Lesson video

Hello everyone, and welcome to our Geography lesson today.

I'm Miss Harrison and we're going to be continuing our unit on the Geography of Brazil.

Now we've already learnt so much about the country of Brazil.

And today we're going to continue thinking about the Amazon rainforest, which is why you can see that I am still in the Amazon rainforest this lesson and you can see the lovely river running through all those luscious green trees.

Now, in our lesson today, we're going to be thinking about why the Amazon rainforest is declining in size.

That means why is it getting smaller? And that's something that we're going to be exploring in our lesson today, so let's get started.

In our lesson today, we're going to recap those seven continents of the world, and we're going to be able to locate the Amazon rainforest within the continent of South America.

We're then going to think about why the Amazon rainforest is so important and it's not just important in Brazil, it's not just important in the continent of South America but it's important for all human life on earth and we're going to find out why and a little bit later.

And then we're going to think about the reasons why the Amazon rainforest is getting smaller and some threats to the Amazon rainforest that are putting it in danger.

And then finally, we're going to end thinking about what we can do to help.

Now, before we begin our lesson today, you are going to need a piece of paper or a notepad to write down on, you are going to need a pen or pencil to write with and as always, you're going to need your big Geography brain.

Now, if you don't have one of those things in front of you or if you want to just take a moment to find a quiet space with no distractions, then you can pause the video and do that now.

Okay, awesome work team, we are ready to get going.

So we're going to start off by recapping those seven continents of the world and I have a challenge for you today.

I'm going to show you the map of the world and I want you to point to the continent that I say.

So first of all, have a look at that map of the world and put your finger on the continent of Africa.

See if you can find the continent of Africa.

Let's see, have you got it? So our continent of Africa was the orange continent you can see in the centre of the map on the screen.

Awesome work, if you've got that right.

Now, I want you to locate the continent of North America.

So put your finger on the continent of North America.

Have you found it? You should have put your finger on the yellow continent on the left hand side of the map, awesome work.

Next one, I want you to put your finger on the continent of Asia.

See if you can find Asia for me.

And you should have located Asia over here, that dark red continent on your map on the screen.

Next one, I want you to find the continent of Antarctica.

See if you can put your finger on the continent of Antarctica.

Well done, if you manage to locate it at the bottom of your screen there.

And then next one, I'd like you to locate the continent of Australia.

So put your finger on the continent of Australia.

Did you find it? It was this pink one over on the right hand side.

Next up, we are going to look for the continent of Europe.

And remember, that's the continent where we live here in the UK.

Put your finger on the continent of Europe.

And did you manage to find it? It's the green one at the top of your map, and then last but very much not least, we have the continent of South America.

Put your finger on the continent of South America.

And here it is the purple one here.

Awesome work, everybody.

I wonder if you managed to identify all of those continents, fantastic job.

Now, South America is the continent that we are going to be focusing on today.

And we're going to zoom in to the continent of South America to find our country of Brazil.

Let's have a look.

So first of all, how many South American countries can you remember? We've been working on this throughout this unit.

And I want you to pause the video now and shout out as many South American countries as you can.

Have a go.

Wow, did you manage to remember them all? Let's have a look.

So here is our map of South America.

If we go from the North on the right hand side, we have Guyana, then we have Suriname, then we do have French Guiana but remember that's not a country in itself.

It's a part of a territory of France.

Then below that we have Brazil, which is our focus for this unit, we've got Paraguay, then below that we have Uruguay and further South, we have Argentina.

Then if we look over to the West side of the continent, at the bottom we've got Chile in the South, then Bolivia, then Peru, then Ecuador, and then above that we have Columbia, and Venezuela right at the top in the North of the continent.

I wonder how many of those you managed to remember? Did you do better than last lesson? I bet you did, well done team.

So we are going to now zoom back in on the country of Brazil and in particular, we're going to focus in on the Amazon rainforest.

I wonder if you can remember where in Brazil the Amazon rainforest is.

Is it in the North? Is it in the South? Is it in the East? Is it in the West? Is it in the Northwest or Southwest? Have a think.

Where is the Amazon rainforest? See if you can shout out for me.

Well done.

If you remember the Amazon rainforest is located in the North West of Brazil.

