THE HALL of

biodiversity

■ ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR STUDENTS BEFORE YOUR VISIT

■ MUST-READ INFORMATION TO HELP YOU PREPARE

■ WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET TO THE HALL.

■ CONNECTIONS TO OTHER PLACES IN THE MUSEUM

■ TIES TO NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS

■ PRE-, DURING-, AND POST-VISIT ACTIVITIES

A Teacher’s Guide

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES, VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.AMNH.ORG/RESOURCES/BIODIVERSITY

THE HALL of

INSIDE

The Hall of Biodiversity, which opened in the spring of 1998, addresses the vari-

ety and interdependence of all living things. It celebrates the beauty, diversity, and

abundance of life on Earth while warning of the threats posed by human activity.

The Hall is organized around four questions:

■ What is biodiversity?

■ Why is biodiversity important?

■ What are the threats to biodiversity?

■ What can be done to protect biodiversity?

Information and responses to these questions are embedded throughout the Hall

in text, videos, and interactives. Red text indicates threats. See the “How to Read

the Labels” page for a schematic of how these questions are addressed.

Class visits may focus on the entire hall or one of the following:

■ ecosystems/habitats

■ human effects on the environment

■ evolution

(These three topics, which specifically address performance standards and cur-

riculum requirements, are covered in more detail in the Background section of

this guide.)

No matter how you tour the Hall, we recommend that you begin with the eight-

minute

Introductory Video (8), Life in the Balance. A continuous loop, it provides

an overview of the main concepts of biodiversity featured in the Hall.

The

Spectrum of Life Wall (1) highlights the wealth and diversity of life on Earth.

Along the wall and overhead are displayed 1,500 specimens and models—rang-

ing from microorganisms to large terrestrial and aquatic organisms, including bac-

teria, plants, fish, mammals, and insects—presented in the form of a cladogram, a

graphic chart that reconstructs the evolutionary history of a group of organisms.

This cladogram shows the 28 living groups that make up all life on Earth.

The

Crisis Zone (5): Embedded in the floor in front of the Spectrum of Life Wall is

a time line of the five previous major extinction events—periods of unusually high

levels of extinction—with fossils from these periods. Two columns flanking the

time line provide an overview of the causes of the present, or sixth extinction, an

event different from previous extinctions because it is caused by human activity. A

display case nearby contains examples of and information about endangered and

extinct animals.

A multiscreen

Habitat Video Wall (2) provides a global tour of nine ecosystems,

communities of interacting organisms and their physical environments. Each 90-

second video is superimposed with warnings about threats to each ecosystem.

Texts and maps show distributions.

The

Rain Forest Diorama (6), representing a section of the Dzanga Ndoki rain for-

est from the Dzanga-Sangha Forest Preserve in the Central African Republic, fea-

tures more than 160 flora and fauna species. The rain forest is shown in progressive

states of disturbance. An interpretative railing provides details in text and graphics.

Through video interviews, local people, government officials, and World Wildlife

Fund representatives tell their stories about the forest.

In text, graphics, and on video, the

Transformation of the Biosphere Wall (7)

presents dramatic case studies of changes to the biosphere—all living things on

Earth and their habitats. Case studies on the

Solutions Wall (3) suggest possible

remedies to the biodiversity crisis. Between these two walls, 10 computer kiosks

offer access to Web sites, a bibliography, names of conservation organizations, and

a searchable archive of the Hall’s quarterly

BioBulletin (4)—a video magazine.

key concepts

come prepared !

The Hall of Biodiversity is very busy and

noise levels can be high. It is a large

space with a lot of through traffic. It can

be a challenging environment in which to

introduce new topics and skills to your

students. Familiarize your class with the

content of the Hall and give them an

opportunity to practice any necessary

new skills before they visit. Or choose

another nearby location to speak with

your class.

As an informal learning environment, the

Museum offers many opportunities for

self-directed learning. During the visit,

your students will be exposed to, and

inspired by, wonderful artifacts and spec-

imens presented in a range of media. Build

flexibility into your planning to allow stu-

dents to follow their own interests. Give

yourself time to observe their behavior.

