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7th grade · Science · Unit 11 of 16

Biodiversity

Variety makes life strong

What your child practices

Why a variety of life makes species and communities more resilient, how species depend on each other, and why biodiversity matters to people.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 7.8; 7.9 · biodiversity and the relationships among organisms in an ecosystem

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Biodiversity is the variety of life. It makes communities more resilient.
  2. A keystone species, like the beaver, is one many others depend on.
  3. In parasitism, one benefits and the other is harmed; in mutualism, both benefit.

Example: Bees get nectar and flowers get pollinated. What relationship is this? Both the bee and the flower gain. Both gaining is mutualism. Answer: mutualism

Biodiversity in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 11 of 16 in 7th grade Science, after Ecosystems and before Genes & Heredity.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A meadow has grasses, wildflowers, insects, mice and hawks. What does this show?

    • No diversity
    • Diversity among species
    • Diversity within one species

  2. Question 2

    Bees get nectar from flowers, and flowers get pollinated. This relationship is called…

    • mutualism
    • parasitism
    • competition

  3. Question 3

    Which pair is a producer and a consumer?

    • A deer and a wolf
    • A maple tree and a deer
    • A mushroom and a fern

  4. Question 4

    A tick feeds on a dog's blood and harms it. This relationship is called…

    • parasitism
    • pollination
    • mutualism

  5. Question 5

    Dogs of the same breed that are slightly different from one another show diversity…

    • within a species
    • among communities
    • among habitats

  6. Question 6

    Birds build nests in a tree without hurting it. The birds benefit and the tree is unaffected. This is called…

    • mutualism
    • commensalism
    • parasitism

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