This activity was provided by David M. Soderquist. It was part of a presentation given at the 1995 NSTA conference. Because of these reasons and many more, it is imperative that young people understand what the loss of diversity can do to the entire planet. Much of the diversity of Rainforests is lost to agriculture, or more properly, monoculture.
Monoculture is the destruction of a diverse ecosystem and replacement with a single species system.
By design, agriculture is designed to typify monoculture. The school yard lawn. Many grounds keepers not only have created a monoculture similar to what happens in the Rainforest, but they also invest huge amounts of time, effort, and money to keep it a monoculture. Hours are spent eliminating any plants other than that nice green grass. These are the same techniques that are used when the Rainforest is cleared for plantations of bananas or other foods for export.