Most mornings between 10 a.m. and

noon, red-vested Museum volunteers are

stationed in the Hall. Some volunteers are

free-floating; others are located at a

hands-on cart containing objects made

from endangered species and confiscat-

ed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

All volunteers are happy to provide infor-

mation and answer questions. Several

flashlights are available for use in the

Rain Forest Diorama.

and orientation

5. Crisis Zone

6. Rain Forest

Diorama

7. Transformation of

the Biosphere Wall

8. Introductory Video

1. Spectrum of

Life Wall

2. Habitat

Video Wall

3. Solutions Wall

4. BioBulletin

the hall of biodiversity

how to read the labels

Ecosystem

benefits

Habitat Video Wall

Biome type

Map: where

this biome

is found

globally

Red box info on threatened

state of the biome

Biome description

Examples

Coverage

(% of Earth

surface)

Main

idea

Rain Forest Diorama

Subject

Description/

panel text

Images

Transformation of the Biosphere Wall

What can

you do?

Solutions Wall

Text

These line the bot-

tom of the panels

Photo of

featured

plant or

animal

Lower panel

Main idea

Red box

crisis info

Transformation factor

(urbanization, agriculture

or deforestation)

Location/example

Maps showing

global impact

Transformation

factor

Lower panel

Additional examples

of threat

Explanation

Example image & text

Upper panel

Solution

case

example

World map with global examples

of subject/solution

Solution type

Solution

case

example 2

Description

of solution

Spectrum of Life Wall

Examples

of group

Statistics

about group

Information

about group

Red text indicates

threatened group

Ecological roles & human benefits

Characteristic

features

Images of

examples

1. SPECTRUM OF LIFE WALL

5. CRISIS ZONE

2. HABITAT VIDEO WALL

6. RAIN FOREST DIORAMA

7. TRANSFORMATION OF THE BIOSPHERE WALL

4. BIOBULLETIN 8. INTRO VIDEO

SOLUTIONS WALL

hall of biod

before your visit

Key words

Review the vocabulary in bold throughout this guide (as appropriate to the

ages and levels of students)

Classification

Familiarize students with dichotomous keys. See:

www.amnh.org/resources/biodiversity

Ecosystems/Habitats (Web-of-Life game)

On index cards, copy the names of organisms from the Rain Forest

Diorama (see insert sheet).

Ask students to sit in a large circle and take one card each.

Toss a ball of string to one student who reads aloud the name of the item

on his or her card. Keeping a tight hold of the string, the student throws the

ball of string to another student.

The second student reads out the item on his or her card and tries to

explain how it might relate to the item on the previous card. Anyone in the

group can offer suggestions and discuss the relationship. (Use photo-

graphs with younger students).

Keeping a tight hold on the string, the second student tosses the ball to a third

student who repeats the process, then throws the string to another student.

Repeat until the ball of string is used up. The web created by the string

illustrates the complex ecology of a tropical rain forest. Ask students to

predict what happens to the web if certain items are removed, or become

extinct. How might people affect some of these relationships?

Human impacts on the environment:

As a class activity, make an inventory of objects in the classroom.

List the natural materials used in each object. (Use photographs with

younger students.) Where do they come from, and how easy are they

to replace?

What does this tell you about our use of the natural world and our depend-

ence on biodiversity? How might this differ for people in other countries?

To illustrate the concept of extinction, choose a product, such as wood,

and invite students to come up with alternative materials for all objects

made of wood or wood-related materials.

BACKGROUND

n this section of the guide we describe ways to integrate the dif-

ferent areas of the Hall into the following aspects of the science

curriculum:

■ ecosystems/habitats

■ human effects on the environment

■ evolution

Spectrum of Life Wall

Ecosystems/Habitats Text panels describe the value and benefits pro-

vided by ecosystems to humans—such as the production of oxygen

through photosynthesis, or the purification of water.

Evolution Most of the 200 scientists working at the Museum carry out

research in systematics, the area of biology that describes living and

extinct species, some already discovered and some formerly unknown

to science. These systematists study the diversity of species by arrang-

ing organisms into groups that share an evolutionary history and clas-

sifying species according to characters, or distinctive features.

Systematists display this information in a branching diagram called a

cladogram. The organisms in each group, or clade, that branches off

the cladogram share characters inherited from a common ancestor.

Each of the 28 groups represented on the Spectrum of Life Wall makes

up one clade. Combined, these 28 clades constitute a giant cladogram

that contains all life on Earth: almost 1.75 million species have already

been described, but there are millions more. Estimates range from 5-

100 million.

