Biodiversity Index and Ecosystem Vulnerability

Miss Summers introduces biodiversity, explaining its significance as the variety of life forms. The video guides students through an experiment using baggies representing different biomes to calculate biodiversity index and assess ecosystem health. Students learn to calculate the index by dividing the number of species by individuals. The second part of the experiment involves assessing ecosystem vulnerability by simulating disease spread among beans. The video concludes with instructions for completing the experiment and encourages students to ask questions if needed.

What does a higher biodiversity index indicate about an ecosystem?

• It is more diverse and generally healthier.

• It is more vulnerable to diseases.

• It has fewer species.

• It is less diverse and less healthy.

What do the baggies in the experiment represent?

• Different types of bacteria.

• Various types of plants.

• Different biomes.

• Different species of animals.

Which of the following is NOT a biome represented in the baggies?

• Deciduous forest

• Desert

• Tundra

• Tropical rainforest

How is the biodiversity index calculated?

• Total number of species.

• Number of species divided by number of individuals.

• Number of individuals divided by number of species.

• Total number of individuals.

What should you do if your biodiversity index is greater than 1?

• Divide by the number of species.

• Submit the result as it is.

• Recalculate, as it should always be less than 1.

• Multiply by 10.

Why is it important to keep the baggies organized during the experiment?

• To prevent contamination.

• To ensure accurate counting of species and individuals.

• To make the experiment look neat.

• To avoid losing any items.

What is the first step in the biodiversity index calculation?

• Count the number of different species.

• Count the total number of individuals.

• Calculate the average size of individuals.

• Identify the most common species.

In the vulnerability experiment, what happens when a bean is diseased?

• Beans touching the diseased bean also become diseased.

• Only the diseased bean is affected.

• No beans are affected.

• All beans in the bag become diseased.

What is the purpose of the vulnerability experiment?

• To measure the number of species.

• To identify the healthiest ecosystem.

• To determine which ecosystem is most affected by disease.

• To calculate the biodiversity index.

What should you do after completing the experiment?

• Throw away the baggies.

• Answer the questions and submit your results.

• Recalculate the biodiversity index.

• Start the experiment over.