EDGEucation

The means we use in the EDGE programme for prioritising species by their unique evolutionary history provide an excellent case study for teaching students about conservation methodology.

Increasingly, conservationists need to systematically process huge datasets - drawing upon thousands of assessments of individual species, as well as genetic research - in order to decide where their efforts will produce the greatest effect. Initiatives such as the IUCN Red List are well-known for highlighting species on the brink of extinction that are nevertheless virtually unheard-of.

The system used for EDGE is especially useful as a teaching aid, because students can actually take the raw data and, working through a sequence of exercises, determine which species require prioritisation, according to the EDGE system, for themselves.

Because of the way EDGE works, it provides a very handy way of quickly and neatly moving from a broad, global view to focusing on individual species from widely-varying ecosystems and examining the specific reasons behind the dangers threatening them.

It also tends to highlight 'living fossils' and other exotic species that - by their mere existence - give insights into the evolutionary process itself.

We have created downloadable resource packs that we hope will be useful to teachers who want to demonstrate the very real, very urgent process of trying to save the world's endangered species, and thus bring the subject of conservation to life.

KS3 (ages 11-14) Geography: Rainforest Class Presentation.

KS4 (ages 14-16) Science: EDGE Methods Resource Pack.

Combining these packs with our EDGE Champions initiative provides a fantastic way to involve students in multiple activities with a single theme: raising awareness, fundraising and updating their Champion pages here on the EDGE website to report on their progress, alongside learning about EDGE species and real conservation methods.