St. Agnes Academy Inc.

Legazpi City

Subject: Biology and Scientific Research 8

TOPIC: Biodiversity

Content Standard:
The learners demonstrate an understanding of;
1. *the species as being further classified into a hierarchical taxonomic system.
Performance Standard:
The learners shall be able to:
1. *report (e.g., through a travelogue) on the activities that communities engage in to protect
and conserve endangered and economically important species.
Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs):
The learners shall be able to:
• explain the concept of a species;
• explain the advantage of high biodiversity in maintaining the stability of an ecosystem; and
• classify organisms using the hierarchical taxonomic system.
Specific Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to;
(A) 1. define biodiversity and taxonomy through a written activity;
(M) 2. show service and love for the environment by defending the importance of the various
life forms in an ecosystem through a reflection writing activity; and
(T) 3. create varied output on environmental awareness in preserving biodiversity based on
their special interests through an individual activity.
References/Links:
• Exploring Life Through Science (Biology) Textbook by: Ramos, et.al. pp. 378-415
• You and the Natural World (Biology) by Capco et.al, pp. 356-367
Materials Needed:
• Exploring Life Through Science (Biology) Textbook by Ramos, et.al.
• You and the Natural World (Biology) Textbook by Capco. et.al.
• Biology Notebook
• Pen (blue or black)
• Internet/Laptop
• Coloring and art materials 1
 Benedicite!
It’s time to study more about the world around us. This
module will amaze you once again about the beauty of
nature and guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit, you will
be able to accomplish the tasks individually and honestly.

“You cannot touch the flowers, without stirring the stars”. A

human being cannot live alone, neither plants or animals. All of
them are dependent on one another, as well as on their surroundings. Until the late 1980’s very little
attention was paid to the relationship between organisms and their environment. Technological and
scientific advances, however brought an awareness of the need to examine this relationship more
closely and improve it to the
advantage of both organism and
environment (Capco et.al, 2011).
Humans are in constant contact
and interaction with the environment.
Unfortunately, our activities have
degraded our biodiversity. Human
interference with the ecological
balance has opened the eyes of
the world with to the aftermath of many
environment-related disasters. We
must face environmental issues
squarely and bring our activities
back in balance with the natural world.
This chapter tells how
environmental or physical factors
influence the activities of the living organisms around us. This chapter will make us realize the answers
to the following questions:
- What is your role in preserving this ecological balance?
- What can you do to prevent the total destruction of the environment and conserve natural
resources?

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Biodiversity
Bio = Life
Diversity = Variety
-the term used to describe the number and variety of
life found on Earth.
- Sum of all the different species of animals, plants,
fungi and microbial organisms living on Earth and the
variety of habitats in which they live.
- as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) as the variability among living organisms from
all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other
aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of
which they are part. This includes the diversity within
species, between species, and of ecosystems.
Species is a set of individuals having the same distinct characteristics that is able to mate and produce
fertile offspring. The number of different kinds of species in a particular area is called species richness,
while the abundance of the individual members within a particular species is called species evenness
(Ramos et.al, 2019).

Scientists have identified more than 2 million species. Tens of millions, remain unknown. The
tremendous variety of life on Earth is made possible by complex interactions among all living things.

3 Types of Biodiversity

Genetic Diversity Species Diversity Ecosystem Diversity

• pertains to the
variations of genes
within a species, the
differences in the
genetic makeup
(genotype) between
distinct species, or the
variability in the genetic
makeup of a given
species.
• pertains to the variety,
as well as relative
abundance of species
within a region.
• the variation among
grounds of organisms in
different physical
settings. Different
settings favor different
communities of species.

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Should we be concerned about biodiversity?
The Earth is losing species at an alarming rate:
• Some scientists estimate that as many as 3 species per hour are going extinct and 20,000
extinctions occur each year.
• when species of plants and animals go extinct, many other species are affected.

Source: Smedes, 2020

The top six reasons Earth is losing its biodiversity mainly due to human activities. These reasons can
be remembered using the acronym HIPPCO. The wide variety of life on Earth has been reduced by
human activities at a global scale. The greatest threat to Earth’s biodiversity loss is the loss and
degradation of species habitat. Today the region has already lost 70 to 90 percent of its frontier forests.
Countries in the region have lost 70 to 90 percent of their original wildlife habitat including accelerated
forest loss.
As parts of this precious environment are degraded day by day, many animals are facing extinction
faster than they can be identified by humans. Even plant species are dying before they can be tested
for a possible cure to deadly diseases faced today.
What are the causes of the extinction of
species?
Natural Causes of Extinction
1. Extreme Heating and Cooling of the Earth
2. Changes in Landscape
3. Acid Precipitation
4. Diseases/Epidemic
5. Meteoric Impact/Cosmic Radiation
6. Spread of Invasive Species

Man-made Causes of Extinction

1. Habitat Destruction
2. Commercial Hunting
3. Introduction of Alien, Exotic or Non-native
Species
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 4. Pollution Caused by Human Activities

READ ME!
To deepen your understanding about the diversity of species, READ your book (Exploring Life Through Science
Biology) on page 405-415. After reading your book, you may now answer the activities/exercises below.

