Every day, wild habitats and the wildlife they support are threatened because of widespread human activity. In fact, only 17 percent of Earth’s surface remains untouched by human influence.

In this activity, students learn how a growing demand for natural resources endangers habitats and wildlife. Students select an issue to focus on and think critically to develop a list of actions that people could take to reduce or reverse this growing problem.

After this activity, students will be able to:

• explain the cause-and-effect relationship between growing demands for natural resources and threatened habitats and wildlife
• describe the threats to Western lowland gorillas or Okapi
• create a list of action steps people can take to reduce or reverse the problem
• present their work to the class

Find the full activity here: Protecting Earth’s Wildlife

For further discussion:

When students complete the activity, ask them to apply the same thinking for the animals below. Where do these animals live? What are the human impacts there? How might this human activity affect these animals?