Lesson video

Hi everybody.

I'm Mrs Lomas and I'm a geography teacher, well, I'm a primary school teacher that loves geography.

So today we have got a very exciting lesson.

I've had a sneak peek, so I hope you're ready.

I hope you've got your best listening ears on.

And let's have a look at what we're gonna be doing today, shall we? Okay, so today we're going to be looking at Brazil nut production and I'm really excited, I really love learning about where my food comes from.

Yeah, so let's find out, shall we? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe how Brazil nuts are grown, harvested, and exported, and identify threats to their production and trade.

There are some key words in today's lesson.

We have pollinate and life cycle.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Pollinate.

Life cycle.

Well done.

Let's learn what these words mean, shall we? So pollinate means depositing pollen on parts of a plant or flower to enable fertilisation to take place.

And a lifecycle is the series of stages that plants, animals, and other living things go through during their lifetime.

Today's lesson is split into two parts.

We have the story of the Brazil nut and then what is independent, interdependence, sorry.

So let's have a look at the story of the Brazil nut first.

So, the story of the Brazil nut.

Have a little think.

There's a picture of some Brazil nuts.

Have you ever eaten a Brazil nut? If you're not sure, you might want to go home later this evening and see if any of your food has got Brazil nuts in.

So the Brazil nut is one of the products that comes from the Amazon rainforest.

The Brazil nut doesn't just grow in Brazil, but it is also found in other countries such as Peru and Bolivia because the Amazon rainforest isn't just in Brazil, is it? It's in other countries as well.

And the Brazil nut grows in the Amazon rainforest.

Brazil nut trees are tall trees growing in the rainforest and there's a picture of one there.

They take a long time to grow this tall and to produce a good harvest of Brazil nuts.

How do you think the nuts grow? How are they collected? Pause the video and collect your ideas as a class.

How did you get on? Shall we find out how they grow and how they're collected? First of all, let's check.

True or false, Brazil nut trees grow only in Brazil.

And then I want you to justify your answer.

So either A, the tree is called the Brazil nut because it only grows in Brazil or B, the Brazil nut tree doesn't just grow in Brazil, it is also found in other countries such as Peru and Bolivia.

So you're going to choose true or false and pick a justification for your answer.

Okay, pause the video, collect your answers, and come back and check.

How did you get on? So Brazil nut trees only grow in Brazil is false because the Brazil nut tree doesn't just grow in Brazil, it is also found in other countries such as Peru and Bolivia.

So well done if you said F, false, and B.

So the Brazil nut tree flowers for only a single day each year.

Wow, I never knew that.

Owing to the structure of the flower, the female Euglossine bee is the only creature able to enter the flower.

The female bees enter to feed on nectar and in the process they pollinate the flower.

Why does the Brazil nut tree need its flowers to be pollinated? Pause the video, collect your ideas as a class, and then come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? Which creature pollinates the flowers of the Brazil nut tree? Is it A, a species of hummingbird, B, a species of butterfly, or C, a species of bee? Pause the video, have a go, and then come back and check.

How did you get on? If you said it was a species of bee, so C, you were correct, well done.

Pollination is necessary for the Brazil nuts to be produced.

This means that Brazil nut trees only grow in the Amazon rainforest, where the female Euglossine bee lives.

They can't be grown on plantations.

A plantation is a bit like a farm, but with trees.

True or false, Brazil nut trees are mostly grown on plantations? And again, I want you to justify your answer.

So either A, Brazil nut trees only grow in the Amazon rainforest where the female Euglossine bee lives, or B, it is cheaper to harvest Brazil nuts from plantations rather than collect from the rainforest.

So I want you to say is it true or false and justify your answer.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come back and check.

How did you get on? So Brazil nut trees are mostly grown on plantations is false because Brazil nut trees only grow in the Amazon rainforest where the female Euglossine bee lives.

So well done if you said false and A.

Male Euglossine bees are also important in this process.

To reproduce, the males must first prove themselves to the females by covering themselves with scent from orchids growing in the surrounding rainforest.

Without these orchids, the bees wouldn't be able to reproduce and the flowers of the Brazil nut trees wouldn't get pollinated.

And then there would be no Brazil nuts.

Once the Brazil nut flower has been pollinated, it slowly grows into a fruit or pod.

This takes about 14 months, which is longer than a year, isn't it? When the pods are ripe, they fall to the forest floor.

A Brazil nut tree can produce many fruits during its lifetime.

Each pod can weigh up to two kilogrammes.

That's quite heavy.

I want you to select two answers for this question.

Which flowers do the Euglossine bee depend upon? A, orchid, B, daisy, C, Brazil nut, or D, rose.

I want you to choose two answers.

Once you've all worked out your answers, come back and we'll check.

How did you get on? So the Euglossine bee depends on the Brazil nut and the orchid, so well done if that's what you said.

Agoutis are large rodents which live on the forest floor.

Brazil nuts are an important part of their diet.

The agoutis also play an important role in the Brazil nut lifecycle and you can see a picture of an agouti there, and it looks like it might actually be eating a Brazil nut.

