S2rainforest1

Objectives

1. To Learn the location and characteristics of the Amazon Basin and understand why it is considered an ‘Empty Land’

2. To know what life is like for people who live there.

5 W’s?

• Where is the Amazon Basin?

• What is the climate like? Why?

• What is the landscape like?

• Who lives there?

• When was it first settled?

WHERE?

•The Amazon Basin is located in Brazil (and neighbouring countries) in South America.

WHAT is the climate like?

• It contains one of the longest rivers in the world, approx 6,500km long. • It also carries the greatest

volume of water in the world.• The area surrounding the river is all

Tropical Rainforest. • This means it is very hot (27 approx.)

all year round, and very wet (1500mm).

What is it like?

• Very dense forests – over 5m km2• Very sparsely populated (Tribes)• Contains 1/5 of the world’s freshwater• Has 10,000 tributaries• Has 30% of all known plant and animal species• Covers 6 different countries• 2,000 known species of fresh water fish – 10

times that of Europe!

• Vegetation in the Amazon

• There are 3 layers of trees:– the emergents (up to 60m high)– the canopy (up to 40m high)– the understory (20m high)

UNDERSTORY

CANOPY EMERGENTS

The Amazon canopy walkway – extends for 500 metres to see a great view of the forest.

Trees have few branches and very wide roots. They contain many birds, snakes, monkeys and lianas.

WHO lives there?• It is home to a very sparse population• Population density is very low – Population density is very low –

often less than 1 person per sq.km. often less than 1 person per sq.km. WHY??WHY??

• People who DO live in the area live in ‘Tribes’, People who DO live in the area live in ‘Tribes’, and practice ‘Shifting Cultivation’and practice ‘Shifting Cultivation’

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_in_Brazil

• Very RemoteVery Remote

• Difficult Climate – heat and humidityDifficult Climate – heat and humidity

• Very dense rainforestVery dense rainforest

• Soils are poorSoils are poor

BUT, becoming less empty due to BUT, becoming less empty due to Western world activityWestern world activity

The native people are Amerindians (eg Yonomamo):

– They are hunters and gatherers– Fish, animals, birds, fruit, honey– Subsistence farmers– Grow maize, yams, avocado, peppers…– Shifting Cultivators (infertile soils)– Have no money, make what they need– Sustainable farming.

Video – Living in the Forest

• Make bullet points on– What the tribes do in the forest– What they look like/ wear– What they eat

• The rainforest is important because of its biodiversity, its medicinal plants, air purification (give oxygen), prevent soil erosion and its valuable timber.

• How do people live there? Page 162 – Rerebawa’s story.

‘A Day/ Week in the Life’

• You are a member of the Yonomamo tribe, living in the rainforest

• Give an account of what you do in a typical day – start from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep

• You can write it in note form, giving times

• Add any drawings and use the textbook to help

‘A Day in the Life’

8.00am

I wake up to the sound of tapirs outside my tribal hut. The sun is beating down …

9.00amI now go and hunt my food for the day …

IT IS ALSO BEING RAPIDLY CUT DOWN – AS MUCH AS 20%. WHY?