Counting the ways to stay alive
| Links to the story | Key Stage 2 and 3 programmes of study | Possible learning outcomes | Big ideas |
| Counting the ways to stay alive | changes in the environment may leave…some…species less well adapted to compete successfully…which in turn may lead to extinction (KS3)identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution (KS2) | Know that there are many species of living organism, and each faces unique challenges in staying alive Appreciate that many of species may become extinct before they will be discovered |
what is life? |
Every species that is alive today is a “success story”, because its ancestors have survived long enough to reproduce, and it forms part of an unbroken line of descent from the earliest living organisms.
However, their continued existence is by no means guaranteed. If the environment changes, such that an organism is no longer able to get the necessary input of energy and chemical nutrients, then it will die. If sufficiently large numbers of organisms of that species die, then the species can become extinct.
Most of the species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct. It is likely that, at some point in the future, our human species will also become extinct. This adds a special impetus to those who are concerned about the impact of man-made climate change on the survival of the species on Earth.