Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Gilyeat, and I'm going to be your geography teacher for today.

Today we are going to be learning about tropical rainforests.

So we're gonna learn about where they are located, what they are like, the climate, and what plants and animals that you find in tropical rainforest.

I can't wait to teach you 'cause we've got loads of interesting things to learn about.

I hope you're ready.

Our lesson outcome for today's lesson is I can describe the climate of tropical rainforest and use maps to locate them.

If you've got a world map, brilliant, or an atlas would also be good.

If you don't, you could use maps that you can find on the internet to find some of the different examples of rainforest around the world.

There are three key words that we've got for today's lesson.

First of all, I am going to say them and I would like you to repeat them back to me to make sure that we are pronouncing them correctly.

First word, climate.

Second, tropical rainforest.

And the third word is diversity.

So the climate is an average weather of an area, okay? So it is the average of weather conditions, which includes the rain, sun, and wind, in a place taken over a longer period of time.

Now, usually when we think about the climate of an area, we're thinking about what it's been like there in the past 30 years or further back.

Tropical rainforests are areas of dense forests around the world found close to the Equator where it is warm and there are high levels of rainfall.

Diversity is the variety of human, physical, or cultural characteristics in a geographical area.

We have got two key learning cycles for today's lesson.

The first learning cycle is what is the climate of tropical rainforests like? The second learning cycle is we are going to be looking at the plants and animals of tropical rainforests.

So let's get going with the first learning cycle, which is looking at the climate of tropical rainforests.

First of all, we need to understand what the difference is between weather and climate.

The weather describes the day-to-day changes in things like the temperature, the rain, and the wind.

All of these things can change from day to day.

If we have a look on the slide here, I'm going to give you weather forecast for the week.

So on Monday, it's grey and cloudy.

It's the same on Tuesday.

However, on Wednesday, it's nice and sunny.

Thursday we're expecting heavy rainfall.

And on Friday heavy rainfall as well.

Our weather can change from day to day, especially in places like the UK where one minute it can be hot and sunny and the next minute it can be wet and cold.

Have a look outside the window.

What is the weather like where you are today? Think about the rainfall.

Is there any? Think about the amount of sunlight, the temperature, and the wind.

The climate is different.

The climate describes what the weather is like for a longer period of time.

So, for example, you might say that in the UK we have a fairly cold and wet climate.

Now, that means that in the UK, on average it's quite cold and we do experience quite a lot of rainfall.

Now, that is not to say that we don't experience hot and dry weather as well because we do, especially in the summer.

However, the climate is giving the average weather of an area, and we think about this over a longer period of time, usually 30 years or more.

Can you think of another example of describing a climate? So I'll think of one.

Spain has a relatively hot and drier climate.

Not to say that it doesn't experience rainfall, but that is what it is usually like there.

Let's check our understanding of what climate means.

Which of these describes the climate of a place? A, it is wet and cold outside today.

B, it is hot and windy today.

Or C, Morocco is a hot and dry country.

The answer is C.

Morocco is a hot and dry country because A and B are talking about what it is like outside today.

That can change.

However, for Morocco, there we are saying that it's a hot and dry climate.

That is what the country is usually like in the area.

Now, tropical rainforests have a hot and wet climate.

That means that we see hot temperatures.

We also see a lot of rainfall.

That is what the climate is like for the area.

The temperature is usually above 24 degrees, and that's for every day of the year.

It also usually rains every day, often in the afternoon.

Now, the reason that it experiences hot temperatures all year round rather than just in the summer months is because tropical rainforests are located near the Equator.

So the sun rays are concentrated all year round.

It also rains pretty much every day, and often in the afternoon you get storms there.

The reason for that been because there's so much heat from the sun, lots of water evaporates from the trees, and then in the afternoon the thunder clouds, the storm clouds can't hold the water they've got in them anymore and you get big downpours of rainfall in the afternoon.

So a picture on the left is what it would look like in the sky in the morning in the rainforest, and this is what it might look like in the afternoon, lots of heavy rainfall.

Now, even though it's raining, it doesn't mean it's not hot.

Okay, you can experience hot temperatures and rainfall at the same time.

I've got a question for you.

Would you like to live in a tropical rainforest? I don't think I would.

I think I'd find it too extreme, too hot and too wet.

Because of the hot and rainy climate along the Equator, this is where we find tropical rainforests.

Okay, so as we can see on the slide here, the areas that have shaded in green are where rainforests are located.

