As part of our study of the Amazon Rainforest/Amazon Basin, we will be studying the deforestation of Amazon Rainforest. Deforestation involves the cutting down, burning, and damaging of forests. The process of deforestation impacts our climate by contributing to global warming and by eliminating plants and animal species. The Amazon rainforest plays a major role in the Earth’s climate.
However, Brazil and Bolivia have experienced an accelerated rate of deforestation. The Amazon has the highest area of deforestation in the world with a total loss of 600,000 km2 of rainforest since 1970. There are three main contributing factors to deforestation: agricultural/ranching, logging, and infrastructure expansion--highways, buildings etc.
For our study, every student will take part in a virtual field trip to gain knowledge for their group presentation. In addition, each student must fill in the graphic organizer on the causes, effects, and impacts of deforestation graphic organizer.
Before we begin, go to http://world.new7wonders.com/the-new7wonders-of-nature/amazon-south-america/. Pick a picture and describe what they see (follow analysis of a photograph). Responses can be recorded or discussed as pair-share or class. Then, have students read the short blurb and play the 1.33 video on the website as a nice jumping off point for their study of the Amazon River Basin and Amazon Rainforest and deforestation.
Task #1: Watch both the videos below to obtain an overview of the impacts of deforestation in the Amazon. Remember to wear your headphones so that you do not disrupt the students around you.
https://www.google.com/maps/views/streetview/amazon?hl=en&gl=us
Additional Background Knowledge:
1. View the ppt with information.
2. Go to http://theamazingamazonia.weebly.com/facts.html
Read the Amazon, Climate, Human Impact & Facts tabs
3.Watch part of the Google Trek, follow the map, and examine the photos to get a more in depth perspective of this region.
https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/amazon/
Task #2: More than 30 million people, including 350 indigenous and ethnic groups, live in the Amazon and depend on nature for agriculture, clothing and traditional medicines. Most live in large urban centers, but all residents rely on the Amazon’s natural bounty for food, shelter and livelihoods. It is unlikely that these millions of people will simply stop their current behaviors to preserve the rainforest. How do we strive for more sustainable development in the rainforest so that the unique plants, animals, and trees can be preserved?
Students should move to sit with their assigned group. Groups have an assigned job within the rainforest. Each group must create a Google Slides presentation for the President of Brazil or Bolivia. It needs to demonstrate how and why your group should be allowed to continue to live and work in the Amazon. Consider the following questions--
Does your group harm the Amazon?
Do you harm the Amazon as much as other groups?
Could you perform your job(s) in a different way to make your impact on the Amazon less negative?
Does your group provide income to your country?
Does your group provide jobs for the people within your country?
All groups should read and take notes on their sites and folder. Each student will be provided with a Cornell Note Taker Graphic Organizer to take notes. In addition, groups should watch the short videos on their group and take note of both the sights, sounds, and words provided in them. Try to imagine what it would be like to live and work in the Amazon Rainforest. Words may be bulleted, written in full sentences, written in paragraph form, or splashed on the slide. Your group should work together to choose a general format for words. ALL WORDS should be YOUR WORDS!
Please consult with the teacher if you have any questions or concerns as you are preparing your presentation. Your grade be based on your ability to work together, your ability to inform, and your ability to convince the government to provide you with land to continue your work. Each group must fill out a group planning form to indicate which slides will be created together and which slides will be accomplished by an individual group member. Handouts will be provided in class. (1 planning handout per group + 1 graphic organizer per person) In addition, each group will share their Google Slideshow with the class and each student will be responsible for the Amazon groups graphic organizer. See class handout and rubric for the project for more information.
For Copyright Safe images, please go to the "resources and favorite links" page on my website https://sites.google.com/site/lehrworldgeo7/websites1 Scroll down the Country Research folder for links to Photo Pin, Flickr: The Commons, and more. In addition, you can use Wikipedia Commons, Britannica, or CultureGrams. The library has a tab on the right hand side that includes "copyright safe" image searches. In addition, on the left side the library includes the tabs for Culture Grams and Britannica. Please ask if you have any questions and please site your images on your slide, in the notes on your slide or number the images on a slide #7 citation page.
