amazon basin: river & rainforest

Amazon Basin: River & Rainforest

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Let’s take a look: The Amazon River Basin

Today’s Geo-Question:

How are humans changing the Amazon

rainforest? What are the consequences?

Big Picture:

The Amazon rainforest is disappearing at an

alarming rate. The people that live there can’t agree on what to do about it.

Big Picture: DeforestationThe Amazon is the planet's largest remaining rainforest, filled with more wildlife than anywhere else on Earth. But this majestic rainforest is caught in a destructive pattern of deforestation.

Big Picture: Deforestation The trees of the Amazon are being clear-cut. More than half of the trees are already gone.

How bad is it???

Satellite Image from 1992: Red = dense rainforest

Satellite Image from 2006: Red = dense rainforest

Turn and Talk: DeforestationTalk with your group or partner about the following question:

Why do you think so many trees are being cut down these days? Be specific. Think about what could be causing this.

Big Picture: Biodiversity The Amazon rainforest is filled with an estimated quarter of all known land species.

That’s right, 25% of the Earth’s known animals are found in the Amazon rainforest.

Biodiversity: The jaguar, the pink river dolphin, the sloth, the world's largest flower, a monkey the size of a toothbrush and a spider the size of a baseball are just a few of the species that we know about - there are many more yet to be discovered.

A Consequence of Clear-cutting:

Loss of biodiversity. Rare animals and plants that call the Amazon their home are disappearing along with the trees.

Big Picture: Conflict Animals are losing their habitat at record speed due to something known as “land use conflict.”

Land use conflict happens when different groups living in the same area disagree about what to do with or how to use their natural environment. Often, scarce natural resources drive the conflict.

Before we start a group activity, let’s go over some important terms and concepts: Geoterms

• biodiversity• carbon-oxygen cycle• deforestation• sustainable development• tropical rainforest

• There will be a quiz on these terms Friday.

Geoterms: Amazon

• tropical rainforest: a broadleaf evergreen forest found in wet and hot regions near the equator. – Three Layers of a Rainforest:• Top: “Canopy” (100-165 feet)• Middle: “Lower story” (3-100 feet)• Bottom: “Forest floor” (0-3 feet)

Tropical Rainforest Levels

• tropical rainforest

Geoterms: Amazon

• biodiversity: the variety of plants and animals living in one area. The term can also mean the great variety of all living things on Earth.

• carbon-oxygen cycle: the process by which carbon and oxygen cycle (transfer back and forth) between plants, people and animals, and the environment. Think photosynthesis & respiration.

Geoterms: Amazon

• deforestation: removing or “clear-cutting” the trees from a forest. Deforestation is often down to clear land for farming or ranching.

• sustainable development: using resources in ways that meet the needs of people today without hurting the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. This means finding ways to use resources without using them up.

Jigsaw: Perspectives on the Amazon

• Native Amazonians (indigenous people)• Rubber Tappers• Loggers• Settlers• Cattle Ranchers• Environmentalists

• What do these different groups want? What solution would work for them?

Homework...

Caption this photo. What’s he saying or thinking? Be funny and original. Think lolcat. Pick your group’s best to share.

Caption this photo. What’s SHE thinking? Be funny and original. Think lolcat.

Pick your group’s best to share.

Makes you think...where are we headed?

Yesterday...

• We established the Amazon as an area of unparalleled biodiversity.

• We talked about the “land use conflict” occurring in the Amazon basin and looked at varying perspectives on deforestation.


How should the resources of rainforests be used and

preserved? What are the different perspectives on this

issue?

Jigsaw: Perspectives on the Amazon

• Native Amazonians (indigenous people)• Rubber Tappers• Loggers• Settlers• Cattle Ranchers• Environmentalists

• What do these different groups want? What solution would work for them?

But wait, what’s this land use conflict really about?

Sustainable Development vs.

Deforestation (Unsustainable Development)

Impact of Logging Over Time

Why do loggers even use clear-cutting if it’s so bad???“The most valuable trees are scattered throughout the rainforest. This makes it hard to find and cut just the hardwoods. Instead, loggers clear-cut whole patches of rainforest...Logging companies argue that [this] is the only way they can make money,” (p. 182).

So far, which perspective on the land use conflict do you sympathize with the most?

...Loggers, settlers, or cattle ranchers.

• Turn and talk with your group. Be ready to share what you think. Be able to explain your opinion using evidence from what we’ve learned so far.

Well, what are some solutions?

• With your group, read p. 186-189. The main ideas are already bracketed for you. Stay together. No exceptions.

• As you read, you should mark up the text using unravvel style strategies or thinking tools. Look for contributing details. Write down your unanswered questions as you go.

• When you’re done reading, complete the questions using T.T.Q.A.

