Amazon Basin: River & Rainforest
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Let’s take a look:
The Amazon
River Basin
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: Deforestation
The 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: Deforestation
Talk 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
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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
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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.
Today’s Geo-Question:
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?
Today...
South America: From the Amazon to
the Andes Mountains.
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?
But before we start:
Amazon Solutions HW Recap
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.
But before we start:
Amazon Solutions HW Recap
5. What is reforestation? Where are the largest
gains currently being observed? Use the map.
6. Skip (We’ll review this again Thursday)
Today...
South America: From the Amazon to
the Andes Mountains.
Today’s Geo-Question:
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?
11,020 ft.
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.
• 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.
The altitudinal zones
of the Andes
This diagram represents the
Andes Mountains.
Notice the mountains are
divided into four zones
based on elevation.
Each zone has its own range
of temperatures. It also
has its own distinct plant
and animal life.
The features of each zone
influence how people live.
• Adaptation: bananas, rice
sugar cane; stilts support
homes, palm thatch roofs
make homes cooler.
• Heat makes it hard to live
here. Not a preferred area.
• Adaptations: Oranges, corn, beans,
and coffee. High quality coffee is
grown here! Tile roofed homes.
• Adaptations: Larger lungs are found
in indigenous people – air is thinner;
build thick-walled adobe brick
houses to keep in heat; potatoes,
barley, apples, pears, wheat; crops
grown on “terraces” watered by mountain
streams.
• Adaptations: Larger lungs are found
in indigenous people – air is thinner;
raise alpacas – use the fur, use for
transportation; potatoes and native
grains – 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.
The Andes
Mountains:
South America’s
Continental
Mountain Range
La Paz, Bolivia
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 Fría
Human Adaptations:
1) Terracing –
fields carved out
of steep hillsides
supported by
walls.
Tierra Fría: Human Adaptations
2. Staying Warm – warm woolen
clothes; build thick-walled
houses out of stone or adobe
brick.
Tierra Fría: Human Adaptations
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.