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Science lesson plan · 10th grade (Year 11 in England) · 60 minutes

Biodiversity under pressure and how we protect it

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.HS-LS2-7CCSS NGSS.HS-LS4-6England: GCSE Combined Science: Ecology

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Biodiversity under pressure and how we protect it.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Food webs and interdependence

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Food webs and interdependence). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Woodland food web: grass is eaten by rabbits and mice. Seeds are eaten by mice. Rabbits are eaten by foxes. Mice are eaten by foxes and owls. If disease killed most rabbits, what might happen to the mice? (They stop eating seeds / They become rabbits / They increase, because foxes stop eating / Their numbers fall, because foxes eat more mice) → Their numbers fall, because foxes eat more micePrompt: Foxes still need to eat.
  2. What does "interdependence" mean in an ecosystem? (Only predators matter / Living things depend on each other, so a change to one affects others / Every animal lives alone / Plants do not need animals at all) → Living things depend on each other, so a change to one affects othersPrompt: Think of bees and flowers.
  3. Food webs: which statement is NOT true? (Removing one species can affect many others in a food web. / Plants compete for light, water and minerals. / Predator and prey populations often rise and fall in cycles. / A food web contains only one food chain.) → A food web contains only one food chain.Prompt: Think about what happens when one population changes.

Hook · 6 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Biodiversity under pressure and how we protect it. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: A survey found 200 breeding pairs of a bird species in 2010 and 180 in 2024. What was the percentage decrease?
  • Step 1: 200 − 180 = 20
  • Step 2: 20 ÷ 200 × 100 = 10
  • Step 3: So the answer is: 10 %
  • Answer: 10 %
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. A survey found 240 breeding pairs of a bird species in 2010 and 192 in 2024. What was the percentage decrease? → 20 %Prompt: Find the decrease first.
  2. Why is high biodiversity good for an ecosystem? (It makes the ecosystem more stable because species depend on many others / It stops the water cycle / It means fewer species compete / It removes all predators) → It makes the ecosystem more stable because species depend on many othersPrompt: Think about what happens if one food source disappears.

You do: independent practice · 17 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. A survey found 240 breeding pairs of a bird species in 2010 and 192 in 2024. What was the percentage decrease? → 20 %Prompt: Find the decrease first.
  2. Biodiversity: which statement is NOT true? (Breeding programmes can help protect endangered species. / Human activity has no effect on extinction rates. / Deforestation reduces biodiversity and adds carbon dioxide to the air. / Global warming is changing where some species can live.) → Human activity has no effect on extinction rates.Prompt: What does biodiversity actually measure?

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Food webs and interdependence.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-10.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Biodiversity under pressure and how we protect it

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Rewilding projects reintroduce species such as beavers. What can beavers do for an ecosystem?

    • A. Their dams create wetlands that support many other species and reduce flooding downstream
    • B. They have no effect
    • C. They remove all fish
    • D. They make rivers flow faster

  2. Question 2

    Biodiversity: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Fertiliser running into lakes can cause algae to grow and oxygen to fall.
    • B. Deforestation reduces biodiversity and adds carbon dioxide to the air.
    • C. Human activity has no effect on extinction rates.
    • D. Global warming is changing where some species can live.

  3. Question 3

    A survey found 300 hectares of rainforest in 2010 and 240 in 2024. What was the percentage decrease?

    Answer%

  4. Question 4

    Which action helps increase biodiversity on farmland?

    • A. growing one crop everywhere
    • B. removing all hedges
    • C. planting hedgerows and leaving wildflower field margins
    • D. spraying more insecticide

  5. Question 5

    A survey found 400 hectares of rainforest in 2010 and 280 in 2024. What was the percentage decrease?

    Answer%

  6. Question 6

    Why is high biodiversity good for an ecosystem?

    • A. It means fewer species compete
    • B. It makes the ecosystem more stable because species depend on many others
    • C. It removes all predators
    • D. It stops the water cycle

  7. Question 7

    A survey found 250 breeding pairs of a bird species in 2010 and 212.5 in 2024. What was the percentage decrease?

    Answer%

  8. Question 8

    Draining peat bogs to sell peat as garden compost harms the climate. Why?

    • A. Decaying or burned peat releases stored carbon as carbon dioxide
    • B. It makes the ozone layer thicker
    • C. It creates acid rain
    • D. Peat absorbs too much oxygen

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Answer key: Biodiversity under pressure and how we protect it

  1. 1. A. Their dams create wetlands that support many other species and reduce flooding downstream

  2. 2. C. Human activity has no effect on extinction rates.

  3. 3. 20 %

  4. 4. C. planting hedgerows and leaving wildflower field margins

  5. 5. 30 %

  6. 6. B. It makes the ecosystem more stable because species depend on many others

  7. 7. 15 %

  8. 8. A. Decaying or burned peat releases stored carbon as carbon dioxide