Endangered Species: The Asian Houbara

Transcription

1 Endangered Species: The Asian Houbara Grade 6: Living World: Learning Outcomes: L4, 5, 6, 7 Earth and Space: Learning Outcomes: E3 "Why should we save the Houbara from extinction? Why? The world is constantly changing. Plants and animals need to evolve and adapt to survive with the changes around them. Man s affect on the World is causing change to occur more rapidly. This could lead to many plants and animals becoming extinct because they cannot adapt quickly enough. The father of the nation the late Sheikh Zayed, won a world award posthumously in 2005 for his work and vision in conservation: On the land and in the sea, our forefathers lived and survived in this environment. They were able to do so because they recognized the need to conserve it, to take from it only what they needed to live, and to preserve it for succeeding generations. LW Learning Objectives L4 Explain why a change in the number of one organism in a food web can affect other organisms. L5 Explain how features of organisms enable them to survive in at least two different environments. L6 Describe how non-living factors affect organisms in a local ecosystem. L7 Explain the possible long-term impact human activities can have on an ecosystem. ES Learning Objectives E1 Explain day and night, the length of the year, and seasons. E3 Outline at least three uses of artificial satellites, including for communication, observation and navigation. Success Criteria Explain the impact the extinction of the Houbara would have on their food web. Describe the non-living factors and features of the Houbara that enable them to survive. The endangered species, the Houbara in the UAE, is identified and suitable protection plans are described. The effectiveness of such plans is evaluated. Describe how the artificial winter is established to trick the Houbara into breeding, in terms of daylight hours, temperature and other non-living factors. Describe how GPS works and can be mapped onto GIS. Explain why the Houbara is important and how man s activities could lead to extinction. Explain how GIS information can be used to establish the conditions migrating Houbara experience. Explain why the Saker Falcons migrate in terms of the seasons that occur during the course of a year.

2 Requirements Textbooks Library and books Newspapers and magazines (home and school) Internet access. People you can ask, in person, phone, txt, or blog. Visit to NARC (National Avian Research Centre) Vocabulary Extinction, endangered, species, food chains and webs, Migration, conservation, protection, sustainable, global positioning system (GPS), geostationary, geographic information system (GIS) Sheikh Mohammad releasing a Houbara Tasks: (these will be done in teams and you will share the mark) 1. Do the presentation (Big Question, BQ) for a teenage audience. 2. Find out what you need to know to do the presentation. Gather Knowledge (GK). Deadline: You have 3 weeks to complete these tasks.

3 Answer the following questions in your teams. Team Number Team Name Student Names Key Idea 1: Where do the Houbara live? How is their environment changing to make survival more difficult, which ones survive? What part do they play in the food web/chain? What happens to the food web if they become extinct? Why is biodiversity important? Key Idea 2: Why are the Houbara endangered? What is the historical/cultural background of the Houbara? What has been the impact of falconers since the UAE was founded? eg the impact of the 4WD on the range of falconers. To what level they are endangered? What is the pressure on the habitat through the development of the UAE? What is the impact of poaching here and overseas? Key Idea 3: How are we trying to save the Houbara? Why did the late Sheikh Zayed start NARC 18 years ago? How does the captive breeding and release of Houbara work at NARC? Discuss captive breeding: Parent selection, artificial winters, technical aspects etc. How do they ensure the birds are well looked after, food, environment and handling? Why are breeding birds and release birds treated differently? How successful is the NARC programme and how is this measured? Should there be an official and legal Houbara hunting season? (Possible survey of Falconers) Key Idea 4: Migration: What is it all about? Why do they migrate? Where and when do they migrate? How are Houbara tracked and what information is retrieved from the tracking devices? How does the GPS (global positioning system) work? What is GIS? This could be learned through a classroom/outside based activity using and applying GIS.

4 Some resources: GIS Labs: Next section

5 GIS Labs: Use these labs to help you gather the knowledge you need for use in your inquiry. Team Number Team Name Student Names Lab 1: Investigating Food Webs, ecosystems and worldwide Saker Falcon distribution In this investigation, you will use a live web map that was created with a Geographic Information System (GIS). A GIS provides an excellent way to explore the world and to learn science at the same time. This map is served via a web based GIS called ArcGIS Online. In a web browser type in Click on the link to open the Global Falcon Habitat map. The map that opens is a world map entitled Global Falcon Habitat. It is a world map showing global ecosystems. It should look similar to the following: With your mouse, click on a ecosystem anywhere on the map. (do not click on a pushpin) A popup box appears that gives you information about the ecosystem where you clicked on the map. 1. What ecosystem is located where you clicked on the map?

