Download the Biomes & Biodiversity Lecture Presentation
Watch the Lecture Video:
Video (click the upper right hand symbol to choose the next video or wait for the next video to play automatically to watch all 4 lecture videos)
Additional Resources:
Objective 1: Define a biome and identify its abiotic and biotic components.
I’ve chosen the following resources to support this objective:
- Arizona State University | Charles Kazilek | Ask a Biologist, Virtual Biomes
- Directions: Use this resource to virtually explore a variety of biomes. Observe your surroundings and the different characteristics of each.
- Berkeley University of California | UC Museum of Paleontology | 2019 | The World’s Biomes
- Directions: Use this resource to learn more about some of the major biomes on Earth.
- Erle Ellis and Navin Ramankutty | Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6(8: 443-447 | Putting people in the map: anthropogenic biomes of the world
Objective 2: Differentiate the physical and biological factors affecting the evolution of life within a biome.
I’ve chosen the following resources to support this objective:
- Ted-Ed | Paul Andersen | May 2012 | Five fingers of evolution | 5:23 minutes
- BBC Earth | Chris Baraniuk | July 2015 | How do we know evolution is really happening?
- The Washington Post | Sarah Kaplan | June 2016 | Two of the most famous examples of evolution have the same, simple explanation
- Minute Labs | Evolution Simulator
- Directions: Go through this interactive simulator to see evolution in action.
- MinuteEarth | July 2020 | How to Go Extinct | 9:50 minutes
Objective 3: Recognize the biodiversity that is present within biomes and define the resilience of biomes.
I’ve chosen the following resources to support this objective:
- Ted-Ed | Kim Preshoff | Why is biodiversity so important?
- Tedx Talks | Asmund Asdal | July 2019 | What is biodiversity and why does it matter to us? | 16:30 minutes
- MinuteEarth | October 2016 | Why Biodiversity is Good for the Economy | 2:40 minutes
- David Holzman | Environmental Health Perspectives 120(4): 152-157 | April 2012 | Accounting for Nature’s Benefits: The Dollar Value of Ecosystem Services
- Yale 360 | Richard Conniff | October 2012 | What’s Wrong with Putting a Price on Nature?
Objective 4: Identify current threats to Earth’s biomes, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.
I’ve chosen the following resources to support this objective:
- California Academy of Sciences | September 2014 | Protecting biodiversity: Local and global policies | 10:39 minutes
- California Academy of Sciences | August 2014 | Conservation and the race to save biodiversity | 12:03 minutes
- California Academy of Sciences | October 2014 | Protecting biodiversity: the power of the individual | 10:07 minutes