So it's in the Northwestern part of Brazil.

Now the majority of the rainforest is located within the country of Brazil but it also spreads into Bolivia, into Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana as well.

So it spreads into those countries but the majority of it is within Brazil.

Now, as I said earlier, the Amazon rainforest is really important for all life on earth.

Let's have a look at why that is.

So we know that the Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rain forest in the whole world.

And although it's located in South America, it's important for life on the whole of planet earth.

So let's have a look at some reasons why.

Now, the rain forest in the Amazon is home to one in 10 animal species in the whole planet.

So the rainforest is incredibly important for animals.

And within the Amazon rainforest, there are different layers where different types of animals live, and all of these animals depend on the rainforest for their survival, and each has a very specific habitat within the rainforest.

So let's have a look at those different layers.

So right at the top, we have the layer called the emergent layer.

And this is why at the very top of the trees, so it gets lots of sunshine and animals like birds, butterflies and some types of monkeys live here.

And they rely on it because they need the trees to provide their food and to provide their homes.

Next, we have the canopy layer which is below the emergent layer.

And it's a little bit lower down and many animals like snakes, as well as parrots, lizards and slots live here.

And again, they depend on the forest for their home and for their food.

Then underneath that, we have the understory layer.

Now it's very dark here because not much sunlight can reach it through the trees above.

So it's a very dark place but lots of animals, including insects and frogs, and even jaguars, the predators live here as well.

Then at the bottom we've got the forest floor.

Again, it's very, very dark here because not much sunlight can reach it through the trees.

And it's also very damp because it's nearby the river, so the ground is quite damp.

And animals like tapirs, which are mammal, and wild boar live here and within that dark damp area.

And again, they have a very specific habitat where they can find their food and they can make nests to keep themselves safe.

And then our last part of the Amazon rainforest is the river itself.

So the Amazon river flows through all of the Amazon rainforest and lots of different creatures live within the river.

For example, electric eels, Piranha, which is a type of fish, and Amazon river dolphins all live and thrive in the Amazon river.

So those different layers of the forest within the Amazon rainforest, provide homes and provide food for all of the different animal species.

We're just going to focus in on a few of those different animal species to see how they need the rainforest to survive.

Now, the first one is this animal.

Can you guess what it is? Does anybody know the name? It is a sloth and they're known for kind of hanging upside down in trees and moving very slowly.

Now, sloths live in the canopy layer.

So not at the very top, the next one down.

And they rely on the trees in the rainforest because they eat things like leaves and twigs and fruit.

So they really need the rainforest in order to survive.

Next, we have a scarlet macaw, which is beautifully colourful, I really love these birds.

And they live in either the emergent or the canopy layers, and they rely on the forest to make their nests, to lay their eggs and have children and have their babies, and they eat fruit from the trees as well so they really need the trees in order to survive.

Next up, we have different types of tree frogs.

Now there are many different types of tree frogs within the Amazon rainforest and this is a picture of just one type.

And tree frogs often live in the understory layer.

So they live further down where it's darker and there's less sunlight, and they eat insects that live in the lower parts of the forest, and therefore they rely on the trees for their habitat, for them to live and for them to find food as well.

Next up, whoa, we've a big scary predator.

This is the jaguar.

Now the jaguar lives in the dark understory layer of the forest, and they rely on the rain forest as camouflage.

That means they want to stay hidden so that the animals that they hunt as their prey, can't see them coming.

So they need that dark area of the rain forest as camouflage and also they need that habitat for their prey to live so that the jaguars can hunt it and eat it.

And then finally, we have an Anaconda which is type of python snake.

Whoo, they look a bit scary to me.

Anacondas rely on the river so they can move really, really fast within water, a lot faster than they can move on land.

So they often live within the Amazon river and kind of move stealthily through the river to find and catch their prey.

So they rely on the Amazon river as well as the rain forest to catch their prey.

So those are just some of the animals that really need the rain forest in order to survive.

Now for your next challenge, I would like you to draw one of these animals.

So choose whichever animals, if you want to draw them all, you can, but choose at least one of them and draw one of the animals that lives in the Amazon rainforest.

Then I want you to write a sentence about why it needs the rainforest to survive.

