Student debate – which species would you save?

These resources provide all the background to set up student discussions or debates, with the learning objective of understanding the complexity of making decisions about wildlife conservation. The debate can take any form you like. You can give them a scenario such as choosing which species should benefit from a school fundraiser, or being in charge of charity that awards conservation grants.

As well as background information on three pairs of species, I’ve put together some general discussion points, curriculum links, a PowerPoint and a worksheet for you to adapt as you wish. This worksheet could be used as homework after you have presented the species but before you have held a debate. You can also download all this information as a Word document.

Everything is designed to be adaptable for students of any age, with a target of 8-18 year olds. I have provided detail aimed at GCSE and A level students, so for younger students it may be appropriate to present just one example.

Click the links for information about:

My usual format is to give brief introductions to one or more pairs of species, then allow students to discuss them in groups. I then lead a discussion with the whole class, encouraging students to share thoughts on why one species is more deserving then the other. 

I don’t expect students to have all the answers, and encourage them to think about what else they need to know in order to make a decision. I often withhold some information to encourage students to start thinking on their own. For example, I don’t initially tell them how a hairworm can affect other species, but see whether they make assumptions.

Other options include allocating students to both sides of the debate, having more/fewer species, or getting them to research their own species and justify why it is important. There are more ideas for pairs of species in Tickets for the Ark.

It’s important to lay the groundwork that there are no right answers. This isn’t a test, it is a genuine debate – even the experts don’t agree. These are ethical discussions based on our values, so science can’t provide objective answers. We can’t look to the past to tell us exactly what nature should look like. Change is the one constant in nature, so why would we choose one arbitrary moment in the past and say that’s how nature should be? Likewise, humans evolved as part of nature, so why would it be wrong for us to have an impact on other species?

More advanced students may be interested in the background philosophy. This can lead to interesting additional debates, such as whether it would be wrong to make malaria parasites extinct.

Enjoy your debates, and I would love to hear from you if you have feedback, requests or thoughts from your students.