Lesson video

Hi, everybody.

Mrs. Lomas here.

I hope you're ready to do some exploring today, 'cause that is one thing that geographers do, isn't it? Which is one reason I really love geography, so I hope you're as excited as I am.

Let's find out what we're doing today, shall we? So today we're going to be looking at features of the Amazon rainforest, and by the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to use geographical and scientific vocabulary to describe key features of the rainforest.

There are some key words in today's lesson.

We have tropical rainforest, climate, and biodiversity.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Tropical rainforest.

Climate.

Biodiversity.

Well done.

Let's take a look at what those words mean, shall we? Tropical rainforests are areas of dense forest found close to the equator, where it is warm and there are high levels of rainfall.

Climate is an average of weather conditions, for example, rain, sun, wind, in a place taken over a long period of time, usually 30 years or more.

And biodiversity means all the living things in an ecosystem or area.

Today's lesson is split into two parts.

First, we will be exploring the layers of the rainforest and then we'll be packing for a trip to the Amazon rainforest.

So let's get exploring Here you can see a picture of the Amazon rainforest.

I want you to have a think.

What do you think you might see, hear, smell and touch if you were stood right here in this picture in the Amazon rainforest? I'll pause the video.

You can think-pair-share your ideas and then come back.

How did you get on? Lots of exciting adjectives, I imagine.

So let's learn a little bit more about the Amazon rainforest.

The climate in the Amazon rainforest is hot and humid.

Humid means there is a lot of water vapour in the air, and you might have heard some adults saying, for example, "Oh, it's a bit clammy today," or, "Oh, it's a bit close today." That means the same as humid.

It rains in the Amazon rainforest nearly all year round, and you can see in that picture, can't you? It's raining a lot.

Tropical rainforests receive approximately 2,000 to 10,000 millimetres of rain per year.

Average annual rainfall in the UK ranges from about 800 to 1,400 millimetres.

So actually, even though people do moan about the rain in the UK.

it's nowhere near as much as a tropical rainforest.

Let's have a little check.

What is the climate of the Amazon rainforest like? A, hot and dry, B, cool and wet, C, hot and humid.

Pause the video, collect your answers and we'll come back and check How did you do? If you said that the climate of the Amazon rainforest is hot and humid, C, you would be correct.

Well done.

So now we know a little bit about the climate.

Let's have a look at the layers of the rainforest.

Tropical rainforests are very dense.

That means there are a lot of trees all packed in to a very small area.

And the rainforest is divided into four layers.

So starting from the top we have the emergent layer, then canopy, understory, and forest floor.

Should we have a go at my turn, your turn for those new words? Emergent.

Canopy.

Understory.

Forest floor.

Well done.

Now let's see if you can remember the order of the rainforest layers.

Order them from top to bottom.

You have canopy, forest floor, emergent, and understory.

Collect your answers as a class once you've paused the video, then come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? Hopefully you said that it was the emergent, canopy, understory, and finally, forest floor.

That one's a bit of a giveaway, isn't it, because it has floor in the name, so we know that one's on the bottom.

Let's have a look at a little bit more detail about each layer, starting with the emergent layer.

So we're gonna start at the top and work our way down.

The emergent layer is made up of the very tallest trees which tower over the rest of the canopy.

This layer receives the most sunlight, wind, and rain.

The tallest known tree in the Amazon rainforest is 88.

5 metres high.

That's about the same height as 20 double decker buses.

And you can see there, can't you, in the picture, the emergent layer is those really tall trees are sticking out the top of the canopy.

So which statement describes the emergent layer? Is it A, made up of trees of different heights, B, made up of the very tallest trees, or C, made up of shrubs and ground plants? Pause the video, collect your answers, and come back and check.

How did you get on? Which statement describes the emergent layer? If you said B, made up of the very tallest trees, you were correct.

Well done.

The next layer is the canopy layer.

This is a dense layer made up of the taller trees in the rainforest.