So for example, if I was going to write about the scarlet macaw, I would write "The scarlet macaw relies on the rain forest to survive "because it needs the trees to make its nest, "and it eats the fruits that are produced by the trees "in the rain forest." So choose one of those animals, draw a picture and write a sentence to tell me why it relies on the rainforest to survive.

So here are your pictures of those animals to choose from.

I want you to pause the video now, draw your animals and then write a sentence about why they need the rain forest in order to survive.

Okay, fantastic work.

I bet you've drawn some amazing pictures and written some really lovely sentences about those animals living in the Amazon rainforest, but it's not just animals that benefit from the Amazon rainforest.

The Amazon rainforest is super important for human life as well as animal life, and here are some reasons why.

First of all, the Amazon rainforest is important for the water cycle and to make sure that there's enough rain on the planet.

Now, this is because it's so hot within the rainforest that water droplets that are on the leaves of the trees evaporate.

So they turn from water into gas and they become rain clouds in the sky, and then eventually those clouds fill and fill and fill up with water vapour and they cause it to rain.

Now, if the trees within the Amazon rainforest are cut down, it means there will be less rain not only in the region of Brazil but all around the world.

And it's important that we have enough rain on the planet to keep the plants and the animals alive and to prevent droughts.

So the Amazon rainforest is really, really important for the water cycle and creating enough rain.

Secondly, the trees in the Amazon rainforest store carbon and they release oxygen.

Now oxygen is what we need in order to breathe, and so by trapping that carbon within that trunks and their branches and their roots, and releasing oxygen, it means that they keep the air healthy for humans to live.

Now, when trees are burned or when they cut down or when they die, they give off carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming, which is a very dangerous thing for our planet.

So it's important that we keep trees in the Amazon rainforest and in forest all over the world because they track that carbon and they release oxygen, helping us to all breathe on planet earth.

And thirdly, this is something that we looked in our previous lesson, the Amazon rainforest is home to many different communities, including the Awa people.

So we looked at the life of the Awa tribe in our previous lessons.

So it's super important for human communities as well.

Okay, now I've got a challenge for you.

I would like you to see if you can finish my sentences.

So why is the Amazon rainforest so important for humans all over the world? Firstly, the Amazon rainforest is important in the water cycle because.

The Amazon rainforest is important for our air because.

And the Amazon rainforest is important for local communities because.

If you want to go back and rewind the video to recap that information, you can.

But see if you can write those sentences and finish them off for me.

Pause the video now and have a go.

Okay, fantastic.

So we should have written our sentences and they might sound a little bit like this.

The Amazon rainforest is important in the water cycle because it's so hot, the water droplets evaporate to make rain clouds and then these make enough rain for all of the places on the earth.

Without the Amazon rainforest, we wouldn't have enough rain on our planet.

Secondly, the Amazon rainforest is important for our air because the trees trap the carbon and release the oxygen, which keeps our air clean and healthy for us to breathe.

And thirdly, the Amazon rainforest is important for local communities because they rely on the forest to build their houses and to keep them safe and to grow their food.

And we looked at the Awa tribe last lesson, to find out more detail about that.

If you've written those sentences and they sound a little bit like that, well done.

Give yourself a big pat on the back and give it a big tick.

Well done for remembering that information.

So we know why the Amazon rainforest is really important all over the world.

However, the Amazon rainforest is declining in size.

That means it is getting smaller and that is a problem that can be quite dangerous.

So let's have a look at the reasons why.

Now you can see some pictures there to give you some clues of why, or some reasons why the Amazon rainforest is getting smaller.

And sadly, the Amazon rainforest is declining in size each year.

Thousands of square miles of rain forests are being destroyed each year.

Now, one huge problem for the Amazon rainforest is something called deforestation.

Whoo, that's a bit of a long word.

See if you can say it with me, deforestation.

Have a go deforestation, great.

Now deforestation means when trees are being cut down in order to make way for farmland or to have woods to use to sell for construction.

And sadly, huge parts of the Amazon rainforest are being cut down all the time to make way for farmland and to have that wood in order to sell.

And that's a real problem because it means that the animals and the people that live within the rainforest are being put in danger.

A second problem for the Amazon rainforest is that especially last year in 2019, there were huge forest fires that burned a lot of the rainforest and those killed lots of animal and plant life, and also endangered the lives of communities that live there.

