Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

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

So I'm very excited to be sharing today's lesson with you.

I have had a sneaky little look, and it looks really good fun.

So let's find out what we're going to do today, shall we? So today, we're going to be looking at people of the Amazon rainforest.

And by the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to compare different types of settlements and traditional lifestyles of Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rainforest.

So we have some keywords in this lesson.

We have settlements, ethnic group, and colonists.

So let's do my turn, your turn, shall we? You ready? Settlements.

Ethnic group.

Colonists.

Well done.

Let's see what those words mean, shall we? Settlements are places where groups of people live and work.

People who are part of the same ethnic group share the same nationality, cultures and traditions.

And colonists are people from one country who live in a different place that is controlled by their country.

So today's lesson is split into three parts.

We have comparing settlements, what is life like for the Awa people, and how is life changing for the Awa people? So let's start with comparing settlements.

The Amazon rainforest is sparsely populated.

It is home to around 30 million people.

That might sound a lot, but it's less than half the population of the UK.

And the Amazon rainforest is 28 times the size of the UK.

Sparsely populated means there are fewer people over a larger area.

It's the opposite of dense.

So we've been describing the Amazon rainforest as dense, haven't we? A lot of tress all packed into one small area.

Well, the people in the Amazon rainforest are the opposite.

They're sparsely populated.

So there's not very many of them over a large area.

Why do you think the Amazon rainforest is sparsely populated? Pause the video, have a think, come back and we'll have a look together.

How did you get on? So most people live in a few cities which are located along the Amazon River and other major rivers in the region.

Manaus is in northwestern Brazil, is the largest city in the Amazon region.

(throat clearing) Excuse me.

And it is the seventh largest city in Brazil.

And there's a picture there of Manaus.

You can see it does look very much like a city, very different to the pictures of the rainforest that we've had a look at.

What other cities are there in Brazil.

Pause the video, collect some ideas together as a class.

How did you get on? If you're not sure of too many cities in Brazil, you could always have a quick look at a map or an atlas, couldn't you, to help you find the answers.

So Manaus has a large port and an international airport.

Many rainforest products are exported from Manaus all over the world.

Electronics and other goods are also manufactured here.

There are also smaller, more isolated settlements in the Amazon rainforest.

Many of these smaller settlements are along rivers and waterways.

Why do you think this is? Pause the video, collect your ideas, and then come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? Did you maybe suggest that people could fish in the river? They could wash in the river.

They could drink the river water.

They could play and swim in the river.

I'm sure you came up with a lot more ideas than I did.

So true or false? Most people in the Amazon region live in tiny villages deep in the rainforest.

So I want you to say whether that statement is true or false and then justify your answer choosing A or B.

So most people live in a few cities which are located along the Amazon River and other major rivers in the region.

Or there are no cities in this region of South America.

So you're saying true or false and then give a reason, justify your answer, A or B.

So once again, most people in the Amazon region live in tiny villages deep in the rainforest.

Pause the video, collect your answers, and then we'll check.

How did you get on? If you said that it was false, that most people in the Amazon region live in tiny villages deep in the rainforest, because most people live in a few cities which are located along the Amazon River and other major rivers in the region, you would be correct.

So false, F and A.

So task one.

Look at the two images.

Think about what differences there might be between these two types of settlement in the Amazon rainforest.

Spend a few minutes talking or writing about your ideas.

Once you finish the task, you can unpause the video, come back, and we'll have a look at a few ideas I've come up with.

How did you get on? So for the big city, I said there were different types of housing.

You can see, can't you? There's skyscrapers, there might be flats and apartments, there's some houses.

You have better access to services, such as hospitals and schools.

Much larger population.

There are busy roads and traffic and offices and factories as well.

And you might've also talked about the type of building materials, and there might be more entertainment opportunities, like stadiums or parks, things like that.

And then for the second settlement, you could've mentioned that houses are made of natural materials.

You can see there's leaves for the roof, and it's a wooden building, isn't it? Not as good access to services, such as hospitals and schools.

There are less people.

The people depend on the river for transport.

And there are fewer job opportunities as well.

So now we've had a look at comparing settlements.

Let's move on to what is life like for the Awa people.

9% of the people living in the Amazon rainforest are Indigenous peoples.

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.

And there you can see a building.

It looks maybe like they're doing some fishing.

And their boat there as well.

Again, made from natural materials that can be found in the forest.

European settlers first arrived in South America in the 15th century.

These early colonists mined gold and silver and cleared land for growing crops.

