Lesson video

Hi everyone.

My name is Ms. Voyle, and welcome to another lesson in our local and global geography unit.

"Why are trees and forests important?" Today's lesson is called "Global Trees and Forests." I hope you're feeling really excited to find out all about trees and forests around our world.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify and locate forests globally using atlases.

Here are the key words for today's lesson.

Let's read and define each one so that we will understand it when we come across it.

First, let's practise saying these keywords: Biome.

Deciduous.

Climate zone.

Evergreen.

Vegetation belt.

Great job, well done.

Let's now take a look at their definitions.

A biome is a large region of the world with places that have similar climates, vegetation and animals that have adapted to living there.

Deciduous trees and shrubs lose all their leaves in autumn and winter and grow new leaves in spring.

Climate zones are areas that have similar weather conditions and climates, for example, the tropics.

Evergreen trees and shrubs keep their leaves all year round.

And vegetation belts are large areas in biomes that have similar plants.

Until now, we have only been thinking about the type of trees found in the UK.

But in today's lesson, we will be investigating different types of trees and forests there are and where they are located in the world.

So let's begin by trying to answer the question, where in the world are the forests? There are more than 70,000 different species of tree across the world, and forests cover about a third of the Earth's land mass.

No wonder we see a lot of green when we look at our world.

With all of these different types of trees, why do you think certain species only grow in certain areas? It is because of the conditions the tree is grown in.

For example, how warm or cold, how wet or dry a place is.

The average weather conditions over a period is called the climate of the area.

The climate determines which trees and plants are able to grow in a certain location.

This map shows the major climate zones of the world.

The colours of the map show us the places that are usually warm, red and orange, and the places that are much colder in blue.

We already know that the further away you get from the equator, the colder it will be.

Location, and therefore climate determines what can grow.

For example, some trees like conifers can survive in cold places because they have thick bark that protects them against the cold.

They can grow almost as far north as the arctic circle.

Other trees, like the great kapok trees, prefer much warmer temperatures of between 28 and 42 degrees Celsius and therefore, grow in the tropics.

Let's have a check for understanding here.

Tropical and equatorial climate zones lie between which lines of latitude.

Use the climate zones map and key to help you.

Pause the video to answer now.

Did you notice that the red and orange areas show the equatorial and tropical climate zones? These fall within the lines of latitude called the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn.

These are the northernmost and southern most lines of latitude where the sun can be seen directly overhead.

The tropics are warm all year round, averaging between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius.

The kapok tree would definitely grow in these climate zones.

Every forest is different, but some share common traits based on the local climate.

In fact, every forest on the planet can fit into one of three categories: Boreal, temperate, and tropical.

These are simple categorizations of the world's forest biomes.

There are many different categorizations of biomes, so the exact number of biomes in the world can vary according to different sources of information.

Maps can show us patterns of where biomes are located in different regions of the world.

Looking at the key, we can see all three of our forest biomes listed here.

Boreal is in light blue, temperate is in teal, and tropical is in dark green.

This is along with the other biomes such as savanna, desert and tundra.

Vegetation belts are large areas in biomes that have similar trees and plants.

Trees that grow in a climate with long, cold winters and short cool summers can be found in boreal forest vegetation belts.

You can see two large boreal forest vegetation belts across North America and across the top of Northern Europe and Asia.

Let's check our understanding here.

Name the biomes marked on the map at locations A, B and C.

Use the key to help you.

Pause the video to answer now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

A is the boreal forest across Canada and Alaska.

B is the temperate deciduous forest across Central Europe.

And C is the tropical rainforest across South American countries like Brazil.

Well done for demonstrating your understanding of these different biomes and how they are shown on this map.

It's now time for your first task today, and I would like you to complete the biomes map.

