SECTION 1
What's Happening?
Then you visit a rainforest. You see monkeys, frogs, parrots, butterflies, tall trees, vines, ferns, and colorful flowers. There are so many different living things everywhere you look!
- Which place has more kinds of living things?
- Why do you think one place has more than the other?
SECTION 2
What Scientists Know
A habitat is a place where plants and animals live. Different habitats have different kinds of living things.
Diversity (say: dih-VER-sih-tee) means how many different kinds of living things are in one place. A place with many different kinds of plants and animals has greater diversity. A place with only a few kinds has less diversity.
Habitats Are Different
We Can Observe and Count
SECTION 3
Let's Explore!
What you need: Your eyes, paper, and a crayon or pencil.
Worked example
- 1
Step 1
Pick two spots to observe. One could be a sidewalk crack. The other could be a garden or a tree area. - 2
Step 2
Look carefully at each spot for 5 minutes. What living things do you see? Bugs? Plants? Birds? - 3
Step 3
Draw or write each different kind of living thing you see at each spot. - 4
Step 4
Count the different kinds at each spot. Which one had more? That spot has greater diversity!
The garden had 5 different kinds of living things. The sidewalk crack only had 2 kinds. Our evidence shows the garden has greater diversity!
SECTION 4
What We Found Out
When we observe a habitat and count the different kinds of living things, we are collecting evidence. Evidence is the information we get from watching and recording.
We use evidence to compare two habitats. We ask: Which habitat has more different kinds of plants and animals? The answer tells us which one has greater diversity.
| HABITAT | LIVING THINGS OBSERVED | NUMBER OF KINDS |
|---|---|---|
| Desert 🏜️ | Lizard, cactus, brown bird | 3 |
| Rainforest 🌿 | Monkey, frog, parrot, butterfly, tree, vine, fern, flower | 8 |
Look at the data! The rainforest has 8 different kinds of living things. The desert has only 3 kinds. The evidence clearly shows the rainforest has greater diversity.
Why does the rainforest have more kinds? It has lots of water and warm weather all year. Many plants can grow. When there are many plants, there is food and shelter for many kinds of animals too!
SECTION 5
Do You See the Pattern?
Scientists look for patterns. A pattern is something that happens the same way again and again. Let's look for a pattern about diversity!
| HABITAT | WHAT IT'S LIKE | DIVERSITY |
|---|---|---|
| 🌿 Rainforest | Warm, lots of rain, many plants | High — many kinds |
| 🌊 Coral Reef | Warm water, lots of food | High — many kinds |
| 🏜️ Desert | Very dry, very hot | Low — few kinds |
| ❄️ Ice Sheet | Very cold, almost no plants | Low — few kinds |
Do you see it? Here is the pattern: Habitats with more water, food, and shelter tend to have more different kinds of living things. Habitats that are very harsh — very hot, very cold, or very dry — tend to have fewer kinds.
This pattern shows up everywhere in nature! Even in your own neighborhood. A park with trees and a pond will have more kinds of living things than a parking lot.
SECTION 6
This Matters in the Real World!
People use what we know about diversity to help take care of nature. Scientists go to different habitats and observe what lives there. They count the different kinds of plants and animals. This helps them figure out which places need protection.
If a forest used to have many different kinds of animals but now only has a few kinds, scientists know something is wrong. Maybe the trees were cut down. Maybe the water got dirty. They use their evidence to figure out how to help.
SECTION 7
Words to Know
- Habitat — A place where plants and animals live, like a forest, pond, or desert.
- Diversity — How many different kinds of living things are in one place.
- Observe — To watch something carefully and notice details.
- Evidence — Information you collect by observing. It helps you explain what you see.
- Compare — To look at two or more things and see how they are alike or different.
SECTION 8
Practice: Show What You Know!
Question 1: Warm-Up
- A. Park A, because it has fewer kinds of animals so they are more special
- B. Park B, because it has more different kinds of living things
- C. Both parks have the same diversity because they both have birds
- D. Park A, because birds are more important than lizards
Show answer
Question 2: Building Skills
- A. Area 1 is prettier than Area 2
- B. Area 1 has 5 different kinds of living things while Area 2 has only 2
- C. Area 1 is bigger than Area 2
- D. Area 2 has ants, which are very small
Show answer
Question 3: Thinking Deeper
- A. The tide pool is smaller than the sandy beach
- B. The tide pool water is colder than the beach sand
- C. She counted 6 different kinds of living things in the tide pool and only 2 on the beach
- D. The crabs on the beach are bigger than the crabs in the tide pool
Show answer
Question 4: Challenge
- A. The meadow has more space for cars to park
- B. The parking lot has louder sounds than the meadow
- C. The meadow has more plants and soil, which provide food and shelter for many different kinds of living things
- D. The parking lot is a better place for animals because it has flat ground
Show answer
SECTION 9