The complete cladogram is shown on the text panel in front of the inter-

active computer stations. Use these stations to identify specimens on the

wall. Text panels provide information about and examples of species with-

in each clade—including the characteristic features used to define them—

and, in some cases, the threats they face.

Crisis Zone

Human Effects on the Environment Human activity is now causing the

sixth known mass extinction in our planet’s history. The expansion of

agriculture and industry, particularly in the last 400 years, has resulted

in a loss of habitat, pollution, overexploitation by hunting and fishing,

and the introduction of non-native species—species from other ecosys-

tems—on large scales and in many parts of the globe. A display case

contains animals that are either extinct or under serious threat because

of human activity.

Evolution Extinction is as much a part of the evolutionary cycle as

the origin and diversification of new species. Scientists estimate that

more than 99% of all species that have existed at some time on Earth

are now extinct.

Evidence of five previous periods of global mass extinctions is found in

the fossil record—the form, variety and distribution of all fossils in time

and space. The display case in the floor identifies these events.

Habitat Video Wall

Ecosystems/Habitats Examples of nine different ecosystems are shown

on video screens. Their global distribution is displayed on maps. Panels

provide the following information on each ecosystem:

■ detailed description

■ benefits provided to humans

■ percentage of the Earth’s surface covered

■ global distribution

while you’re at

the museum

Encourage students to record information in

words and drawings.

Spectrum of Life Wall:

Ask students to work with a partner. Allocate one

clade, or animal or plant evolutionary group, from

the Wall (see insert for list) to each pair of stu-

dents, who should:

■ choose three specimens from their clade.

Draw these in close detail. Include labels to

describe features and colors. Why are these

specimens in the same clade? Use the com-

puter interactives to find and record further

information on the specimens and the clade.

■ closely study the labels in front of the clade.

Make notes and drawings on areas of interest

for further research back in the classroom.

Younger students may choose favorite speci-

mens, make drawings, then look for their speci-

mens on the computer interactives.

Older students may focus on one area of the panel

text, e.g. human benefits, rather than on individual

clades (see "How to Read the Labels" for details of

how the text is organized).

Rain Forest Diorama:

Ask students to sit, closely observe, and listen to

the diorama. Draw their attention to the three dif-

ferent levels of the rain forest:

■ forest floor

■ understory (area at eye level)

■ canopy (sit back on the benches

and look up)

Ask questions that encourage students to focus

on the interactions they see in each layer (remind

them of the Web-of-Life game) and to record their

observations in drawings and writing.

To help them focus closely, younger students may

bring flashlights, or create observational tools

(such as binoculars) before their visit.

Older students may use panel text or the field

guides to make more detailed notes.

Entire Hall

Before your visit, ask older students to choose an

environmental topic that interests them, e.g.,

oceans, forests, pollution, endangered species. At

the Museum, invite students to use the resources

of the Hall to gather information for further

research and writing back in the classroom.

iversity

Human Effects on the Environment Specific threats to each ecosystem are described in

red beside the distribution map and superimposed on video screens.

Rain Forest Diorama

Ecosystems/Habitats Visitors can observe the interaction of species within this diverse

ecosystem as well as their interactions within microhabitats, such as a stream, a tree

branch, or a dungheap. Disturbances caused by natural forces such as running water and

elephants are evident. The text provides information about tropical forest ecology.

Human Effects on the Environment Foreign timber and mining concessions drain nat-

ural resources from the region, while local people clear land for agriculture and use the

forest for other basic needs. The government of the Central African Republic established

the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Reserve to pro-

tect this ecosystem. The national park is protected from human impacts, while the for-

est reserve allows limited extraction of the local flora and fauna. Dzanga-Sangha is an

example of a conservation effort designed to conserve biodiversity by enlisting local

people as partners in the management of a protected area.

Evolution In tropical rain forests the interaction of abiotic, or non-living, elements

such as heat, light, and water, results in the highest terrestrial rates of species diversity.

This re-creation of the Dzanga-Sangha rain forest in the Central African Republic shows

the rich biodiversity present in this ecosystem. Field guides on the rail identify the hun-

dreds of species that live there.

Transformation of the Biosphere Wall

Human Effects on the Environment This wall examines the root causes of biodiversity

loss—population growth and overconsumption. Panel text, graphics, and video presen-

tations provide detailed information as well as showing global impacts.

