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Biodiversity Counts

Part of Curriculum Collections.

Welcome to Biodiversity Counts! This resource collection takes students into the field and engages them in life science research: the inventory of plants and arthropods outside their own backdoors. Resources in this collection include lesson plans, essays, and Web-based interactives that help students explore, analyze, and apply their field observations.

Educator Materials What is Biodiversity? Biodiversity is the spectacular variety of life on Earth and the essential interdependence among all living things. Students... Educator Materials Selecting a Site for Field Study Head outside for an intensive field study and learn how to map a site. Students are introduced to the techniques used by scie... Educator Materials Plant Identification What makes a daisy a daisy? And what does a daisy do? Students learn techniques for observing, collecting, identifying, and p... Educator Materials Plant Ecology Go beyond the basics of field study—use math and science skills and dig in the dirt! Students learn how to count plants as pa... Educator Materials Arthropod Identification What makes a beetle a beetle? How does a beetle behave? And what on Earth does a beetle have in common with a lobster? These... Educator Materials What are the Connections? What makes the world tick for ticks? Students investigate the complex interactions between plants, arthropods, and the abioti...