I'm not quite sure, it's eating something, isn't it? And it's very cute.

I want you to have a think.

Do we have any similar animals in the UK that live on, maybe not a rainforest floor, but a forest floor or the floor of a wood, and they eat lots of nuts? Have a little think, pause the video.

Come back when you've had a conversation about it.

How did you get on? I was thinking squirrels.

What about you? So the individual Brazil nuts in their hard shell, (the seeds), are packed together in the pod within a very tough outer husk.

They look a bit like the segments of an orange.

And you can see in that picture there they've opened up the husk and there's the Brazil nuts, (the seeds), inside.

The agoutis use their strong teeth to gnaw around the husk and release the nuts inside.

Definitely reminds me a bit of the squirrel.

The agoutis spread any uneaten nuts, (the tree's seeds), in the rainforest.

The Brazil nut tree needs its seeds to be dispersed so that new trees can grow.

So how are the seeds of the Brazil nut tree dispersed? A, by wind, B, by the agouti, or C, by water? And disperse means how they spread around.

Okay, pause the video, collect your answers, come back and check.

How did you get on? Hopefully you said that Brazil nut tree seeds are dispersed by the agouti, so B.

And let's have a look at the next step, shall we? Let's have a look at harvesting the nuts.

When people harvest the Brazil nuts from the rainforest, they use a sharp blade to cut to the husk open.

The nuts are then transported by boat along rivers to large towns and cities such as Manaus.

What do you think happens to most of these nuts? Have little think, collect ideas as a class, and come back and we'll have a look in the next few slides.

How did you get on? So the nuts are then sorted, selected, and cleaned in factories.

Some of the nuts are sold in local markets but most are packed for exporting around the world by ship.

And you can see there I think that might be the sorting part of the process in that picture there.

And why do you think the Brazil nut is important for people? I want you to have a class discussion and then come back and we'll have a look in the next few slides.

So pause the video, I'll see you in a minute.

How did you get on? So before we have a look at why it's important, let's just remind ourselves of the Brazil nut lifecycle.

Here I've got a missing section though, so let's have a look.

If we start at the top it says Brazil nut tree flowers for one day each year.

Then, our missing step, if we go clockwise around the circle then flowers develop into fruit or pods, Brazil nuts fall to the ground, agoutis spread any uneaten nuts, and some seeds grow into Brazil nut trees.

And then you start again at the top, Brazil nut trees flower for one day each year.

I want you to have a go at working out what is the second step that is missing? Pause the video, come back, and we'll check the answers.

How did you get on? Let's have a look, shall we? So flowers pollinated by the Euglossine bee.

That's what was missing.

Okay, have a good look at the completed cycle there.

I'm going to remove another step and you're gonna have a go at working out what it was.

Okay, what is missing now? Have a go at working it out.

Pause the video, come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? The missing step was that a agoutis spread any uneaten nuts.

Well done if you got that.

And last one.

Okay, have a go at this one.

What's missing now? Pause the video, have a go, come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? Brazil nut tree flowers for one day each year and that's our top of the circle.

Well done if you said that.

Okay, now we know the lifecycle quite well.

Your first task is to draw pictures and write text to describe the different stages of the Brazil nut lifecycle.

Okay, so make sure you get each step in there, pause the video, come back, and we'll have a look at how you did.

How did you get on? So I didn't draw any pictures because I'm not very good at it, if I'm honest, but I did do the writing here.

So let's have a look shall we? Now's your chance to add in any details if you missed anything out of yours.

So step one, the Brazil nut tree takes many years to grow tall in the canopy of the Amazon rainforest.

Step two, the Brazil nut tree only flowers on a single day in the year.

The flower is pollinated by the female Euglossine bee.

Step three, the flower slowly grow into a fruit or pod.

This takes about 14 months.

When the pod is ripe, it falls to the forest floor.

Step four, the agouti uses its sharp teeth to break open the tough outer husk of the pod and eat the nuts inside.

Step five, some of the uneaten nuts or seeds are spread around the rainforest.

Step six, some of these dispersed seeds grow into new Brazil nut trees.

Don't worry if you didn't get exactly this, but make sure you've got the main points of information in yours and well done if you've got even more information.

So we've looked at the story of the Brazil nut and its lifecycle.

Now we're going to have a look at what is interdependence and what on earth that has to do with the Brazil nut.

So the Brazil nut is connected to other living things in the rainforest and people.

It's connected to the Euglossine bee, the orchid, the agouti, and people.

I want you to have a go at explaining these connections.

Pause the video, come back, and then we'll have a look together.

How did you get on? Let's have a look first at the Brazil nut tree and the female Euglossine bee.

So the Brazil nut tree depends on the female Euglossine bee to pollinate its flowers.

And the female Euglossine bee feeds on the nectar of the flowers of the Brazil nut tree.

So they depend on each other, don't they? Okay, the Brazil nut tree needs the bee to pollinate and to therefore make new trees.