Solutions Wall

Human Effects on the Environment Case studies on this wall provide examples of con-

servation in action. Attempts to solve complex ecological problems are described, and

suggestions of ways that visitors themselves can make a difference are offered.

BioBulletin

On the other end of the wall from the Introductory Video, a BioBulletin offers maga-

zine-format commentaries about biodiversity-related issues. It includes profiles of sci-

entists and their research,

and stories of threats to

biodiversity as well as

efforts to protect and con-

serve it. Produced on a reg-

ular basis, the BioBulletins

keep the content of the

Hall up-to-date.

back in the

classroom

Follow up with a directed class discussion based around the four organizing questions of

the Hall:

■ What is biodiversity?

■ Why is biodiversity important?

■ What are the threats to biodiversity?

■ What can be done to protect biodiversity?

Students may raise other areas of interest for discussion.

Create definitions for a class glossary of new terms learned before and during the visit. For

younger students, include illustrations. Older students may annotate with examples, maps,

and graphics.

Spectrum of Life Wall

Ask students, in their pairs, to continue researching their clade using available resources

including books and the Internet. Topics for study might include: endangered species, val-

ues and benefits to humans, and ecosystems/habitats.

A cladogram is a diagrammatic representation of evolutionary relationships. Using the

information—written and graphic—collected from the Spectrum of Life Wall, students can

create a cladogram in the classroom that reflects their research.

Older students may carry out independent research on the history of classification sys-

tems. What are the limitations and advantages of different systems? How do people clas-

sify nature in other cultures?

Rain Forest Diorama

Use the information collected to create food webs. Make a mural or small-scale diorama

that illustrates the layered structure of the rain forest. Younger students may focus on ani-

mals and plants, and on basic interactions. Older students may focus on the range and

complexity of microhabitats within each layer.

Invite students to prepare class presentations based on their research into specific envi-

ronmental issues, focusing on the United States. A presentation may be in the form of a

debate, show-and-tell, drama, a video, or a Web site. Encourage students to consider mul-

tiple perspectives—social, cultural, ecological, economic, political, and historical—and

the issue of sustainability.

Links to New York State Standards:

The activities in this guide fulfill the following standards:

■ Life Sciences

■ Scientific Communication

■ Scientific Tools and Technologies

■ Scientific Thinking

■ Scientific Connections and Applications

Further information on standards and additional activities

may be found on the Web site at: www.amnh.org/resources/biodiversity

This guide was produced with support from the Henry Nias

Foundation, Inc. and MetLife Foundation.

It was made accessible online at www.amnh.org/resources/biodiversity

through the generous support of MetLife Foundation.

The guide was developed by the Education Department, the National Center

for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology, and the Center for

Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History.

■ Ecosystems/Habitats The Museum’s world-

renowned dioramas show a wide range of ecosys-

tems. Compare and contrast mammal and bird habi-

tats and adaptations by studying the dioramas in:

■ Akeley Hall of African Mammals

■ North American Mammals

■ Small Mammals

■ North American Birds

■ Birds of the World

Compare different ecosystems:

■ Rain Forest Diorama in the Hall of Biodiversity,

Olympic Rain Forest Diorama, Giant Cactus Forest,

and Forest Floor Diorama in the Hall of North

American Forests

■ Rain Forest Diorama in the Hall of Biodiversity with

local ecosystems and microhabitats in New York

State Environment Hall

■ North American Bird Hall with Reptiles and

Amphibians Hall

■ Evolution Discover the birth of life on Earth in the

Hall of the Universe. In the Hall of Planet Earth, find

evidence of a recently discovered ecosystem—

hydrothermal vents, sulfur chimneys on the ocean

floor. The Fourth Floor Halls tell the history of verte-

brate evolution using cladograms. Make connections

with our own evolutionary history in the Hall of

Human Biology and Evolution.

■ Human Effects on the Environment Both the New

York State Environment Hall and the Reptiles and

Amphibians Hall highlight habitat loss due to human

activity. Study the development of irrigation in the

River Valley area of the Hall of African Peoples to see

how people use their environment. Compare to the

New York State Environment Hall.

Find information about many endangered species

and habitats on exhibit throughout the Museum at:

www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/

connections

to other exhibits

in the museum

Design:

Amanda Kavanagh,

Ark Design

Writer and Producer:

Sharon Simpson

Production Coordinator

and Editorial Associate:

Paisley Gregg

Cover photograph:

Enrico Ferorelli