The Road to Extinction
Provided by: National Center for Science Education|Published on: December 13, 2022|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Biology, Earth and Space Sciences, English Language Arts
Authors: National Center for Science Education
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this lesson, students learn about the relationships between extinction, evolution, and biodiversity by investigating previous mass extinction events, learning about the current mass extinction, and participating in many interactive activities.
- Through discussions, videos, research, and readings, students examine the causes of extinction events, how they impact biodiversity, how species have adapted to human pressures, and what can be done to limit the loss of biodiversity on Earth today.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The lesson plan includes discussion questions, learning outcomes, background knowledge, a list of materials, and an in-depth, step-by-step guide to each activity.
- The reading comprehension tasks, vocabulary cards, critical thinking exercises, and group work will get students using their communication and critical thinking skills.
Additional Prerequisites
- This lesson requires 4 to 6 50-minute lessons to complete, but some sections could be used as stand-alone activities.
- You will need to create a free account to access the lesson plan and materials.
- All accompanying materials are only available through Google drive.
- There may be ads before the videos.
- Before starting the lesson, students should have some knowledge of extinct species and understand the fossil record, genetic variability, natural selection, and speciation.
Differentiation
- Extension activities are available at the end of the lesson plan for students interested in furthering their knowledge of extinction.
- Images in some of the student documents will use a lot of ink if printed. Alternatively, you can print one set of images per group or project them for the class.
- Have students consider the role that anthropogenic climate change is playing in biodiversity loss and species extinctions.
- To provide more background knowledge about extinction, use this video about the fossil record and extinction or this video on the sixth mass extinction.
- History classes can use portions of this lesson to connect to geographic distributions of human civilizations of the past and present, human-caused extinctions or near-extinctions in recent history (e.g., the passenger pigeon, dodo bird, bison, Atlantic cod, rhinos, etc), or to the differing ability of previous civilizations to colonize and change the planet.
This resource is a guide for teachers that includes standards, core ideas, a lesson set, and teacher resources, all of which discuss the connection between extinction, evolution, biodiversity, and human impacts. The information is well-sourced and researched and would be a great addition to a class discussing different needs to address climate change. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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