The Hierarchical Taxonomic System of Classification

Evolution believes that life on Earth has been evolving over a period of more than 3 billion years.
Thousands of new species are discovered every year, identified, classified, and named according to
certain types of relationships (Capco, et.al 2011)
How many species are there?
This is not an easy question to answer. Estimates of the total number of living species range from 10-
100 million. About 1.8 million have been assigned scientific names and two-thirds of which are insects.
It is likely more than this figure, but we may never know.

TAXONOMY is the field of biology that deals with the process of identifying, naming and classifying
organisms. Derived from the Greek word “taxis” which means “arrangement” and “nomos” which
means “laws”.

Carolus Linneaus
▪ “father of taxonomy.”
▪ Swedish botanist, lived 1707-1778
▪ Invented binomial nomenclature, the 2-word naming system
we still use today to classify organisms also known as the
scientific names.

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Why is there a need to classify organisms?
Classification puts organisms into groups by looking at the characteristics (traits) they share.
It is almost impossible to name different species without assigning them first into groups.
Taxonomists classify living things in a meaningful way by looking for physical characteristics that are
common or different among organisms. Modern taxonomy even uses DNA sequences and the types
of proteins produced by organisms to identify the
similarities and differences between species.
Classifying organisms will help explain the great
diversity of life on Earth and how they are related to
one another.

Biologists apply several systems of classification to

organize the diversity of life forms. Classification of
organisms involves their groupings based on a set of
criteria:
- Classification based on the typological species
concept.
- Classification based on the biological species
concept.
7 Taxonomic classification according to Linneaus. This
- Classification based on the phylogenetic classification system is hierarchical, from the largest to
species concept (Ramos, et.al 2019) smallest grouping.
Kingdom is the highest level in the Linnean
system. At this level organisms are distinguished
on the basis of cellular organization and the
methods of nutrition. Within each kingdom, the
organisms are further divided into several phyla
(phylum) for animals or division in the case of
plants. At this part the organisms are grouped
together based on similarities in basic body plan
of organization. Every phylum or division is made
up of several classes and each class has several
orders. Within each order are families and as the
name implies, organisms belonging to the same
family exhibit close resemblance to one another.
Each family is made of several genera (genus)
and each genus is usually made up of several
species (remember that species can be either singular or plural). It is the most specific unit of
classification and the basic unit of identification.

What are the tools used in classifying organisms?

1. Phylogeny 2. Cladogram
a “family tree” that classifies organisms by their Shows older traits (bottom) and shows
evolutionary history. newer or “derived” traits (top)

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 3. Dichotomous Key
Helps identify organisms. Questions with 2 answer choices lead you through
the key until you find the correct organism.

How are we going to name organisms? SAMPLE SCIENTIFIC NAMES:

Binomial Nomenclature (scientific names)
▪ Gives a unique 2-word, Latin, scientific
name to all living things.

Rules in writing the scientific names:

▪ Genus is capitalized; species is not.
▪ both are italicized when encoded or
underlined when hand-written.

Why are scientific names better than common

names?
▪ Ex: pill bug, rolly polly, potato bug
▪ Scientific Name: Armadillidium vulgare
▪ Common names for the same species are
different and confusing.
▪ Binomial Nomenclature uses Latin (a “dead” unchanging language) that is understood by
scientists worldwide.

TAKE NOTE:
In writing the scientific names, the first name
representing the genus is called the generic name
and the second name representing the species is
called the specific or species epithet (Ramos,
et.al 2019).

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LET’S PRACTICE:
With the given information below, what is the scientific name of the organism?

Answer:

_____________________

Domains and Kingdoms of the Living World

How are organisms classified within domains and kingdoms?

3 Domains of Life

Source: researchgate.net

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 READ ME!
To deepen your understanding about taxonomy, READ your book (Exploring Life Through Science Biology) on
page 380-404. After reading your book, you may now answer the activities/exercises on the next page.

Prepared by: Checked by: Noted by:

MR. ERNIE A. ARTIAGA MR. JHENER P. ESTELLER MRS. JOAN C. ALEJO

Teacher Science Coordinator Academic Coordinator