3. Go to http://apps.npr.org/lookatthis/posts/brazil/
No matter what which group you represent, there is some important information about deforestation in this report as you scroll through. Loggers, settlers (subsistence farmers), and cattle ranchers should pay close attention to the end.
Start taking notes on your assigned questions. Notes MUST be recorded in the Cornell Note Taking Guide. Each student must answer his/her questions related to his/her own slide(s). Notes may be written in COMPLETE sentences or not.
Now, scroll down to your group's section. Read the blurb and select the websites, radio spots, videos, etc. that will help you to understand and answer your questions. Remember, be KIND! Do not turn on the volume unless you have a headset. After you have detailed notes for your slide, you can begin constructing your slide. Make sure to share your Google Slideshow with everyone in your group. Complete the written info first. Then, find images that enhance your info. When your individual slide is complete, consider how it looks and transitions to the other slides in the presentation.
Consult your written instructions and rubric as you go. I will show you some exemplars as we get into the project.
Amazonia Groups...scroll down to find your group. You need only to read and utilize the information that matches your assigned group. You will not have time to read and go through all the resources for all the groups.
A. Cattle Ranchers
Additional Background Knowledge:
1. View the ppt with information.
2. Go to http://theamazingamazonia.weebly.com/facts.html
Read the Amazon, Climate, Human Impact & Facts tabs
3.Watch part of the Google Trek, follow the map, and examine the photos to get a more in depth perspective of this region.
https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/amazon/
Task #2: More than 30 million people, including 350 indigenous and ethnic groups, live in the Amazon and depend on nature for agriculture, clothing and traditional medicines. Most live in large urban centers, but all residents rely on the Amazon’s natural bounty for food, shelter and livelihoods. It is unlikely that these millions of people will simply stop their current behaviors to preserve the rainforest. How do we strive for more sustainable development in the rainforest so that the unique plants, animals, and trees can be preserved?
Students should move to sit with their assigned group. Groups have an assigned job within the rainforest. Each group must create a Google Slides presentation for the President of Brazil or Bolivia. It needs to demonstrate how and why your group should be allowed to continue to live and work in the Amazon. Consider the following questions--
Does your group harm the Amazon?
Do you harm the Amazon as much as other groups?
Could you perform your job(s) in a different way to make your impact on the Amazon less negative?
Does your group provide income to your country?
Does your group provide jobs for the people within your country?
All groups should read and take notes on their sites and folder. Each student will be provided with a Cornell Note Taker Graphic Organizer to take notes. In addition, groups should watch the short videos on their group and take note of both the sights, sounds, and words provided in them. Try to imagine what it would be like to live and work in the Amazon Rainforest. Words may be bulleted, written in full sentences, written in paragraph form, or splashed on the slide. Your group should work together to choose a general format for words. ALL WORDS should be YOUR WORDS!
Please consult with the teacher if you have any questions or concerns as you are preparing your presentation. Your grade be based on your ability to work together, your ability to inform, and your ability to convince the government to provide you with land to continue your work. Each group must fill out a group planning form to indicate which slides will be created together and which slides will be accomplished by an individual group member. Handouts will be provided in class. (1 planning handout per group + 1 graphic organizer per person) In addition, each group will share their Google Slideshow with the class and each student will be responsible for the Amazon groups graphic organizer. See class handout and rubric for the project for more information.
For Copyright Safe images, please go to the "resources and favorite links" page on my website https://sites.google.com/site/lehrworldgeo7/websites1 Scroll down the Country Research folder for links to Photo Pin, Flickr: The Commons, and more. In addition, you can use Wikipedia Commons, Britannica, or CultureGrams. The library has a tab on the right hand side that includes "copyright safe" image searches. In addition, on the left side the library includes the tabs for Culture Grams and Britannica. Please ask if you have any questions and please site your images on your slide, in the notes on your slide or number the images on a slide #7 citation page.
