic or biotic factors
• Use Simpson’s Index of diversity

18.2: Classification

• Describe the classification of species into the 8 taxonomic divisions
• Outline the characteristic features of the three domains
• Outline the characteristic features of the kingdoms
• Explain why viruses are not included in the three domain classification and outline how they are classified

18.3: Conservation

• The reasons for the need to maintain biodiversity
• Discuss methods of protecting endangered species
• The role of non-governmental organisations like the WWF and CITES in local and global conservation

If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the Spearman’s rank correlation, features of the kingdoms and WWF, CITES and conservation lesson as these have been uploaded for free