And the female bee needs the tree so it gets food from the nectar, okay? Next one.

Oh, not quite yet.

So let's check.

Okay, we've got true or false.

If the Euglossine bee went extinct, the Brazil nut tree wouldn't be able to reproduce? True or false and then can you justify your answer? So A, the Brazil nut tree depends on the female Euglossine bee to pollinate its flowers or B, many different species of butterflies and bees can pollinate the flowers of the Brazil nut tree.

So I want you to tell me is this statement, if the Euglossine bee went extinct the Brazil nut tree wouldn't be able to reproduce true or false and then justify your answer A, or B? Pause the video, have a go, come back and we'll check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said it was true because the Brazil nut tree depends on the female Euglossine bee to pollinate its flowers, you are correct, well done.

So true and A.

Okay, let's have a look at the next connection.

So the Brazil nut tree depends on the agouti for its seeds to be dispersed so that new trees can grow.

And Brazil nuts are an important part of the agoutis' diet, so again, they rely on each other.

That's why you have a two-way arrow.

Many people depend on Brazil nuts as one of their sources of food.

And some people depend on the Brazil nut tree to earn an income.

For example, they may harvest and sort the nuts, they may drive lorries with the nuts in them, and they may sell the nuts at market, okay.

How might people make changes that affect the Brazil nut tree? Pause the video, have a think, and come back and we'll have a look in the next few slides.

How did you get on? First of all, before we check, let's do a true or false.

If all of the Brazil nut trees were cut down, some people might not be able to earn an income.

Is that true or false? And I want you to justify your answer with either A, the only animals that depend on the Brazil nut tree are the agouti and the Euglossine bee or B, some people depend on Brazil nut trees for their livelihoods and might not be able to find other work.

So true or false and justify your answer.

Pause the video, have a go with your answers, come back and we'll check.

How did you get on? If you said it is true that if all the Brazil nut trees were cut down some people might not be able to earn an income because B, some people depend on Brazil nut trees for their livelihoods and might not be able to find other work, you would be correct.

Well done.

So all of the living things in the Amazon rainforest depend on each other.

This means that changes affecting one living thing can affect every living thing connected with it.

We call this interdependence.

Can you suggest any other examples of interdependence? Pause the video, have a class discussion, and come back.

How did you get on? So we're gonna have a go with our task two today.

I want you to write about how each of the changes below would affect the different plants, animals, and people linked to Brazil nuts.

And I also want you to add one more change and write about its effects.

So you have three changes here.

The rainforest is cleared and all of the Brazil nut trees are cut down.

What effects would that have on different plants, animals, and people that are linked to Brazil nuts? Bees are poisoned by pesticides from farming, again, what effect would that have on plants, animals, and people? And the agouti becomes extinct.

What effects would that have again on the plants, animals, and people linked to Brazil nuts? When you've done that, add in one more change that you can think of.

You might get lots of different changes throughout your whole classroom and write down about its effects as well.

When you've had a go, come back and we'll have a look at the answers together.

How did you get on? So we said the change was that the rainforest is cleared and all of the Brazil nut trees are cut down, and the effects were the Euglossine bee won't be able to feed on the nectar of the Brazil nut flowers.

The agouti won't be able to eat the Brazil nuts and some people will lose their jobs and livelihoods.

Bees are poisoned by pesticides from farming.

The Brazil nut flowers won't be pollinated and develop into fruit.

No seeds will be produced and no new trees will grow.

The agouti will have less food to eat.

Some people will lose their jobs and livelihoods.

If you missed out any of those effects, now's your chance to add them in and well done if you thought of even more effects than that.

Our third reason is actually at the bottom there, isn't it? The agouti becomes extinct.

So the effects of that would be that the Brazil nuts or seeds won't be dispersed in the rainforest and not very many new trees will be able to grow.

Now, some changes you might have added could have been that the agouti population increases and all of the Brazil nuts are eaten.

There won't be any uneaten nuts or seeds to grow into Brazil nut trees.

Fewer trees means less flowers for the Euglossine bees to feed on and nuts for the agouti to eat.

Or you could have said the change is that the orchids die out and the effects of that would be the Euglossine bee won't be able to reproduce, the Brazil nut flowers won't be pollinated and develop into fruit, and no new trees will grow.

Okay, don't worry if you've got a different change and effect there as well.

I'm sure you've got lots of different answers around your classroom.

So well done on completing task two.

Let's have a look at the summary of today's lesson about Brazil nut production.

The Brazil nut is a tree that grows in the Amazon rainforest.

It depends on the Euglossine bee and agouti to reproduce.

Other living things, including people, also depend on the Brazil nut tree.

All of the living things in an ecosystem are interconnected and depend on each other.

This means that changes affecting one living thing can affect every living thing connected with it.

And that's called interdependency, isn't it? Well done today, everybody.

That was quite a lot of information, wasn't it, we learned today.

So don't forget to do the exit quiz just to see if there's anything you need to go over again just to get it really stuck in your brains and really good listening and well done on completing all your tasks today.

I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson, bye.