Year 8 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 25

Endangered Species and Australian Biodiversity

Foundation Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Name the five IUCN Red List categories and give an Australian example for each.
Explain what biodiversity means and why it matters for ecosystems.
Identify key threats to Australian wildlife and conservation strategies.

Warm Up

Match each IUCN category to its description

Draw a line connecting each IUCN Red List category on the left to its correct description on the right. Or write the matching letter next to each term.

IUCN Category	Your answer	Description + Australian example
Extinct		A. At very high risk of extinction in the wild; population has declined by at least 80%. E.g. orange-bellied parrot.
Critically Endangered		B. No longer exists anywhere on Earth. E.g. Tasmanian tiger (thylacine).
Endangered		C. At high risk of extinction; faces serious threats but population decline is less severe. E.g. bilby.
Vulnerable		D. Likely to become endangered if threats continue; still has viable populations. E.g. koala.
Near Threatened		E. Close to qualifying for a threatened category; being monitored closely. E.g. quokka.

Your Turn

Fill the gap

Choose the correct word from the word bank to complete each sentence. Two words are distractors and will not be used.

biodiversity endemic extinction habitat invasive conservation ecosystem services migration domestication

Australia is known as a megadiverse country because it has exceptional , meaning a huge variety of life including plants, animals and microorganisms. Many Australian species are , which means they are found nowhere else on Earth, for example, the koala and the platypus.

The biggest single threat to Australian wildlife is loss caused by land clearing for farms and cities. species such as foxes and cats arrived with European settlers and hunt small mammals that had no natural defences against them.

When a species permanently disappears from the planet it is called . Programs that protect species and their habitats are called . Healthy ecosystems also provide such as pollination, clean water, and carbon storage that humans depend on.

Show What You Know

1. Australia has the world's highest rate of mammal extinction since European settlement. Identify two reasons why introduced species like foxes and cats are so harmful to Australian native mammals.

Recall 2 marks

2. Name two conservation strategies used in Australia to protect threatened species, and give a specific example for each.

Recall 2 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?