Compare ways to protect biodiversity and choose the best

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Five plans with limits of 8 million dollars and 60 hectares (model data)

   plan	benefit (×3)	low cost (×2)	few side effects (×1)	cost (million dollars)	land (hectares)
   Protected area	5	2	4	10	150
   Wildlife corridor	4	3	4	6	40
   Invasive-species control	3	4	3	3	20
   Seed bank	2	5	5	1	2
   Reducing runoff	3	3	5	5	35
   limit (at most)	no limit	no limit	no limit	8	60

2. 1.

   Pia must pick the plan with the highest weighted total among the plans that meet both limits. Which plan is it?

   • Wildlife corridor: 22 points, the highest total that fits both limits
   • Reducing runoff: it has 20 points and a top score of 5 for few side effects
   • Protected area: 23 points is the highest weighted total in the table
   • Seed bank: it costs the least, 1 million dollars, and takes the least land

3. Use this

   Decision matrix (model data), scores 1 to 5, a higher score is better in every column. Weights: keeps wild plants living where they grow counts 3 times, keeps backup gene versions counts 2 times, low cost counts 1 time. Protected area, keeps wild plants living where they grow 5, keeps backup gene versions 2, low cost 2; Seed bank, keeps wild plants living where they grow 1, keeps backup gene versions 5, low cost 5; Wildlife corridor, keeps wild plants living where they grow 4, keeps backup gene versions 2, low cost 3.

4. 2.

   Ren wants to protect wild plants growing in a valley. Which choice fits the table and that goal?

   • Protected area: 21 points, the highest, and it keeps wild plants growing in place
   • Wildlife corridor: its total of 19 is the highest because it joins patches
   • Seed bank: scores of 5 for backups and low cost mean the valley habitat is no longer needed
   • Seed bank: it has two top scores of 5, more than any other row, so it wins

5. Two problems in a model valley (model data)

   problem	what the model shows
   an invasive vine spreads in patch A	cover grows from 5% to 12% in 4 years
   patch B is cut off from patch A	0 beetles cross between the patches in a year

6. 3.

   Tala reads the two problems. Which pair of solutions fits them best?

   • A larger protected area alone, because more land fixes the vine and the cut-off patch together
   • Two wildlife corridors, since a corridor also removes an invasive vine from a patch
   • A seed bank, which keeps the plants safe so neither patch needs any work on the land
   • Invasive-species control for the vine, and a wildlife corridor between patch A and patch B

7. A songbird simulation and the corridor data (model data)

   item	value
   extra movement used in the simulation (percent)	50
   songbirds in the data (percent)	12
   flowering plants in the data (percent)	48
   ground beetles in the data (percent)	62

8. 4.

   Esme simulates a corridor for a songbird species using 50% extra movement. Which revision is best?

   • Use a smaller value for songbirds, such as 12%, and run it again
   • Use 62%
   • Keep 50%, since a corridor helps the groups equally
   • Remove the corridor, since songbirds can fly and gain no movement

9. What a corridor simulation includes and leaves out (model data)

   part of the plan	in the simulation?
   beetle counts in patch B each generation	yes
   beetles arriving from patch A	yes
   cost of building the corridor	no
   land and time the corridor needs	no

10. 5.

    Jun says the simulation proves the corridor is the best plan. What is the best reply?

    • Agree: the corridor gave the highest count in patch B, so no other score matters
    • Agree: more beetles in patch B means the other drivers are handled too
    • Disagree: a simulation with model numbers cannot test a plan
    • It tests only beetle counts, so costs and limits still need weighing

11. What a range-shift simulation includes and leaves out (model data)

    part of the plan	in the simulation?
    beetles moving between patches as the cool band moves uphill	yes
    the greenhouse gases people add to the air	no
    cost of building the corridor	no
    land and time the corridor needs	no

12. 6.

    Kira says the simulation shows the corridor deals with the cause of climate change. What is the best reply?

    • Agree: moving more beetles between patches means less greenhouse gas is added to the air
    • A corridor helps species move as ranges shift, while cutting greenhouse gases addresses the cause
    • Agree: the corridor reached the most patches, so no other score matters in the plan
    • Disagree: the simulation includes cost and land, so it can rank the plans

13. Notebook

    Notes on weighted totals (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: I scored plans from 1 to 5 on benefit, low cost and few side effects. Line 2: The weights are benefit 3, low cost 2 and few side effects 1. Line 3: The wildlife corridor scored 4, 3 and 4, so its total is 4 + 3 + 4 = 11. Line 4: The protected area scored 5, 2 and 4, so its weighted total is 23.

14. 7.

    Milo reads a classmate's notebook about weighted totals. Which line has the mistake?

    • Line 2: the weights must be equal, or the totals are unfair to the plans
    • Line 1: the scores should run from 1 to 3, because 1 to 5 is too wide
    • Line 3: it adds the scores with no weights, but the weighted total is 22
    • Line 4: the protected area total should be 11, because totals are plain sums

15. Notebook

    Notes on choosing a plan (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: The limits are a budget of at most 8 million dollars and at most 50 hectares of land. Line 2: The weighted totals are protected area 23, corridor 22 and reducing runoff 20. Line 3: The protected area costs 10 million dollars and needs 120 hectares. Line 4: The protected area has the highest total, so it is the best choice.

16. 8.

    Bo reads a classmate's notebook about choosing a plan. Which line has the mistake?

    • Line 2: the corridor total should be higher than the protected area total
    • Line 4: the protected area breaks both limits, so it cannot be chosen
    • Line 3: cost and land do not matter once the totals are known
    • Line 1: the limits should be weighed like goals, not used as cut-offs

17. Notebook

    Notes on corridors (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: A review of 78 experiments found corridors raised movement between patches by about 50%. Line 2: It found corridors mattered more for beetles and plants than for birds. Line 3: So a corridor is worth considering for a patch of beetles. Line 4: So a corridor will raise songbird movement by 50%, the same as for beetles.

18. 9.

    Zee reads a classmate's notebook about corridors. Which line has the mistake?

    • Line 2: a corridor helps the groups equally, so this line should go
    • Line 3: a corridor cannot help a beetle patch, since beetles are too small
    • Line 4: line 2 says birds gained less, so the same 50% cannot be promised
    • Line 1: 50% is too small to count as an effect, so the line overstates it
19. 10.

    Scientists list five main drivers: habitat loss, invasive species, overharvesting, pollution and climate change. Luz reads the card. Which claim goes with the right reason?

    • Claim: the card has no solution for climate change. Reason: its rows list only habitat and species
    • Claim: a protected area answers all five drivers. Reason: it keeps the land, and the land is where every driver acts
    • Claim: cutting greenhouse gases is enough by itself. Reason: climate change is the main driver on the card
    • Claim: no single solution answers all five drivers. Reason: each solution on the card addresses a different driver