Before you scroll down to your group's assigned videos, links etc., please complete the following:
1. Fill out the group planning guide.
2. Read your group's page in GEOGRAPHY ALIVE.
3. Go to http://apps.npr.org/lookatthis/posts/brazil/
No matter what which group you represent, there is some important information about deforestation in this report as you scroll through. Loggers, settlers (subsistence farmers), and cattle ranchers should pay close attention to the end.
Start taking notes on your assigned questions. Notes MUST be recorded in the Cornell Note Taking Guide. Each student must answer his/her questions related to his/her own slide(s). Notes may be written in COMPLETE sentences or not.
Now, scroll down to your group's section. Read the blurb and select the websites, radio spots, videos, etc. that will help you to understand and answer your questions. Remember, be KIND! Do not turn on the volume unless you have a headset. After you have detailed notes for your slide, you can begin constructing your slide. Make sure to share your Google Slideshow with everyone in your group. Complete the written info first. Then, find images that enhance your info. When your individual slide is complete, consider how it looks and transitions to the other slides in the presentation.
Consult your written instructions and rubric as you go. I will show you some exemplars as we get into the project.
Amazonia Groups...scroll down to find your group. You need only to read and utilize the information that matches your assigned group. You will not have time to read and go through all the resources for all the groups.
The biggest incentive for cattle farmers, however, is the "land tenure laws". In Brazil, people can gain title to Amazon lands by simply clearing forest and placing a few head of cattle on the land. As an additional benefit, cattle are less risky when compared to cash crops which are subject to wild price swings and pest infestations. Banana plantations and orange groves are examples of cash crops. If you check your orange juice, the oranges may come from Brazil not Florida. Overall, cattle are a method for land ownership in the Amazon.
Cattle ranching is a very destructive practice in the rain forest. The cattle contribute to global pollution and need vast amounts of land to feed on. In addition, cattle ultimately destroy the land and could render the land useless. That being said, cattle ranching has brought huge incomes to the certain people in Brazil. It has helped the country pay off debts and increase the amount of exports that the country has. To continue to live and work in the rainforest, cattle ranchers will need to find more sustainable practices. They will need to find ways to protect the land and clear less forest.
Some possible solutions include fencing animals away from healthy forest and clean waterways. Educate ranchers on how to promote less damaging ranching practices. In addition, ranchers could ask the government to stop allowing incentives to ranch and require tree farms on every ranch which helps the soil and the animals. Lastly, ranchers can try terraced ranching.
You are a part of the vast agricultural community in Brazil and Bolivia. You and your fellow farmers produce crop yields or beef that feeds the population of these countries and produces income for products that are exported to other countries.
If you are part of team A, you may need to review the following websites and videos to help you prepare your presentation. You may only watch the videos if you brought a headset. In addition, you MUST consult the Geography Alive textbook page 184. Answer the following questions--When did this group come to the rainforest? How do they use its resources? What do they want? How do they defend their position?
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0812.htm
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/southamerica/brazil/placesweprotect/amazon-farmers-and-ranchers.xml
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/stories/cattle-and-conservation
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=454736397&m=455286474&live=1
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129
http://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/land-use/cattle-ranching
http://www.rawstory.com/2013/09/cattle-ranching-goes-green-in-the-brazilian-amazon/
http://www.nature.com/news/stopping-deforestation-battle-for-the-amazon-1.17223
B. Loggers
Commercial logging is another form of deforestation. Logging started increasing in the 1960s. Loggers cut down trees for sale as timber or pulp. Wood products were turned into wood floors and furniture. Logging can be completed selectively where loggers choose only valuable trees or clear cutting when all the trees are cut down. Commercial logging uses heavy equipment to remove the trees and to accomplish it, roads have been built across the Amazon. Loggers often argue that they are helping South American economies to grow. In Brazil, for example, they export billions of dollars worth of wood each year. Once the wood is transported out of the forest, the logging companies can sell the land for mining or ranching.
