Wildlife Overpasses

A photograph of a plant-covered overpass over a highway bordered by forest with mountains in the background.

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

Saved By

3 Users

Description

This activity explores an image of a wildlife overpass crossing a major highway, which serves as a phenomenon for learning about habitat fragmentation and conservation.

A wildlife overpass is a bridge that allows wildlife to move safely over a road. It is one way to reconnect habitats fragmented by human structures and activities. Reconnecting habitats expands the overall area available to wildlife and can support more biodiversity.

The “Educator Materials” document includes background information and implementation suggestions for using the image as a phenomenon. The “Student Handout” includes the image and background information.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets

Examine images of phenomena, make observations, and ask questions.
Collaborate with peers on ideas, ask questions that require higher levels of reasoning, and develop deeper understanding of concepts.
Describe how wildlife overpasses can reconnect habitat fragments and support more species.

Estimated Time

Within one 50-minute class period.

Key Terms

biodiversity, habitat fragmentation, isolation, species-area relationship, wildlife corridor, wildlife crossing

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.