Now most of them are near the Equator, apart from a few in Asia which actually do reach the Tropic of Cancer.

On the slide I'm gonna show you some of the major rainforests of the world.

You may have heard of the Amazon rainforest in South America, which is the largest rainforest in the world, mostly located in Brazil, but also spreads into some of the neighbouring countries as well.

We've got the Congo rainforest in Central Africa, and then around Asia, there's lots of different rainforests on different islands in Southeast Asia.

So these are the main ones that we found across the world, mostly located along the Equator.

So what do you think the climate is like in a tropical rainforest? It is sunny and there is a lot of rain along the Equator.

Now, plants need sunlight and rain to be able to grow through the process of photosynthesis.

Now, that means at the Equator we've got two of those things in abundance.

There's lots of sun and there's lots of water from the rainfall.

Therefore, loads of plants can grow really, really easily.

Now, this is what it might look like inside a rainforest.

Because so many plants are able to grow, the plants and the trees grow very close together, and it creates very dense vegetation, which means that they're all really tightly compact in.

It's actually really difficult to walk through a rainforest because of all the plants.

You might have to hack a bit of it down to be able to walk through.

Let's check our understanding.

True or false, tropical rainforests are found along the Equator.

That's true.

Can you justify your understanding? Is it A, because it is very sunny, hot and rainy along the Equator, or is it B, because it is very hot and dry along the Equator? The answer's A.

It's very sunny, it's hot, but also rainy, leading to perfect conditions for plants to be able to grow.

It's not hot and dry.

It's hot and dry along the tropics, which is where you find deserts.

We've got our first main task for the lesson.

So Task A, Task A1, sorry, is you're going to write a weather report for Manaus which is a city in the Amazon rainforest.

Now, in your weather report, I would like you to use the information that we have on the slide here.

So the temperature is 26 degrees hot.

There's a lot of rainfall for that day, 200 millimetres.

It's not that windy, six kilometres per hour, and we are expecting to see thunderstorms in the afternoon.

So your job is to report to the people of Manaus what the weather is going to be like for today.

They need to know lots of detail because they may be expecting to do some different activities.

On the slide, there are some different sentence starters to help you.

Pause the video and have a go at Task A.

Right, I have an example answer here which you could compare to yours.

So my example answer is tomorrow in Manaus the temperature is expected to be around 26 degrees.

Wind speeds will be about six kilometres per hour.

It is going to be very rainy, 200 millimetres of rain is expected.

Most of this will come in the afternoon when there is going to be a big thunderstorm, so make sure that you have your raincoat.

Right, that's my report.

Can you add any extra information or detail to your answer, or could you improve my answer? I reckon I could have written even more.

The second task for Task A is you're going to name the tropical rainforest that we have on the map here.

So to help you out, I've given the different examples and the names of the rainforest that you're going to put in the correct box.

So you've got the Southeast Asian rainforest, the Amazon rainforest, the biggest one in the world is a bit of a hint, and the Congo rainforest.

Can you locate these onto the correct section of the map? Pause the video and have a go.

Here we go.

So we've got the Amazon rainforest located in South America, the largest in the world.

You've got the Congo rainforest which is located in Central Africa.

And you've got the Southeast Asian rainforest which are located across many different countries and island in Southeast Asia.

We are now onto our second learning cycle, looking at the plants and the animals of the tropical rainforest.

I'm very excited about this one because there are lots of cool different animals that live there.

Do you know any already? So there are lots of different types of plants and animals that live in the rainforest.

This is called diversity.

Diversity is when you've got lots of different things.

Okay, so in terms of this lesson, it means that within the rainforest you have got lots of different types of plants and animals.

It's not about the number of, but it's about the number of types.

Here are some examples of the animals.

So we've got the howler monkey, which you may have guessed, makes a really cool howling noise.

We've got the red-eyed frog.

You may have guessed.

It's called the red-eyed frog because it's got red eyes.

And we've got beautiful orchid flowers.

I've got an orchid in my bathroom.

They're one of my favourite flowers.

Many of the rainforest animals decide to live high up in the trees.

They use the trees to sleep, move around, and hunt for food.

One of the reasons that they don't like to go to the forest floor as much forest and stay in the trees is because it keeps them safe from predators.

They also get a really good view of the forest floor from up in the trees, so they can find it easier to find other animals to eat.

On the slide, I've got a picture of a sloth.

These are really cool animals that live in the rainforest.

Now, they move really, really slowly.

