NSWTR 2024 HR - Flipbook - Page 12
SPECIES GAME: CONSERVATION CRISIS!
SPECIES GAME:
CONSERVATION CRISIS!
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TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS
AIM OF THE GAME
OUTLINE
SET UP THE ECOSYSTEM
To provide a scienti昀椀c
model of species change
within an ecosystem
driven by natural
environmental conditions
and human actions.
Students work as a team of 3 to 5 to set
up a model ecosystem. This ecosystem
is then exposed to simulated scenarios
based on real-life examples that have the
potential to increase or decrease species
biodiversity over time.
A printed landscape becomes
the ecosystem where paper cut
out organisms can be added or
removed. You can also copy and
use the game as set up on Scratch.
PLAYING THE GAME
Students 昀氀ip a coin or counter that
directs them to select a Positive card or
a Negative card. You can also generate
a random number using Scratch. Here’s
how to set up the project [p13].
The Positive cards contain scenarios
that have the potential to increase species
diversity. The Negative cards contain
scenarios that have the potential to decrease
species diversity. As students follow the
instructions on the cards, they add or
remove species from their ecosystem.
Students keep a running log of the
species change in their model ecosystem
on the Game Card Record Sheet. Here,
each team records the action and
consequence required of each card
selected. At the end of the game, students
can answer curriculum and stage-linked
questions related to their experience of
the game.
SPECIES SURVIVAL – MORE THAN JUST SUSTAINABILITY
Aspects of the game represent features of the real world,
for example:
Game itself – model of species change in an ecosystem over time.
Printed image of an Australian ecosystem – the ecosystem.
Cut out species icons – a variety of possible organisms living in
the ecosystem.
Positive cards – real-life scenarios that could increase the
number of di昀昀erent species or total number of organisms in a
particular species.
Negative cards – real-life scenarios that could reduce the
number of di昀昀erent species or the total number of organisms in a
particular species.
Coin – 昀氀ipped to represent the often random nature of events
that could a昀昀ect species diversity in an ecosystem.
Addition or removal of species – death, birth or migration in and
out of the ecosystem.
Game Card Record Sheet – data collection for the student
working as a scientist by recording changes in the ecosystem as
they take place.
Questions for Conservation Crisis! – analysis of the data collected
during the species diversity game.
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