Loggers do destroy the rainforest. To maintain your presence, you may have to focus on the money that you generate. In addition, you may want to consider whether new laws (stricter laws) need to be established to end illegal logging, settler clear cutting/slash and burn, and limits on the number of trees that loggers can clear. These laws are controversial though. Some loggers feel they would have to fire employees if strict laws are enforced.
In addition, perhaps trees can be planted to off set the destruction. Alternatively, loggers could promote parks being established that make clear cutting, slash and burn and hunting illegal there. These parks would be protected by law and perhaps people could be hired to protect them. Be creative in your thinking.
Depending on the size of the class, your group may be split into two subgroups--traditional loggers that seek to cut down trees to sell as wood for floors and furniture and pharmaceutical company representatives. If you are assigned to work for a large pharmaceutical company, your job would be to oversee the harvesting of tree bark in Bolivia and Brazil. The tree bark is utilized for important medicine. However, by harvesting the tree bark, the tree dies. Your presentation MUST include a map of where you are harvesting and an explanation of slash and burn techniques. If you are not divided into two groups, your group may decide which type of logger that you wish to represent.
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0807.htm
http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/logging.html
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/illegal-logging-in-brazil-amazon/blog/53180/
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/logging-affects-amazon-rain-forest-107955.html
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=454736397&m=455286474&live=1
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2005/01/amaz-j15.html
http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/logging.html
C. Rubber Tappers
Rubber tapping is the process of collecting sap from rubber trees that grow in the rainforest. This activity has occurred in the Amazon since the 1870s. With alternatives to rubber, the prices have dropped and some plantations have been abandoned but some local people continue to make their living this way. When rubber trapping was abandoned, some of those plantations became farm lands, which led to a conflict between tappers and farmers. Some tappers have asked their governments for protected land reserves that would be used for sustainable activities like tapping.
Rubber tappers do not significantly damage the rainforest but they also do not bring in massive incomes. Due to falling rubber prices, some rubber tappers have had to find other work. It can also be difficult work. Certain environmental groups like Sky and WWF have worked to set up rubber processing technology which helps the tappers to create valuable and better quality product so they can continue to harvest rubber--a sustainable industry.
You are a rubber trapper. You want the government to stop allowing clear cutting and/or slash and burn practices in the rainforest. You wish to have the rainforest preserved so that you can continue your economic activity.
You may want to consult the following sites and watch the following videos. You may only watch if you brought your headset. In addition, your group MUST consult Geography Alive, page 181 to answer the following questions--When did this group first come to the rainforest? How do they use its resources? What do they want? How do they defend their position?
http://www.iadb.org/en/news/webstories/2012-06-19/sustainable-management-in-acre-brazil,10031.html
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/04/452555878/deep-in-the-amazon-an-unseen-battle-over-the-most-valuable-trees
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids/species-profiles/rubber-tree
D. Settlers
Brazil is the 11th largest economy in the world, but about 1/4 of their population is poor. They represent the peasant farming community. Around the 1960s, the Brazilian government started encouraging these peasants to move to the Amazon Rainforest to earn a living. They are known as "shifted cultivators." People like Maria from the NPR slideshow that I shared with you in class moved here to farm and ranch and carve out a simple existence of survival. Settlers often clear trees to farm, although some have created tree farms. Some of the trees that they cut down are never used by them or sold, although some trees are sold illegally. Most settlers use "slash and burn" methods to clear cut the land. When the land lacks nutrients, the settlers often cut down more trees.
The settlers often lack education and need help from the government and/or environmental groups. Experts can help farmers to plan how to use their land to grow more food and make more money without clearing forests or new land. In addition, they are working with the settlers to improve their existing soils so they don't need to cut down more trees. For example, in Acre (Brazil), small land owners have learned how to manage their land without cutting the forest. In return, settlers are promised ways to own their land. Some settlers are creating tree farms to limit grow trees and limit deforestation. Overall, settlers probably need education on how to ranch in less damaging ways that require less destruction. Fencing in the ranches so that additional forest and water isn't damaged may help.