Now, as you may be able to see on the picture, they've actually got hooked claws like this.

Now, they use these hooked claws to go onto branches.

Now, the reasons that their claws are hooked is so they can save energy and not have to hold onto the branches.

They can literally just hang on.

How cool is that? Some of the animals do live on the rainforest floor.

So here we've got an example of something called the poison dart frog.

These are really, really dangerous frogs actually.

They're very poisonous.

You have to be careful if you do see them.

Now, as you may know, frogs like warm but wet weather, and that's why you get lots of different types of frogs in the rainforest.

You also get lots of different fruits and plants that grow in the forest really well.

So fruits such as pineapples, mangoes, and bananas grow well in tropical areas in South America.

So on the slide there, you've got some pictures of some bananas.

There's some mangoes and pineapples.

Do you like tropical fruit? I think mangoes have got to be my favourite.

I absolutely love a mango smoothie.

Can you think of any other fruit that grows in tropical areas? So there's lots of different plants which grow in the rainforest.

There's a high level of diversity.

There are tall trees and there are also low lying shrubs.

Lots of these different plants grow at different heights and different levels, but they're all trying to grow as fast as they can to reach sunlight so they can grow even taller and even higher.

The people who live in the rainforest eat bananas and mangoes and other fruits that grows there.

And they rely on the rainforest to survive.

So they use the environment to be able to live for food, for shelter, and lots of other things as well, things like medicine.

Now, one of the main jobs in rainforest or tropical areas is farming.

So farmers grow fruits that you've just learned about, such as mangoes, bananas, and pineapples.

So they grow these fruits and vegetables to be able to make money.

Now, a lot of these fruits are sold all across the world.

Now lots of people, like myself, love things like bananas and pineapples, but we can't grow them in countries like the UK because it's too cold and there's not enough rainfall.

So the farmers are able to make lots and lots of money because they can grow these fruit and sell them to different countries across the world.

Let's check our understanding.

Where do most animals live in the rainforest? Is it A, on the forest floor, B, in the trees, or C, underground? The answer is B, in the trees.

We're going to move on to a task now.

Now, your task is to create a poster on the plants and animals that you might find in the tropical rainforest.

Things I'd like you to include on your poster is the name of the plants and the animals, where they live, so can you give me some exact examples of rainforests of the world and what plants and animals you can find there? How they manage to survive in the rainforest? So what do they do which makes surviving possible? So do they live in the trees? What do they hunt for? Where do they sleep? And if you can, pictures would be amazing.

Now, it's up to you, you could use some of the pictures and some of the different types of plants and animals that we've learned in this lesson.

You could also do extra research on the internet or in books to find different examples of plants and animals that you can find there.

It's completely up to you.

You could do your poster on paper.

If you prefer to do it on a computer, on a Word document, that is also fine.

Or if you'd like to adapt this task a little bit, you could create a PowerPoint presentation on the plants and animals that you find in the rainforest.

It's completely up to you.

So pause the video and have a go at the task.

On here, I've got my example poster of plants and animals of the rainforest.

So we'll have a look.

On the left I've got a picture of a howler monkey.

So howler monkeys live in the Amazon rainforest.

They make loud noises to scare off the predators.

Now, if you've not seen this already, I would recommend watching some YouTube videos of howler monkeys.

They're pretty cool and they make some incredible noises.

Pineapples are grown in South America.

Lots of farmers grow pineapples to make money.

The reason I put this on my poster is because pineapples are one of my favourite fruits.

Red-eyed frogs are found in Central America.

They are green in colour to help them make blend into the background.

Now, they blend into the background, it's harder for other predators to find them to be able to eat them.

That's something called being camouflage.

Now, they might give it away with their red eyes, so they have to close their eyes sometimes to make sure that other predators can't see them.

Is there any extra detail that you could add to your poster, or can you think of any extra things that I could add to mine? On the slide, we've got a summary of today's lesson.

The climate of the tropical rainforest is hot and wet.

This climate is perfect for plants to grow.

Many tropical rainforests are located along the Equator where there is a hot and wet climate.

There is a large diversity of plants and animals that live in tropical rainforests, including frogs, monkeys, and orchids.

Fruit such as bananas, mangoes, and pineapples are often grown in rainforests and can be sold all over the world.

That's it for today's lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed yourself.

I've had a great time teaching you.

So I hope you've learned lots of information about rainforest, and go home and do a little bit of extra research.

See you later.

Thank you.