CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 8

Name ___________________________________ Date _____________

Collaboration Lesson 2
Worked Example for the Main activity
Challenge topic: Water, food and agriculture/Biodiversity and
ecosystem loss
Question ideas: As for the Worked Example for the Starter activity.
All these questions can be explored from the YES/NO perspective
to allow learners to produce arguments for each.

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Cambridge Lower Secondary Global Perspectives 8 – Laycock © Cambridge University Press 2021
CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 8

Name ___________________________________ Date _____________

Suggested answers:

Our question: Are humans responsible for biodiversity and ecosystem loss?

Our perspective: Yes, humans are responsible for biodiversity and ecosystem loss.

Arguments

1 Loss of wildlife habitats is the biggest threat to the ecosystem. Urban development caused by humans
creates changes to natural areas, which cause loss of vegetable species and therefore animal extinction.
Source: Bartlett (2019). ‘Causes of biodiversity and ecosystem loss’. [Online],
https://www.lossofwildlife/science/ (Accessed 05/09/2019).

2 Introduction of genetically modified organisms and exotic species causes biodiversity and ecosystem
loss. This can lead to an imbalance in the ecological system with loss of existing/native species, and this
can allow in pathogens that destroy species.
Source: Green (2019). ‘Invasive species are a threat to biodiversity’. [Online],
https://www.invasivespecies/threat/biodiversity (Accessed 05/09/2019).

3 Overexploitation of resources is a major threat to wildlife. Overexploiting a species, such as fish, can have
detrimental effects on the ecosystem as some fish are top predators and their disappearance changes
the ecosystem. Overfishing with trawler nets also impacts on the oceans as they destroy habitats.
Source: Winkler (2019). ‘How overfishing destroys the ecosystem’. [Online], https://www.overfishing/trawlernets.com
(Accessed 06/09/2019).

4 Climate change is threatening the ecosystem. Climate change causes the planet to warm up quickly, which
could harm many species and cause species extinction as species struggle to survive in new climatic conditions.
Source: James (2019). ‘Climate change causes species extinction’. [Online],
https://www.climatechange/speciesextinction/org (Accessed 06/09/2019).

5 Pollution harms the ecosystem. All pollution affects the survival of species, particularly air pollution as it
robs species of oxygen.
Source: Cotter (2019). ‘Pollution and species survival’. [Online], https://www.pollution/global/wildlifethreat/
(Accessed 06/9/2019).

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Cambridge Lower Secondary Global Perspectives 8 – Laycock © Cambridge University Press 2021