It receives the sunlight and rain that passes through the emergent layer.

The canopy is the most biodiverse layer of the rainforest.

It is a habitat for many different rainforest species.

I always find thinking of the canopy as a roof helps, and then the emergent layer is almost like the chimney on the house that sticks out.

It emerges from the roof.

So that might help you remember as well.

So which statement describes the canopy? Is it A, provides a habitat for many different plants and animals, B, provides a habitat for a small number of plants and animals, or C, nothing lives here? Pause the video, collect your answers, and come back and check.

How did you get on? If you said that the canopy layer provides a habitat for many different plants and animals, you were correct.

Well done.

So we've done emergent, canopy.

Now we are at the understory.

This is made up of smaller trees and shrubs.

It is dark, hot and humid, as most of the sunlight and wind is blocked by the layers above.

And you can see, can't you, in the picture, how much darker it is in the understory.

Many plants in the understory have adapted by having large leaves to capture any sunlight and water that makes it down to this layer.

And you can see in the picture, some really large leaves, can't you, right at the front on the left hand side.

So which statement describes the understory? Is it A, sunny, hot and dry, B, dark, hot and humid, or C, dark, cold and wet? Pause the video, collect your answers as a class, and come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? if you said that the understory was dark, hot and humid, so B, you would be correct.

Well done.

So we've done emergent, canopy, understory, and now let's have a look at the forest floor.

This is the darkest layer of the rainforest.

Most of the sunlight, rain, and wind is blocked out by all the layers above.

And it is made up of ground plants, tree saplings, ferns, fungi, and moss.

Fungi, mushroom is the type of fungi, so it's plants that look like that.

The forest floor is where most of the dead rainforest plants and animals decompose or break down.

So they're adding their nutrients back into the soil, making it a really good place for new trees and plants to grow.

So which statement describes the forest floor? A, made up of trees of different sizes, B, made up of the tallest trees or C, made up of ground plants, tree saplings, ferns, fungi, and moss? Pause the video, collect your answers as a class, and come back and check.

How did you get on? If you said that the forest floor was made up of ground plants, tree saplings, ferns, fungi and moss, or C, you would be correct.

Well done.

Okay, now we've learned a little bit about each layer.

I want you to match the rainforest layer with the correct picture.

So you have emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor.

Pause the video, have a go, then come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? if you said that this one was the emergent layer, here's the canopy, understory and forest floor, you were correct.

Well done.

So here's your first task for today.

You are going to label the rainforest layers on the diagram and then describe what each layer is like.

So you might want to, down one side, write the layers and then on the other side, describe what each layer is like.

So tell me, how much light, water, wind is there? How tall are the trees? What types of leaves do the trees have, and other plants that grow there as well? When you've done that, come back and we can check and see how you got on.

How did you get on? Here's my example that I made.

So you have the emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor down one side and the emergent layer, it has the tallest trees and receives the most wind, sunlight, and rain.

The canopy has taller trees is the most dense and biodiverse layer.

The understory has smaller trees and shrubs and it's dark and hot and humid, and the forest floor has ground plants, saplings, ferns, fungi, and moss, and it is the darkest layer.

Don't worry if you added in even more information than that.

If you missed out an important part of the information, though, you might just want to add that in or make any corrections now.

So we've explored the layers of the rainforest.

Now we're going to pack for a trip to the Amazon rainforest.

Unfortunately, it is an imaginary trip.

We're not actually getting on a plane and going.

I know, I'm just as disappointed as you are.

So the Amazon rainforest is a very important ecosystem.

An ecosystem is made up of all of the living and non-living things in an area.

So you've got your trees, your plants, your animals, but also your rocks, your soil, your water.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.

It provides a habitat for millions of plant and animal species, and new species are being discovered all the time.

So let's have a little go, shall we? I want you to insert the missing word.

An, is made up of all of the living and non-living things in an area.

