Endangered but not Extinct… Yet
• Blessed are the teachers
• who per All of us can learn and
succeed,
but not all on the same day
in the same way.
• Threatened species-When the population of a
species begins declining rapidly.(Phil. Duck)
• Endangered species-A species is endangered
when its population has become so low that it
is possible of becoming extinct. (Phil. Eagle)
• Extinct species-occurs when the last member
of a species dies.
• Activity 3: Endangered but not Extinct… Yet
• Objectives:
Demonstrate, using a simulation activity, that
habitat destruction can contribute to species
extinction.
• Materials:
• Box of toothpicks, pencil, starch,(chalk)
• Stopwatch
• Perform activity 3
This is a group activity, points will be based
from:
Completeness of data/materials 3pts
Timeliness/discipline 2
Accuracy of answer 5
Total 10 pts
• Procedure:
• 1. Create 2 teams
• 2. Designate three students as the “Hunters”, three
students as the “Timers”, the rest of students as the
“Counters “ and one student as the Leader.
• 3. Get your copy of the Extinction Simulation Data
Table handout from your teacher.
• 4. Go to the area in the school grounds designated by
your teacher. Using the flour draw out a circle
measuring about 20 feet wide.
• 5. In the circle, scatter 100 toothpicks as randomly as
possible. These are the “toothpick grasshoppers”.
• 6. The Leader gives instructions to the students
assigned as the following:
• · Hunters: “Catch” by picking up as many toothpick grasshoppers as they
can
• · Timers: Set the time for 1 minute for the Hunters to collect the toothpick
grasshoppers.
• · Counters: Determine how many toothpick grasshoppers have been
caught and calculate the number of toothpick grasshoppers remaining in
the circle. Record this information in the Extinction Simulation Data Table
handout.
• 7. Begin the activity. The Leader sees to it that the students perform their
assigned task for the activity.
• 8. After the first round, put an additional toothpick grasshopper into the
circle for every pair of toothpick grasshoppers remaining. This simulates
reproduction.
• 9. Rotate roles and repeat the activity a second time and record the data
in the hand out. The second hunter will pick up as many tg as he can
• 10. After the second round, rotate roles once again and repeat the activity
for a third hunter and record the data in the handout.
• 11. Draw a line or bar graph of the number of toothpick grasshoppers in
the grass at the end of the round
Guide Questions:
• Q 9. What happened to the toothpick
grasshoppers over time?
• Q 10 What factors might account for differences
in the graphs and /or total number of toothpick
grasshoppers in each group?
• Q 11. In nature, what environmental factors
might account for differences in the total number
of grasshoppers?
• Q 12. What effects do you think will habitat
reduction have on the toothpick
• Q 13. Suggest a method for testing your
hypothesis in Q 12.
• 10 minutes to answer guide questions and to
plot the graph
• Q 9. What happened to the toothpick
grasshoppers over time?
• Ans: the number was reduced or decreased
• Q 10 What factors might account for
differences in the graphs and /or total number
of toothpick grasshoppers in each group?
• Ans: there were different kinds of grass in
each circle, the backgrounds were different,
the “hunters” were different.
• Q 11. In nature, what environmental factors
might account for differences in the total
number of grasshoppers?
• Ans: Limiting factors in the environment;
biotic and abiotic factors.
• Q 12. What effects do you think will habitat
reduction have on the toothpick
• Ans: Habitat destruction will lead to the
reduction of grasshopper population and
eventually they will die.
• Q 13. Suggest a method for testing your
hypothesis in Q 12.
• Ans: Conduct a research using the scientific
research process.
…International Union for Conservation of
Nature
H Habitat destruction
I Invasive species
P Population using too many resources
P pollution
C Climate Change
O Overexploitation
Just DON’T DO THE Following:
• Taking Animals for Profit
• Introduced species (don’t buy exotic animals)
• Hunting and Trapping
• Destruction of habitat
• Overharvesting
• Pollution
• Earth’s Extinction Events
1st Ordovician-Silurian Extinction event -450-
440 ma- 60-70% of species extinct (second
largest on earth)
Cause: a huge ice sheet caused the climate to
change, which altered the chemistry of oceans.
• 2nd Late Danovian Extinction event -376-360
ma -70 % of all species extinct, lasted for 20
million years
Causes: changes in sea level, asteroid impacts,
climate change, and new kind of plants messing
with soil.
• 3rd Permian-Triassic Extinction event -252 ma-
90-96 % of all species extinct -end of primacy
of mammal-like reptiles.
• Causes: asteroid impact, flood basalt
eruptions, catastrophic methane release, a
drop in oxygen levels, sea level fluctuation.
• 4th Triassic-Jurasic Extinction event-201.3 ma -
70-75 % of all species extinct
Causes: climate change, flood basalt eruptions,
massive volcanic eruption, ocean acidity, and an
asteroid impact.
• 5th Cretaceous-Paleagene Extinction event (K-
Pg) -66 ma-75 % of all species extinct
Causes: asteroid Impacts
• 6th EXTINCTION EVENT -current, on going
(ELIZABETH KOLBERT) -extra heat thrown to
atmosphere in 24 hours is equivalent to
400,000 Hiroshima-class nuclear bombs
• —by disrupting the system, human is putting
its own survival in DANGER!
• endangered species
• Philippines, some terrestrial species like the
tamaraw in Mindoro,
mouse deer in Palawan,
Philippine deer,
Monkey-eating eagle,
dugong
• Practical application: How can we can help in
saving endangered animals.
Just DON’T DO THE FF:
• Taking Animals for Profit
• Introduced species (don’t buy exotic animals)
• Hunting and Trapping
• Destruction of habitat
• Overharvesting Pollution
• Read activity 4 page 60
