Biodiversity and

Classification
Essential question: How are
living things interconnected?

Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

Life Support
How does an environment support life?
The specific place where an organism lives is its
habitat.
A microhabitat is a very small, specialized habitat.
Habitats support life because they have the
conditions that suit the organisms that live there.
Each habitat has the basic conditions needed for
life to exist, regardless of whether the habitat is
small or large.
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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

What is biodiversity?
The number and variety of plants, animals, and
other organisms living in an area is defined as the
biodiversity of an area. It can also describe the
many genetic traits observed within a given
species, or the variation of genes within a species.
High biodiversity in an ecosystem makes the
ecosystem more stable than if the ecosystem had
a low level of biodiversity.

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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

All Creatures Great and Small

Why is biodiversity important for
ecosystems?
An ecosystem with a high level of biodiversity has
many different species that constantly interact
with each other and the environment.
High biodiversity make the ecosystem more stable
when faced with an environmental change.

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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

Why is biodiversity important for

ecosystems?
Relationships among organisms are important
because they help maintain the constant flow of
energy and nutrients in the environment.
The loss of any species in an interrelated
ecosystem would affect many other species,
usually negatively.

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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

Why is biodiversity important for

humans?
People are part of ecosystems too, and we depend
on other organisms to help keep the environment
suitable for our life and health.
People also depend of other species for medicines,
food, and materials to make clothing and other
products.

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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

Small Steps, Big Gains

Why is sustainability important?
Human needs from the environment include
everything from food to shelter. Sustainability is
the ability of the environment to meet human
needs indefinitely. Maintaining a sustainable
environment
Overpopulation and over use of resources has led
to habitat loss and pollution of air, water, and soil.
The human population depends on access to clean
air, clean fresh water, fertile soils, mineral
deposits, and other important natural resources.
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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

How can scientists determine

biodiversity?
Scientists also can estimate how much biodiversity
there is on the whole planet.
To better understand and study the millions of
species on Earth, scientists classify organisms into
groups.
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and
naming species and arranging them based on
physical similarities.

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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

In a Class of Their Own

How does classification work?
The organization of living things into groups based
on their traits is call classification.

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Unit 5 Lesson 3 Biodiversity and Classification

What is a dichotomous key?

Almost any type of organisms can be identified
using a dichotomous key. Dichotomous keys are
often used in field guides to identify specimens
such as plants and animals.
The key consists of a series of questions; the
answer to each question leads to the next
question and ultimately to the identification of
the organism.
Dichotomous keys are not used to classify
organisms. Instead, they are used to identify
organisms already classified by physical
characteristics.
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