What is Biodiversity?

Take some time to break down that word into its two pieces: “bio” and “diversity.” Determine what this word means to you and brainstorm why biodiversity might be important when investigating a forest.

This activity will help you investigate a piece of natural world around you, determine if diversity exists in that space, and make connections about why the presence of diversity is so important to a healthy ecosystem.

Materials Needed

• Something to write with
• Something to write on

Instructions

This is an activity you can do as a solo explorer or with a buddy (or more)!

1. Either go outside or look outside and find a natural space to focus on.
2. Take a certain length of time, five, 10 or 15 minutes, to record as many plants, animals, and other natural objects in that area as you can. You can draw or write!
3. Don’t limit yourself. You can either record each thing you see or how many of each thing you see or both!
4. At the end of the time or when you’re done observing, determine how many objects you observed.
5. Think about what your observations mean and what they tell you about that space.

Questions

• Do think the season that we’re in right now is impacting the diversity of natural things you're seeing in the space?
• What other factors do you think are impacting whether you can observe biodiversity in this space?
• Is this area biologically diverse? Why or why not?
• Do you think this natural space is healthy? Why or why not?