Lesson 3: Habitat Destruction & Restoration
Duration of Days: 3.5
Lesson Objective
Compare the impacts of ocean warming, acidification, and sea-level rise across marine, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems
What is habitat destruction, and why is it considered the primary cause of species extinction worldwide?
How does the destruction, degradation, and fragmentation of natural habitats directly affect biodiversity and ecosystem services?
What are the main human-related causes of habitat loss, including agricultural expansion, urbanization, and infrastructure development?
HS-LS2-7 (Designing solutions for reducing impacts on biodiversity).
Cause and effect; interpreting interactive digital models.
Through a deep dive into coral bleaching, students see how the breakdown of a single microscopic relationship can collapse a multi-billion dollar ecosystem.
(DOK 3)
See "Materials / Resources / Text / Speakers" field
Students create a step-by-step flowchart of the bleaching process, starting with Thermal Stress and ending with Ecosystem Collapse, identifying the specific point where a coral is stressed but not dead. Students must identify the nine types of animals dependent on reefs and explain the ripple effect on human food security if these nurseries of the sea are lost.