Conservation - Forests, Fish stocks, Extinction and Captive Breeding Programmes

THIS RESOURCE IS FREE (AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS TOPIC)
I believe it is our collective responsibility to deliver this topic with as much impact as possible, ensuring that students truly grasp the significance of our actions against the environment. By giving students a voice to discuss these issues and empowering them to actively contribute to the creation of a sustainable future, they can start to inspire change in themselves, others and hopefully (one day) the wider world.

✓ Engaging presentation
✓ Recaps previous learning
✓ Lots of short AFL tasks
✓ Exam question examples

This lesson on Conservation is designed for KS4 Science students enrolled in the CIE Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 (2023-25) course. This is the fourth and last lesson in the topic 20 Human Influences on Ecosystems.

The lesson recaps previous learning from other linked topics to ensure students have a strong foundation before diving into the material. It also includes concise and easy-to-understand information and a variety of quick assessment for learning tasks to help students solidify their understanding of the topic. There is a strong emphasis on answering exam questions, with examples and the mark scheme included in the presentation.

Objectives:

• Describe a sustainable resource as one which is produced as rapidly as it is removed from the environment so that it does not run out
• State that some resources can be conserved and managed sustainably, limited to forests and fish stocks
• Explain why organisms become endangered or extinct, including: climate change, habitat destruction, hunting, overharvesting, pollution and introduced species
• Describe how endangered species can be conserved, limited to: (a) monitoring and protecting species and habitats (b) education © captive breeding programmes (d) seed banks
• Explain how forests can be conserved using: education, protected areas, quotas and replanting
• Explain how fish stocks can be conserved using: education, closed seasons, protected areas, controlled net types and mesh size, quotas and
  monitoring
• Describe the reasons for conservation programmes, limited to: (a) maintaining or increasing biodiversity (b) reducing extinction © protecting vulnerable ecosystems (d) maintaining ecosystem functions, limited to nutrient cycling and resource provision, including food, drugs, fuel and genes
• Describe the use of artificial insemination (AI) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in captive breeding programmes
• Explain the risks to a species if its population size decreases, reducing genetic variation (knowledge of genetic drift is not required)

This lesson would also be adaptable for all GCSE students (whether AQA, Edexcel, OCR) and great for KS3 Science or as a GCSE revision resource.