Is it A, ecosystem, B, biome, or C, environment? So an, is made up of all the living and non-living things in an area.

Pause the video, have a go, come back and check your answer.

How did you get on? if you said an A, ecosystem, is made up of all the living and non-living things in an area, you are correct.

Well done.

The Amazon rainforest is also home to around 30 million people.

9% of the Amazon's population are indigenous peoples who have lived in and with the rainforest for thousands of years.

Pause the video and have a think.

What does indigenous mean? What did you come up with? Indigenous is used to describe people who are the original inhabitants of a place, rather than moving there from somewhere else.

Indigenous peoples have lived in and with the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years.

They have a lot of important knowledge about the rainforest.

More recently, other people have studied the Amazon rainforest to find out more about it.

Sources of information include satellite images, drone footage, and field work.

And now we've got a fantastic satellite image, haven't we, of the Amazon rainforest with the Amazon River going through the middle and lots of clouds as well, which is very cool.

Owing to the huge size of the rainforest and the difficulties in navigating through the dense vegetation, there are still some parts that remain unexplored.

And if you have a look at that picture there, you can see really how dense and tightly packed those trees are.

So have a think.

How might people find their way through the rainforest? I want you to pause the video and think-pair-share your answers.

How did you get on? Lots of exciting ideas, I hope.

So let's have a little check.

True or false? People have only recently started living in the Amazon rainforest.

So I want you to say if you think that statement is true or false, and then choose a justification for your answer.

So a reason, a fact to back up your answer.

Either A, the rainforest is difficult to travel through so people weren't able to live there in the past, or B, indigenous peoples have been living in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years.

So again, you need to say whether the statement is true or false, and then pick a reason, A or B.

So people have only recently started living in the Amazon rainforest.

True or false, and why? A, the rainforest is difficult to travel through so people weren't able to live there in the past, or B, indigenous peoples have been living in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years.

Pause the video, think-pair-share your answers and come back and check.

How did you get on? Hopefully you said that it was false, because indigenous peoples have been living in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years.

Well done if you did.

Okay, and here's task two.

You're going to imagine you are going on a research trip to the Amazon rainforest.

You need to apply your knowledge about the Amazon rainforest to draw or write a list of the items you would pack in a bag to take with you, and explain why you have chosen each item.

So I want you to really think about the four layers.

Which layer are you going to be travelling through if you're walking through the Amazon rainforest? What is that layer like? What might you need to see? What are you going to need to wear? Are you going to have any food? What about water? Do you need any scientific equipment, if you're going on a research trip? Or even what if you find a new species of animal? How are you going to document it? Have a really hard think.

Make sure you write or draw what you're going to take, and don't forget your explanation for why you've chosen each item.

When you've had to go, you can come back and we'll have a look at what I came up with as as well.

Excuse me.

How did you get on? These are just a few things I thought I might need to pack.

One is a torch to find my way through the dark understory of the rainforest.

Another one is a camera to take photographs of plants and animals, and sun cream and a hat to protect myself from the sun in the upper layers of the rainforest, 'cause I'm going to do some tree climbing so that I can check out every layer of the rainforest.

And I definitely need sun cream and a hat.

I'm very pale.

Okay, so let's have a summary of today's lesson.

We've been looking at the features of the Amazon rainforest.

The rainforest is a type of environment or biome with a distinctive climate and ecosystem.

It has four distinctive layers.

Starting at the top and working down, you have emergent, canopy, understory, forest floor.

Each of those fl- Layers, not flavours.

Each of those layers has its own features.

And the rainforest is a very important ecosystem and provides a habitat for millions of plants and animals, including humans.

Well done, everybody.

You worked really hard today and you had some really good packing lists.

Well done.

So don't forget to try the outro quiz, the exit quiz, just to double check everything that you've remembered and see if there's anything you need to recap again before the next lesson, and I will see you for the next lesson.

Bye, everybody.