Use the key to show the location of boreal, temperate deciduous, and tropical forests on this biomes wild map by shading the key for each in the correct colour.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

Did you correctly identify the temperate deciduous, boreal and tropical forests on this wild map? Can you see how all of the tropical forests are located between the latitude lines, the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn? You should have shaded the key for this biome in dark green.

Most of the boreal biome is close to the arctic circle.

The key for this biome should have been shaded in light blue and the temperate deciduous forests are between the tropics and arctic and Antarctic circles.

The key for this biome should have been shaded in teal.

The climate of each place determines which trees can grow and creates biomes where plants with shared traits grow together.

Well done for identifying where different types of forests are in the world.

Now that we know about the three types of forest biomes and have some understanding of where in the world we might find them, it's time to discover what it is like in each of the different types of forest.

I know one creature who has experience of all three types of forest.

It's the Blackpoll Warbler, a tiny bird about the same height as a ball point pen.

Blackpoll Warblers make a 200,000 kilometre round trip each year as they migrate to warmer weather.

Migration is the seasonal movement of animals from one place to another.

They begin in the boreal forests of northern Canada and Alaska and takes 60 days to reach their destination in the tropical forests of Brazil.

Let's follow them on their migratory journey to find out about each forest type.

The Blackpoll Warblers stays all summer in the boreal forest of Canada and Alaska, like in the photograph here.

This is the start of its journey.

Boreal forests is the world's largest land biome.

Boreal forests cover large areas of Canada, Alaska, and Russia.

As we have already found out, the boreal forest climate is characterised by short, cool summers and long winters with incredibly cold temperatures reaching minus 53 degrees Celsius in some places.

Let's check your understanding here.

What is the boreal forest climate like? Does it have: A, short, cool winters and hot summers with incredibly warm temperatures? B, long, warm summers and long winters? Or C, short, cool summers and long winters with incredibly cold temperatures? Pause the video and select the correct answer.

The answer is C, well done.

Did you correctly identify that the climate in a boreal forest usually has short, cool summers and long winters with incredibly cold temperatures? The most common boreal tree species are deciduous and evergreen conifers, such as larch, pine fir and spruce.

The Blackpoll Warbler makes nests in the branches of these trees to breed.

Trees in the boreal forest biome reach the highest latitudes of any trees on earth.

The northernmost trees in the world are Gmelin larch, which are found on the Taymyr Peninsula in the central arctic region of Russia.

Evergreen conifers are designed to survive cold winters, heavy snow that could break branches easily slides off the downward sloping limbs and waxy needles of the conifer.

The Blackpoll Warbler is not the only creature to live in these forests.

Boreal wildlife species include caribou, woodpeckers, hawks, moose, bears, lynxes, foxes, wolves, deer, hares, shrews, and bats, many of which must hibernate or migrate during the coldest months to survive.

Just like the Blackpoll Warbler who leaves the cold north to fly south for the winter.

As the weather gets colder and summer turns to autumn, animals get ready for their hibernation or migration in boreal forests.

On the first part of their migration south, the Blackpoll Warblers pass through several temperate deciduous forests of North America, shown here as the teal colours on the biomes map.

Temperate deciduous forests contain trees that shed their leaves every year, evergreen trees or a mixture of both.

The UK is part of the temperate deciduous forest biome.

The Blackpoll Warbler might have stopped to roost in the branches of a giant redwood tree in the northwest of the United States.

These evergreen trees can live for over 3,000 years.

These redwoods include the world's largest living tree.

Named "General Sherman," the tree lives in California's Sequoia National Park and is an incredible 84 metres tall and over 11 metres wide.

Temperate forests experience all four seasons.

The temperatures here are not extremely hot or cold.

Continuing their migration, Blackpoll Warblers pass over more temperate deciduous forests on the west coast of the United States.

The leaves here turn beautiful colours before they fall of in autumn.

Oak, elm, ash and beech all lose their leaves as a way of protecting them during the winter months.

Let's check your understanding.

Which continent does not contain any temperate deciduous forest? Use the map to help you.