So those fires often started by accident because it was just really, really hot and dry and in certain parts of the forest.

But because the forest is all made of wood, the fires can spread really easily and really quickly, and it can be really difficult to put them out.

So huge forest fires are also a very, very dangerous problem for the Amazon rainforest.

Now, what can we do to help? What can we do in our lives because we might not live near the Amazon rainforest but there are still things that we can do in our lives to help protect the Amazon rainforest and the natural resources on our planet.

So let's have a think about some of those things.

Firstly, one thing we can all do is not wasting water.

It's really important to conserve the water so that there's enough water on our planet.

Now you can make sure that you don't waste water by doing things like, switching off the tap when you're brushing your teeth, or having quick showers instead of having baths and filling your bath all the way up to the top.

So thinking about using less water and not wasting it.

Next we have, using less paper products or buying products made from recycled paper.

Often different products that we can buy, will say on the packet that these are made from recycled paper and you can get recycled things like toilet rolls or notebooks or cards made from recycled paper.

Because lots of trees are being cut down each year to produce paper and paper products.

So by using as little paper as possible, you can help this.

So for example, making sure that you always write on both sides of the paper before getting a new piece, or making sure that you get books from the library rather than buying brand new books to read, and that can also help to save paper as well.

The third thing, is changing our diets slightly and eating less meat.

Now this can help the environment because lots of rainforests are cut down in order to make land for farming, so farming animals.

However, if we can, if we can reduce the amount of meat that we eat and start to eat more plant based things like different vegetables or beans or pulses or nuts, then this can really help because you need less land to grow crops than you do to farm animals.

So it's really, really important.

That's a really big way that we can help.

And it doesn't need to be cutting out meat entirely, it could just be only me eating meat one or two days a week rather than eating every day.

And then finally, we have products that have the FSC symbol, and you can see that symbol on your screen.

Now it's kind of like a tree and then it's kind of like a tick on the other side.

Now the FSC is the Forestry Stewardship Council and they're a worldwide organisation that makes sure that when we have products made of wood or paper, that they are made sustainably.

That means that when are cut down to make those products, more trees will be planted to replace them.

So you can see on lots of different products, some wood products, some paper products like cards or notebooks, we'll often have this label on it.

And that means that the trees that have been cut down to make it, have also, new trees have been planted to replace them.

So that's really, really important as well.

And then another big thing we can do is just raise awareness, teach your family, teach your friends about all of these different issues and how we can do these small things in our lives to help protect places like the Amazon rainforest.

So the last thing we're going to do together is, I would like you to write a pledge.

A pledge is something that you promise to do.

So writing a pledge of something that you can do to help protect the Amazon rainforest.

I want you to think about one thing that you can do in your life, one small change that you can make to protect natural environments like the Amazon rainforest.

So for example, recently in my life, I have cut out eating meat and that's a choice that I've made to try and help the environment.

You don't have to cut out all meat, but you could maybe think about reducing the amount of meat that you eat and thinking about eating more plant based food.

So one thing I'm going to do in my everyday life to protect the Amazon rainforest is I'm going to eat less meat.

I wonder what you're going to do.

Write down your pledge now.

Pause the video, have a go.

Fantastic work everybody.

Wow, that's the end of our lesson today.

And we have worked so hard and that's so much information about the Amazon rainforest.

So well done, give yourself a big pat on the back.

Now, the only thing left for you to do is to have a go at our end of lesson quiz at the end of the video.

Now, if you've enjoyed our lesson today and I've really enjoyed teaching our lesson today, and you want to share your work with the Oak National team, you could ask a parent or carer to take a photo of your work.

Maybe you want to share your beautiful pictures of the creatures living in the Amazon rainforest, maybe you want to share your pledge, your promise that you're going to make to help the Amazon rainforest.

If you want to share it, ask a parent or carer to take a photo and upload it to a social media tagging @OakNational with the hashtag, Learn with Oak.

That way some of your teachers will be able to see the beautiful work that you are producing at home.

I hope you enjoyed our lesson today and I will be back for our next lesson, recapping all of those things that we've learnt about the Geography of Brazil.

I will see you then.