As part of Group D, you may want to utilize the videos and websites provided below. In addition, you MUST consult Geography Alive, page 183. Please answer the following questions--When did this group first come to the rainforest? How do they use its resources? What do they want? How do they defend their position? Are there alternatives?
(L) Town of Redencao; inhabited by settlers; covered in haze by fires (R) pulling a car because no raods
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20766315
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/people_amazon/
http://saveouramazonrainforest.blogspot.com/2009/02/settlers.html
http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0440e/i0440e03.htm
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=454736397&m=455286474&live=1
http://www.shinai.org.pe/en/50key_issues/amazoniansettlers.htm?PHPSESSID=7e0f06396d1c975cbea8973100b6c6ce
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-13981614
E. Native Amazonians/Indigenous Groups
You represent the indigenous people living in Acre, Brazil or one of the many regions in the Amazon that houses indigenous tribes. Before the Europeans arrived in the Western Hemisphere, 3.5 to 5 million Ameridians lived in Brazil. Cities existed in and around the Andes while the agricultural tribes lived in the Amazon. The arrival of the Europeans led to the end to many Ameridians as disease killed millions of them. It is estimated that their population decreased by 90%. Most of the surviving ancestors lived in the interior of the rainforest--either because they were pushed there by Europeans or because they lived more traditionally in small groups.
Native Amazonians want to continue their traditional way of life. They have had to fight for their land as development in the Amazon has increased. In addition, they sometimes have fought for their lives as the development of the rain forest has brought disease to these sometimes isolated groups. The Native Amazonians would like to own their own land and be able to protect the Amazon for the future. Many of their ancestors have lived here for thousands of years. They depend on the forest and its plants and animals. Some have unique knowledge about the medicines the plants and trees can provide. However, some of the plants and animals are becoming extinct as people destroy the forest to grow crops and feed cattle.
Nearly 7,000 Kayapo Indians have worked hard over the past few decades to protect their lands and the deforestation. They have won official recognition of their lands in the 1980s and 1990s. (The Xingu Indigenous Park was established in the 1960s.) The lands previously lacked proper governance. Illegal gold mining and logging has been rampant. When the government hasn't helped them these groups have formed alliances with environmental groups who have helped them combat and wipe out illegal mining and logging camps as well as learn ways to harvest more Brazil nuts to sell for money.
Students in group E may want to utilize the following websites and videos to help them prepare their presentation to the government. In addition, you MUST consult Geography Alive, page 180. Please answer the following questions--When did this group first come to the rainforest? How do they use its resources? What do they want? How do they defend their position?
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_people.html
http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/amazontribes
http://www.adventure-life.com/articles/indigenous-people-76
http://esmpa.overseebrasil.com.br/imagens/Image/JUIZADOS%20ESPECIAIS/Use%20of%20Tropical%20Rainforests%20by%20Nativew%20Amazonians.pdf
F. Environmentalists
Your group is strongly opposed to deforestation for ANY reason. You are pleading with the government to STOP deforestation. You may include ways to conserve the forest, streams, rivers, and other natural wonders. Environmental groups want to protect the diversity of the rainforest so that we do not lose any additional plants, trees, or animals. In addition, they argue that since these plants, animals, and trees have a right to exist, we must slow down the development of the rainforest and figure out the effects of activities and find safer ways to develop it. Environmentalists use social media and the governments of the countries involved to try to spark change. Your presentation MUST include a map as well as the effects of deforestation.
As part of Group F, you may want to utilize the videos and websites provided below. In addition, you MUST consult Geography Alive, page 185. Please answer the following questions--When did this group first come to the rainforest? How do they use its resources? What do they want? How do they defend their position?
No comments:
Post a Comment