6 Click on several other places on the map to view several other ecosystems. Locate the United Arab Emirates. Click on the ecosystems that intersect the U.A.E. 2. What three ecosystem(s) intersect the UAE? In the Search box on the top right, type in Alaska and then click on the magnifying glass. Click on the push pin that appears on the map in Alaska. There is an illustration of the Artic food chain in the popup window. 3. With the information in the food chain illustration, identify how many different animals use the energy in this food chain? Click the x in the top right corner of the popup window. To the west of the Arctic Food Chain pushpin, there is another pushpin located in Russia that will display the Tundra Food Web popup. The illustration included in this popup is more detailed and shows multiple interactions between the animals. This form of illustration is called a food web. 4. How is the Tundra food web illustration different from the Arctic food chain illustration?

7 Producers are the plants that provide the energy needed to support all animals in the food chain. 5. What are some of the Tundra producers? All animals depend on other organisms to provide for their needs. This makes the animals consumers. The animals that are at the top of the food chain, that no other animals feed on, are called top level consumers.. Starting with the producers, count how many levels there are making sure to include the top consumer level in your count. 6. How many levels does energy tranfer through to reach from producers to top consumers? Falcons and hawks are very resilient animals and can be found in many ecosystems. Examine the grassland ecosystem to see their place among the animals that live there. If you are still zoomed in to the Tundra, zoom back out to the world. Left click the down arrow to the right of the Ecosystems layer and click on Show Table. On the table click on the row named Temperate Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands. Notice that the row you click on in the table is now colored in the table as well as on the map. 7. As you look at the map, do grasslands occur randomly around the globe? If not, can you describe the pattern of where to find temperate grasslands?

8 8. Is there a particular location pattern to where temperate grasslands are located? On the map, click on an ecosystem that borders a grassland near where you live. You may need to zoom in a few levels. 9. What types of ecosystems do grasslands usually develop between? 10. Which animals are at the top of the food chains for grasslands and deserts? (Remember to look at the map for help with this answer.) 11. What are some of the things that hawks or falcons eat to stay healthy? Pan your map to the United Arab Emirates. 12. What types of ecosystems are found in the United Arab Emirates? 13. Why is it important for the United Arab Emirates to work with a country like Mongolia to increase the number of falcons on their

9 grasslands? 14. Create a food web out of the following types of animals (including falcons) that occur in grasslands in various locations around the world. (Not all these animals occur together in all the grasslands.) Plants: wheat, corn, bluestem, oats, oak, elm, Insects: ants, grasshoppers, locusts, bees, spiders, scorpion Rodents: pika, souslik, hamsters, voles, mice Birds: pigeon, starling, lark, wren, pheasant, houbara, kestrel, buzzard, raven, falcons Mammals: fox, wolf, deer, rabbit, weasel, ermine, Reptiles: snakes, lizards Amphibians: frogs, toads, salamanders

10 Food Web

11 Lab 2 Patterns of migration for Houbara To begin Lab 2, you will read the short article about Houbara. In a web browser type in Click on the link to access the Regional Houbara Project map. Login to ArcGIS Online with your ADEC Organization username and password. In this project there are houbara bird flyway track layers that represent latitude/longitude points taken by GPS units attached to houbara birds as they migrated. You will notice the HoubaraFlightPaths - Western Flyway layer is turned on as indicated by the checkmark in the box in front of the layer. There are many, many data points for each of these birds and your browser may show you a warning message indicating that some of the points may not draw. Don t worry, you will have enough points to do this activity and to visualize where the houbara flew during this study period and at what time of the year. If you receive a warning, click the box so it doesn t continue to appear throughout your session. Now you will follow one of the houbara migration paths starting in the summer months indicated by yellow dots. The houbara hatch during the summer (indicated by yellow dots) and then migrate over the following year. The GPS coordinates taken during the autumn migration months are brown, the coordinates taken during the winter migration months are a whitish

12 color and, the coordinates taken in the spring migration months are shades of green. So your migration path will follow this timeline: Summer Autumn Winter Spring OR Yellow Brown Pink Green Remember to refer back to the legend colors to guide your digitized path. Click on the Add button at the top of the map. Click on the Add Map Notes feature to use the drawing tool. Change the Name to Western Migration Path Click on Create. Click on the Freehand Line tool in the Add Features box on the left. Click and hold the left mouse button as you connect the dots from yellow brown pink blue green as you progress through the year. Line Drawing Tips:

13 a. You do NOT need to connect each dot exactly, but just generally draw a line in the direction you think the houbara migrated using the colors noted. b. If you have zoomed in and can t see the next dots, stop the line, pan the map and start drawing the line again by clicking on the Freehand Line tool again. Do this as many times as you need to complete the line indicating this houbara s migration path. Zoom out just far enough to see the entire migration path you just drew. Click on the Distance Measure tool (at the top of the map) Trace back over the line you drew, clicking on the map each time the line curves. Once again, you do NOT need to be perfectly exact in your measurement but close. Double click when you reach the end of the line to finish the measurement of this bird s migration flight path. 1. What was the distance this bird traveled in that migration year? (Look in the Measurement Results area of the Measure tool.) Western flyway flight distance = Turn on both the Central flyway and Eastern flyway layers as well. Draw a line and measure each line for the Central and Eastern flyways using the steps

14 you learned above. 2. How far did the Central and Eastern flyway houbara fly? 3. Central flyway flight distance = Eastern flyway flight distance = 4. With these three measured paths, which bird flew the farthest in its annual migration? 5. How much farther is the longest migration compared to the others? The houbara s natural range stretches across a broad expanse of desert and grasslands of Asia. Look closely at any one of the houbara s tracks when they migrate. 6. How do geographic features affect their movements? Turn on the one example of a GPS tracked Saker Falcon s migration. 7. How many kilometres is the falcon s flight?

15 8. How long does it take for the falcon to migrate that distance? (You can get this information by clicking on the beginning and end points to bring up your identify window). 9. Does the falcon s track appear to be landform dependent? 10. Propose a hypothesis that might account for the difference in migration pattern for the falcon compared to houbara: Thais maybe too hard a concept for them?? o o o First write down two or three ideas then come back together with partners to compare answers. Look to see if the map helps support your best answers and make other hypotheses less likely because you find exceptions to your proposed answer. More possible solutions are better but also require more work to find the most logical answer. 11. What do you think causes animals in general to migrate such distances each year? What conditions do the birds experience on their flight, temperature, wind etc? What conditions do they experience do they experience at their nesting sites?

16 12. How do the conditions they experience during migration and nesting compare with the artificial winter space at the NARC centre? Below are two pictures of both Houbara and Saker Falcons. 13. What are just two ways that both the falcon and houbara are well adapted to the deserts?

17 Two animals in a similar food chain often evolve to be better at producing offspring in their ecosystems. Often the animals that depend on these organisms as food co-evolve along with their prey. 14. Describe something about the houbara that makes it better adapted to the desert and how the falcons may have had to change to become better at catching them:

18 Team Number Team Name Student Names Your Task Your team has been asked to produce a presentation outlining: How and why they are attempting to rescue the Houbara from extinction and how well are they doing? Presentation title: "Why should we save the Houbara from extinction? The Big Question (BQ). You can choose how your team will do this but some possibilities are: A poster A PowerPoint Presentation A video using members of your team, you could be TV journalists interviewing experts and interested locals. A short play. A blog/web site E Learning: ICT opportunities: Select the ones you have used; Mark with a tick Two main components of Inquiry: Gathering Knowledge GK Presentation or Big Question BQ ICT Inquiry ICT Inquiry Selecting suitable websites: GK PowerPoint BQ URL saved with date GK Video Editing BQ Tracking Houbara GPS GK Posting Blog BQ Excel GK Report (MS BQ Instant Messaging/Video GK Green screen technology BQ E Mail, attachments GK Brochure/Poster: PPT etc BQ You need to agree as a team on your presentation and then PLAN (use an A3 sheet of paper). Your presentation should include:

19 Introduction What is your team going to tell your audience about? Why are the Houbara endangered? What is their habitat? How are we trying to save them? How are we doing? Part One: Why are the Houbara so important to us? What is the historical/cultural background of the Houbara? What has been the impact of falconers since the UAE was founded? eg the impact of the 4WD on the range of falconers. To what level they are endangered? What is the pressure on the habitat through the development of the UAE? What is the impact of poaching here and overseas? Part Two: Where do they normally live? What sort of conditions does it like? What does it normally eat and what eats it? What happens to the ecosystem if it becomes extinct? Consider impact on the food web, biodiversity, farmers and their crops, falconers etc Part Three: How are we trying to save them? How the late Sheikh Zayed had the vision for NARC 18 years ago? How is NARC trying to save the Houbara? (Captive breeding, release of birds) How effective is this programme? (Include migration paths, tracking and establishing bird densities) Part Five: Summary Bring together the main points of the Inquiry. Finish with a strong statement.