In this lesson we learn about Biodiversity and how we can protect it. Biodiversity is the variety of all the living things in the world it includes all living things from the tiniest insect in your garden to the biggest whales in the sea. Join us on our journey to become Eco Explorers and tune in for more on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
What is Biodiversity? - Animated Series
Welcome to The Eco Explorer's Club! The Eco Explorers Club is a fun and exciting way to learn about sustainability and the world around us, brought to you by SSE Airtricity and our sustainability partner, Dublin Zoo.
Learning all about Biodiversity with Reuben The Entertainer
It’s story time! This week Reuben The Entertainer joined us to learn all about Biodiversity. Tune in and learn all about Biodiversity with some fun activities.
Eco Explorer’s Club Virtual Tour of Dublin Zoo
Welcome to The Eco Explorer’s Club virtual tour of Dublin Zoo. This week we're looking at Biodiversity. Can you spot examples of biodiversity in Dublin Zoo?
Draw with Don - Red squirrel
Get creative, discover biodiversity and draw with Don Conroy. Learn to draw the beautiful, native Irish red squirrel.
Yoga Exploration with Caragh
Time to stretch, relax and imagine biodiversity with yoga exploration. Join in with Caragh and her little Eco Explorers.
Biodiversity comes from two words biological which means living things and diversity which means variety. The earth formed 4.6 billion years ago! Scientists find it hard to know exactly when the first living things appeared on earth but what they do know is that they started from single cells. The building blocks that make up all living things cells are so small you can only see them under a microscope. Billions of years ago these single cells began to become more complex through a thing called evolution. These cells became lots of different living things like plants, mammals, invertebrates and microorganisms which are the ones you can only see under a microscope. What's so amazing about the natural world is that everything came from a common ancestor including us. An ecosystem is like a community of living things in a specific place interacting with each other and with the non-living things in that place. Examples of living things are plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms called Manera and Protista, non-living things are things like rocks, climate, water and air. Different ecosystems in Ireland are bugs, woodlands, a marsh, a hedge, a lake, an ocean or even a rock pool.
Can you think of some living and non-living things you have in your ecosystem at home? Let us start with living things plants, trees, animals, insects, a dog or a cat, flowers. Now let us look at some non-living things – rocks, climate, water, air. Nature is all the things around us that are not made by humans like plants, animals, the landscape, the sea.
Biodiversity and nature are all around us, next time you're on a walk why not see what you can spot in the ecosystem around you!
We need biodiversity for lots of reasons. Biodiversity is about the variety of different living things having lots of diversity among plants, animals and all living things around us is essential in keeping different ecosystems healthy. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen from their leaves which humans and other animals need to breathe. An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone like a snail, worm, spider, wood louse. Bees are invertebrates and they help to pollinate flowers which helps crops and plants grow this makes sure we have yummy things like strawberries, nuts, chocolate, bananas and much more. Earthworms keep the soil healthy by recycling nutrients and aerating the soil this in turn helps plants to grow.
Biodiversity also gives us places to play and have fun nature spaces and the plants and animals in them provides places of beauty for us to see, play and experience.
Can you imagine not having gardens or parks to play in or relaxing when you're walking bird-watching or enjoying the Zoo TV series you are enjoying biodiversity! There are lots of different types of animals that live in Ireland we call these native species there are over 50 native mammal species living in the wild in Ireland. This includes land mammals like red squirrels and hedgehogs and marine mammals like grey seals and bottlenose dolphins. In Ireland we have 200 bird species that either live here all year round or regularly fly to spend part of the year here there are lots of ways you can learn about biodiversity.