Biodiversity & Climate Change
This lesson helps students explore biodiversity, ecosystems, and environmental stewardship while connecting learning to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including:
- Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land
- Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action
- And more: The 17 Goals | Sustainable Development (United Nations)
The lesson incorporates resources from Environment and Climate Change Canada and Learning for a Sustainable Future to support environmental education. Indigenous perspectives are woven into the resource.
In this lesson, students will:
- Understand what habitat, ecosystems and biodiversity means
- Examine how positive and negative environmental changes affect species and habitats
- Identify actions people can take to protect biodiversity
This workshop has been developed by Learning for a Sustainable Future, with support from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and don’t necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.
Getting Started
Download the free Biodiversity & Climate Action lesson plan PDF.
Additional Workshop Materials
Prior to the lesson we suggest that there needs to be a space for the class to gather and move freely.
The workshop includes 2 hands-on activities that require printed materials:
Habitat game: Students explore what species need to survive by collecting resources and responding to environmental challenges in a movement activity.
- Print, cut, and shuffle the Obstacle and Positive Event cards (pages 3-5).
Canadian Ecosystems & Species Food Web Activity: Students explore different species and the important role they play in their respective ecosystems.
- Print, cut the Ecosystems & Species cards and assign one to each student.
There is also an optional assessment activity: