Can Wildlife Adapt to Climate Change?

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Grades9, 10, 11, 12, APBiology, Earth and Space Sciences

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Provided by TED-Ed

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What it is

This resource highlights the need for humans to preserve natural habitats and the genetic diversity of wild populations in order to help plants and animals cope with climate change.
Students will learn about several species that are already adapting to their changing climate but not all species have the space, time, or genetic diversity to evolve.

Teaching tips

Positives

This video includes engaging graphics that help bring life to the topics presented.
This resource highlights specific populations of species that are evolving to adapt, which helps make these concepts easier to comprehend.

Additional Prerequisites

It may benefit students to have some background knowledge about evolution before beginning this video.
Students may need a free account in order to access some features of this resource.
This video includes two brief ads.

Differentiation

Biology classes could use this resource while further discussing evolution and also why genetic diversity continues to be such an important topic for biologists.
Students could work in groups to research additional species that have undergone adaptive evolution.
After learning that not all species have the "evolutionary arsenal" to deal with climate change, students could do projects offering solutions that will benefit those species.
Students could also view this LabXchange video to learn about biogeography and about how biodiversity occurs.
To connect this lesson with ethics and social studies classes for high school students, consider having them read this article about the loss of wild species, watch this video about natural climate solutions and then this video about the Anthropocene. Students can then write a reflection paper.
This podcast also addresses animals' abilities to evolve in order to address climate change.

From the scientist review

The video critically illustrates biodiversity conservation and the need to improve efforts for our flora and fauna to adapt to climate change. This is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Subjects: Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
Other types: Videos, Assessments, Interactive Media
Language: English
Location: Earth, Europe
Provider: TED-Ed
Authors: Erin Eastwood
Published: August 23, 2022
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2 + 15 more

Core

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.2Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.2Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.3Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.3Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.2Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-LS4-6.Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
3-LS4-2.Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
3-LS3-2.Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
HS-LS2-6.Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
HS-LS2-7.Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
HS-LS3-1.Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
HS-LS4-2.Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
HS-LS4-4.Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
HS-LS4-5.Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

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