A, Africa.

B, North America.

Or C, Europe.

Pause the video and select the correct answer.

The answer is A, Africa.

Well done.

As this continent lies mostly between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the climate here is not suited to temperate forests.

The Blackpoll Warbler has one final nonstop flight to make on its migration from North America to South America.

It leaves the temperate forests of the north and arrives at the tropical forests near the equator.

This nonstop flight can take three days as the birds fly across the Atlantic ocean.

The tropical forest biome is home to over half of the world's plant and animal species.

The climate is warm and wet.

Temperatures are high throughout the year and there is no winter.

This is a photo of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

This is a tropical forest.

Tropical forests are known for their thick canopies of vegetation that form different layers.

The top layer or canopy contains giant trees like this kapok tree.

You can see here it's thick buttress roots that hold it steady as they can reach 60 metres in height.

Most trees here are evergreen, but some shed their leaves during the dry season like the kapok.

The Blackpoll Warbler will stay here in the tropical forest over the winter.

Here, it'll live alongside thousands of other birds, bats, rodents, snakes, monkeys, jaguars, and millions of insects.

Once spring comes, it will prepare to make the journey back north, back to its home in the boreal forest.

Let's check your understanding.

Tick the correct column for each sentence to show which biome is being described.

Here are the sentences.

This biome is home to over half the world's plants and animal species.

This is the world's largest land biome.

This biome includes the world's largest living single stem tree.

These forests experience all four seasons.

Which belongs to the tropical forest? Which ones are about temperate forests? And which are about boreal forest biomes? Pause the video and answer now.

Let's take a look at the answers together.

Did you correctly say that tropical forests are home to over half the world's plants and animal species? Boreal forests are the world's largest land biome.

Temperate forests include the world's largest living single stem tree, General Sherman.

And temperate forests experience all four seasons.

Well done if you correctly match the sentences and the biomes.

It's now time for your final task.

Write a journal of the Blackpoll Warblers migration from North America to South America.

Describe each forest that they visit.

What would they see? What would they hear? You could write it in the first person, like a proper diary, or you could imagine that you are a conservationist, tracking the bird as it migrates, noting things down in your journal.

Either way, try to use your senses when you describe each of the different types of forests that it visits.

Use an atlas to help you locate each forest and note these places in your journal.

You might need some of these words to help you.

When describing the boreal forest, cold winters, freezing temperatures, pine tree, fir tree, spruce tree, conifer, evergreen.

When describing the temperate forest, seasons, long winters, short summers, deciduous, broadleaf.

And when describing the tropical forest, warm and wet, high temperatures.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for completing the task.

Did you use an atlas to name a location in each bio? Did you remember to describe each forest that the Blackpoll Warbler visited? Did your answer include any of the following? Listen carefully while I read a good example to you.

September 2024, Whitehorse, Canada.

Today, I observed the Blackpoll Warbler in its natural habitat, the boreal forest biome.

Here, it nests in the branches of tall conifers like pine, fir and spruce.

The short summer has passed now and the days are getting much colder.

It won't be long before the forest is covered in snow.

The caribou are getting ready to move on and the bears are preparing to hibernate.

The Blackpoll Warbler too is preparing for its annual migration, and this time, I will be tracking it.

Pause the video now to share your journal or diary entries with a partner.

I hope you thoroughly enjoyed sharing your writing with a partner and well done for demonstrating your understanding of the different types of forests there are in our world.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about global trees and forests today.

We have learned that there are more than 70,000 species of tree across the world, and that forests cover about a third of its landmass.

We now know that boreal, temperate and tropical are simple categorizations of the world's forest biomes.

And we know that deciduous trees lose their leaves in autumn and evergreen trees keep their leaves all the year round.

What amazing and beautiful forests we have across the world, they are to be protected and valued.

Thank you for all of your great work today.

Come back next time for more of our unit on why trees and forests are important.