It is seriously alarming the news of the number of species that are lost daily or going extinct due to pollution, overpopulation, urban sprawl, over consumption, overexploitation of natural resources, and/or disease. So the question begs to be asked as to the role of educators in helping decrease such a loss, and in what ways educators can make a significant difference in abating the lose of biodiversity in the web of life.
I believe, that as educators we have a very important role to play and thus, the reason I write this curricular unit. Simply put the purpose can be described as that of assisting students to become critical thinkers in developing the necessary skills to grow into educated consumers that understand the daily choices they make affect everything they do.
Most nations have signed and enacted into law major initiatives dealing with the study, preservation and conservation of biological diversity when on December 29, 1993 they undersigned the International Convention on Biodiversity. This fact offers an indication of the importance that biodiversity has in our lives. Also, these conventions underscore the importance of immediate action at the local, regional, and national levels of understanding biodiversity.
There are some reasons for hope in that many organisms are resilient and evolve and adapt to ever changing circumstances. There is also hope in the labor of both governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations that have raised the alarm, begun to study the situation, and taken some significant steps in raising people's awareness and in the conservation of endangered species and habitats.