What’d we find out?

South America: From the Amazon to the Andes Mountains.

Today...

But before we start: Amazon Solutions HW Recap

1. What is ecotourism and how could it help stop the land use conflict in the Amazon? Are there any dangers of ecotourism? Explain.

2. How can the Amazon be sustainably developed – that is to say, how can the rainforest’s resources be used without destroying it? Are there specific crops that could be grown? Different ways of logging?


3. How can you and other consumers (people that buy goods) help protect the rainforest? What types of products should we buy?

4. What is “good wood”? Explain how to tell if something is “good wood” or not.


5. What is reforestation? Where are the largest gains currently being observed? Use the map.

6. Skip (We’ll review this again Thursday)

South America: From the Amazon to the Andes Mountains.

Today...


How do people adapt to living in a mountainous region? What are some unique features of the

Andes Mountains?

What is an adaptation?

How does physical geography affect us?

• Natural selection & survival of the fittest. • Humans that survive are humans that adapt to

changing and varied environments. - Adapt or die!

• Our physical environment is one influence on how we live. For example, people in a desert might live very differently from people in a tropical rainforest because the physical environments are so different.

Think about it: Living in the Andes

• Turn and talk to your group: –How would life at a high altitude on a

mountain affect your life? What would change? Think of three specific things. How would you adapt?

Monte Fitz Roy in 2006 with unusually good weather. The peak is at 11,020 ft., and Mt. Fitz Roy is located on the border of Argentina and Chile.

11,020 ft.

• Mt. Fitz Roy was the inspiration for the Patagonia logo. Patagonia makes winter gear, fleeces, and jackets.

• The Patagonia consists of the southernmost portion of the Andes Mountains. It runs along the border of Chile and Argentina.

Geoterms: Andes

• snow line: the lowest elevation on mountains where snow remains year-round.

Geoterms: Andes

• tree line: the highest elevation where trees grow on a mountain.

Geoterms: Andes

• terracing: the creation of flat areas on mountain slopes for the purpose of farming.

Geoterms: Andes

• vertical trade: the trading of crops between lowland and highland areas.

Geoterms: Andes

• altitudinal zonation: the division of land into zones based on elevation, which in turn helps determine climate and vegetation. The climate on a mountain cools as the altitude increases. This is because the air gets thinner and holds less heat.

Andes Mountains’ Elevation Zones: tierra caliente, tierra templada, tierra fría, tierra helada.

This diagram represents the Andes Mountains.

Notice the mountains aredivided into four zones based on elevation.

Each zone has its own rangeof temperatures. It also has its own distinct plant and animal life.

The features of each zoneinfluence how people live.

The altitudinal zones of the Andes

The altitudinal zones of the Andes

• Adaptation: bananas, ricesugar cane; stilts supporthomes, palm thatch roofsmake homes cooler.

• Heat makes it hard to livehere. Not a preferred area.

• Adaptations: Oranges, corn, beans, and coffee. High quality coffee isgrown here! Tile roofed homes.

• Adaptations: Larger lungs are foundin indigenous people – air is thinner; build thick-walled adobe brick houses to keep in heat; potatoes, barley, apples, pears, wheat; cropsgrown on “terraces” watered by mountainstreams.

• Adaptations: Larger lungs are foundin indigenous people – air is thinner; raise alpacas – use the fur, use for transportation; potatoes and nativegrains – quinoa; warm clothing; lots of mining – tin, lead, copper, silver.

Quiz Friday

• Geoterms – know definition and understand relevance.

• Amazon perspectives.• Andes climate zones and adaptations.• Location of major landforms in South America:

Andes Mts., Amazon Basin, Amazon River, Patagonia.

La Paz, Bolivia: Mountain City

• La Paz is the highest big city in the world. It is located at 12,000 feet in the heart of the Andes Mountains.

La Paz, Bolivia

The Andes Mountains: South America’s

ContinentalMountain Range

Tierra Fría: Human Adaptations

1.Terracing – carving fields out of steep hillsides supported by walls; Machu Pichu

What’s a terrace anyway?

Andes Elevation/Climate Zone #2:

Tierra FríaHuman Adaptations:

1) Terracing – fields carved out of steep hillsides supported by walls.


2. Staying Warm – warm woolen clothes; build thick-walled houses out of stone or adobe brick.


3. Breathing – bodies have adapted by developing larger lungs to get more oxygen from the thin mountain air in each breath.

Andes Facts

The Andes are the second highest mountain range in the world. The Himalayas are the highest.

They are longest mountain range in the world.

La Paz, Bolivia: Mountain City

• La Paz is the highest big city in the world. It is located at 12,000 feet in the heart of the Andes Mountains.

amazon basin: river & rainforest

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