Starter quiz
- What does an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide cause?
- Increased pollution
- Urbanisation
- Deforestation
- Global warming ✓
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- Which of the following reduces the land available for other organisms and therefore reduces biodiversity?
- Urbanisation ✓
- Replanting of forests
- Quarrying ✓
- Creating nature reserves
- Farming ✓
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- Why does deforestation increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
- Trees filter oxygen out of the air
- Less trees give out large amounts of carbon dioxide
- Less trees take in less carbon dioxide to photosynthesise ✓
- Crops grown on deforested land take in more carbon dioxide
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- Some species migrate. What impact does global warming have on these species?
- Migration patterns are being disrupted as the seasons change. ✓
- Animals are migrating in the same way as they always have.
- Almost all species now have to migrate as the climate changes.
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- Methane is one of the greenhouse gases. What human activities are leading to a rise in atmospheric methane levels?
- Deforestation
- Production of building materials
- Mining of fossil fuels
- Burying waste in landfill. ✓
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- A long term shift in weather patterns is known as...
- 'climate change' ✓
Exit quiz
- Peat bogs trap and store an important element. This is released when peat is burned. What is this element that is stored in a peat bog?
- hydrogen
- nitrogen
- carbon ✓
- oxygen
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- Why do the populations of invasive species often grow so quickly?
- They are native to the area
- They have no natural predators in the area ✓
- They are eaten by many animals in the area
- They have no food to eat
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- Peat bog habitats have been destroyed by humans. The peat is used for what human activities?
- Making house bricks
- Gardening to improve nutrients in the soil ✓
- As a fuel to heat homes ✓
- Feeding to livestock
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- What happens when eutrophication in a pond takes place?
- Algae and other plants use up all the carbon dioxide.
- Fish grow quickly due to all the plant food available.
- Algae grows on the surface and blocks out all of the light. ✓
- The water becomes less polluted as it is cleaned by the plants.
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- When taken to a new habitat, non-native plants often threaten native plants of the new habitat. Why do they do this?
- Non-native plants are able to adapt quickly
- Non-native plants are eaten more by native animals.
- Non-native plants compete with native plants for resources ✓
- Non-native plants cause native animals to move to other habitats
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- How do humans cause eutrophication of aquatic habitats?
- They use too much pesticide in farming
- Fertiliser from farming is washed into rivers and ponds ✓
- Pollution from chemical spills
- Introduction of new species from other parts of the world
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Growing food helps feed the increasing human population, but can have negative impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity.
- The use of peat and destruction of peat bogs as an example of a negative impact.
- Eutrophication as an example of a negative impact.
- The introduction of non-indigenous species as an example of a negative impact.
- Ways of mitigating some of these negative impacts.
Common misconception
A common misconception is that the excessive growth of the plants in eutrophication is the cause of a reduction in biodiversity as a result of the plants using up the oxygen in the water.
Steps in eutrophication are outlined. Increased minerals cause the growth of plants at the surface resulting in the death and decomposition of the plants. Decomposition results in microbes using oxygen, resulting in biodiversity loss.
Keywords
Biodiversity - Biodiversity is the range of different living organisms that live in a place.
Fertiliser - Fertiliser are minerals that are added to the soil to help plants to grow.
Eutrophication - Eutrophication is the process in which a body of water is overly enriched with plant nutrients. This leads to excessive growth of simple plants such as algae.
Indigenous species - Indigenous species are the species that occurs naturally in an ecosystem. They are sometimes referred to as native species.