Positives

• This article provides some quick facts at the top for reference and perspective.
  
• This article has excellent photos of animals.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• If you scroll down to the section titled "Act Now to #slowtherise" you'll find resources on how to fight against the Holocene extinction.
• If you click the bracketed numbers within the article you'll be taken to the credible sources of this article's information.
  

Differentiation

• This article could support a lesson on how the destruction of ecosystems negatively affects human populations.
• This article could augment a lesson on previous mass extinctions that have occurred in Earth's history and how this event is different.
• This article could enhance a classroom discussion on the political and economic systems that contribute to environmental degradation.
• With middle school students, it may be useful to define some words before they dive into the reading.
• The article makes a reference to biodiversity being like a game of Jenga, with each species in an ecosystem being a block. Have students get in groups to play a game of Jenga and see how many blocks they can pull out before it comes crashing down, asking students to hypothesize why some "ecosystems" may crumble far sooner than others.