Transcript Extinction - Noadswood Science

Extinction
L.O: To understand why a species
may become extinct
Starter: In pairs make a list of extinct animals and
endangered animals.
Mind map – what caused their extinction
Extinction is the permanent loss of all
members of a species from the face of the
earth.
Species become extinct if they cannot adapt to
a change in the environment or to the arrival
of other organisms (speciation).
General causes of extinction
• Environmental changes e.g. climate or
change in land use by humans
• Predators including human hunters (prey do
not have time to adapt to avoid predators)
• Diseases (usually a problem where animals
or plants are close together e.g. on islands)
• Competition (for food, water, space or
mates).
• Catastrophic event like volcano or asteroids
Tasmanian Wolf
• The Tasmanian Wolf is believed to have
been extinct for nearly sixty-five years.
• It was hunted until almost extinction
• The remaining few died from disease
• They few remaining were put into captivity
to try to save them but this failed
http://www.wwf.org.uk/researcher
/issues/rarespecies/0000000147.
asp
• Illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade
• Habitat degradation and fragmentation
• Disease transmission
http://www.wwf.org.uk/researcher/issues/rare
species/index.asp
Extinction worksheet
Copy and complete the sentences
using the words below:
___________ is the permanent loss if all members of
a ____________ from the ___________. It may
be caused by changes to the _________ or
___________, to new_________, new
___________ or possibly new ________.
Climate
competitors
diseases
environment
Extinction predators
Earth
species