Lesson 5 Better Together
Extended Reading
A Big World in One Cubic Foot
Here is an interesting inquiry:
how many species do you think would pass through a one-cubic-foot metal frame?
In order to answer this, photographer David Liittschwager traveled to some of the world's richest ecosystems.
With the help of local scientists, Liittschwager set up a hollow one-cubic-foot green metal frame at each location.
Then the team photographed all of the creatures that stayed in or moved through the frame over a 24-hour period.
Using the pictures, Liittschwager made some extraordinary collages.
The collages reveal nature's tremendous biodiversity in each location,
from more than one hundred species in New York City's Central Park to six hundred in a coral reef in the Pacific Ocean.
These collages aren't just about the abundance of wildlife, though.
Liittschwager's project is closely linked to humans, too.
According to scientists, the organisms that move through each cubic space interact with one another in some way,
and those interactions are vital to maintaining the environment of each place.
As a result, any reduction in the biodiversity of a frame would immensely change the frame's immediate surroundings,
altering the molecular structure of the soil and even the ratios of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air.
All living things on the earth depend on the important connections between different organisms and the environments they live in.
If these connections were to be broken, the biosphere would cease to function, and humans, in the end, would face fatal consequences.
Thus, it is important for people to preserve biodiversity around the globe
because all these connections are incredibly crucial to human life.
As Liittschwager's project illustrated, every cubic foot matters.
Now, it's time to take a look around.
Think about the living things near you and how they are connected to you.
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