How Human Activity Affects the Environment — WJEC-CBAC Other Life Skills Qualification Foundations for Learning Revision
This subtopic examines the impact of human activities, such as deforestation, pollution, and urbanisation, on the diversity of organisms within environment
Topic Synopsis
This subtopic examines the impact of human activities, such as deforestation, pollution, and urbanisation, on the diversity of organisms within environments. Learners will explore how these activities reduce biodiversity and will develop practical skills to measure biodiversity using simple sampling techniques, enabling them to assess environmental health and propose basic conservation strategies.
Key Concepts & Core Principles
- The human body: basic organs (heart, lungs, brain) and their functions, plus simple life processes like breathing and digestion.
- Materials and their properties: understanding solids, liquids, and gases, and how materials can be changed by heating, cooling, or mixing.
- Energy and forces: recognising different forms of energy (light, sound, heat) and how forces like push and pull affect motion.
- Simple chemical reactions: examples like rusting, burning, or mixing acids with bases, and how to observe changes safely.
- Scientific enquiry: making predictions, carrying out fair tests, recording results in tables, and drawing conclusions.
Exam Tips & Revision Strategies
- In coursework, provide specific examples of human activities linked to local environments, such as littering in a park or building on a brownfield site, and explain the chain of impact on biodiversity.
- When measuring biodiversity, ensure you describe a standardised method step-by-step (e.g., random quadrat placement, repeat samples) and state how you would calculate a simple diversity index, even if just counting species.
- For assessment questions, always connect human activity to a measurable change in biodiversity, and if possible, suggest a practical mitigation strategy, such as creating wildlife corridors or reducing pesticide use.
- When answering questions on measuring biodiversity, always specify that sampling should be random to avoid bias, and explain how randomness is achieved (e.g., using random number coordinates).
- In written assignments, always link the cause of diversity change directly to a human activity with a clear chain of reasoning (e.g., 'Fertiliser runoff from farms increases nutrients in water, causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen, reducing fish diversity').
- For practical assessments, ensure you include units and a key for any data tables or graphs, as presentation marks are often allocated.
- When describing a method to measure biodiversity, always state that the sampling should be random or systematic to ensure fairness, and explain how you would record results.
- In written assignments, use simple cause-and-effect sentences: 'If humans cut down trees, fewer birds can nest, so the bird diversity decreases.' This shows clear understanding.
Common Misconceptions & Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing biodiversity with population size; students often think a large number of a single species means high biodiversity, rather than recognising species richness and evenness.
- Overlooking indirect human impacts, such as pollution affecting water quality and thereby reducing aquatic biodiversity, focusing only on direct habitat destruction.
- Using measurement techniques incorrectly, for instance, placing quadrats non-randomly or misidentifying species, leading to unreliable biodiversity indices.
- Confusing biodiversity with population size; students often think more individuals means higher biodiversity, ignoring species richness.
- Believing all human activities negatively affect biodiversity, without recognising some activities (e.g., conservation projects) can enhance it.
- Incorrect use of sampling techniques, such as non-random placement of quadrats leading to biased results.
Examiner Marking Points
- Award credit for accurately identifying at least two human activities that reduce biodiversity, with clear explanations of their effects (e.g., habitat loss from deforestation leading to fewer species).
- Award credit for correctly using a simple method to measure biodiversity, such as counting the number of different species in a quadrat or transect, and recording data accurately.
- Award credit for demonstrating understanding of why biodiversity matters, linking higher diversity to ecosystem stability and resilience against human pressures.
- Award credit for demonstrating the ability to list at least three human activities that reduce biodiversity (e.g., habitat destruction, overfishing, pollution).
- Award credit for correctly explaining how a named human activity affects organism diversity, using a specific example (e.g., deforestation reduces habitat for birds).
- Award credit for accurately describing and applying a method to measure biodiversity (e.g., using a quadrat to count plant species in two different areas) including basic data recording.
- Award credit for clearly explaining at least one human activity that reduces biodiversity, such as deforestation, with a simple example.
- Award credit for demonstrating the use of a basic sampling technique, such as using a quadrat to count plant species or a pooter to collect small animals.