Between 1500 and 1800, millions of people were taken by force from Africa to become slaves in the Americas.

This was known as the transatlantic slave trade.

And there you can see some of the boats that would've been used to travel from Europe to South America and also to transport slaves as well.

Portuguese and Spanish are the main languages spoken in South America today.

Because that's where a lot of the colonists came from.

They were either Spanish or Portuguese.

So true or false? Europeans were the first people to enter the Amazon rainforest? And then again I want you to justify your answer.

So either A, European settlers arrived in South America in the 15th century, or B, Indigenous peoples had already been living in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived.

So I want you to say whether it's true or false and choose A or B to justify your answer.

So once again, Europeans were the first people to enter the Amazon rainforest.

True or false and then A or B to justify your answer.

Pause the video, collect your ideas as a class, and then check your answers.

If you said that it's false because B, Indigenous peoples had already been living in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, you would be correct.

Well done.

Here we can see another type of Indigenous peoples settlement or house here, can't you? This one's a two-story building with a very nice balcony.

Still made with natural materials found in the rainforest, though.

There are thought to be 350 different ethnic groups of Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rainforest.

Each of these ethnic groups is unique with differences in language, culture, beliefs, and lifestyles.

Such as the houses they live in, what they eat, the clothes they wear, the jewellery they wear, the festivals they have, all things like that.

One of these Indigenous groups is the Awa.

The Awa people live in an eastern region of the Amazon rainforest.

Many of the Awa people have lifestyles that have been influenced by the outside world.

A few people have managed to remain living their traditional lifestyles in the rainforest.

What do you think the traditional lifestyle of the Awa people might be like? Pause the video, collect some ideas as a class, and then we'll have a look together.

How did you get on? Did you have lots of ideas? Let's find out, shall we? So the Awa people: build shelters out of leaves and branches.

They sleep in hammocks made of tree fibres.

They burn tree resin, or sap, to provide light.

They use rainforest plants to make medicines.

And actually, a lot of our medicines started out by using rainforest plants to make them as well.

The Awa people are often named after rainforest plants and animals.

They live sustainably with the rainforest, which means they replace what they use.

The way they live can carry on for thousands of years without damaging the rainforest or without any resources running out.

And they are nomadic.

So they move around from place to place.

They don't just have one house, one village.

They'll pack up, move around, settle down, live there, and then when they're starting to deplete the resources of that area, they will move on so that that area of the rainforest can regenerate.

And that's another way of being sustainable.

The Awa people are hunter-gatherers.

They fish, pick fruit, collect honey and hunt with two-meter long bows and arrows.

And you can see there some images of them doing just that, can't you? So which two of the following describe the traditional lifestyle of the Awa people? A, stay in one place for long periods of time, B, nomadic, C, hunter-gatherers, D, grow crops such as wheat, potatoes and oats.

I want two answers for this question, please.

Which describe the traditional lifestyle of the Awa people? Pause the video, have a go, then come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said that they are B, nomadic and C, hunter-gatherers you were correct.

Well done.

So let's have a look a bit more at the lifestyle of the Awa children.

Awa children don't go to school.

They learn through the environment and people around them.

They keep rainforest animals as pets.

And they spend their days helping with chores, collecting food from the rainforest, and swimming and playing games as well.

And you can see a little Awa child there with their pet monkey.

Very jealous.

I want a pet monkey.

(laughing) So which two of the following describe the traditional lifestyle of the Awa people? A, build houses out of bricks, B, hunt using two-meter long bows and arrows, C, buy food in supermarkets, and D, children don't go to school.

So again, I want two answers here, please.

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

How did you get on? If you said that they hunt using two-meter long bows and arrows and that the children don't go to school, so B and D, you would be correct.

Two-meter long bows and arrows, that's very big, isn't it? If you think about that, that's two metre sticks put together.

I don't think I would be able to do that.

I think I'd probably shoot myself by accident.

(laughing) Very long.

So let's have a go at task two.

You are going to record aspects of the lives of the Awa people and your own life in the table.

You're going to use words and/or pictures.

So you could talk about your surrounding environment.

So do you live in a village, a town, a city? Is it rural, is it urban? Is it densely populated, sparsely populated? What type of home do you live in? Are you in an apartment, a flat, a house? Do you live with lots of members of your family or just a few? What food do you eat and where do you get it from? Do you go hunting food in your back garden or is more likely that someone pops down to the shops? And children's lives, so what's your life like? Do you go to school? Do you play on the Xbox or the Nintendo? Do you watch TV? Do you play a sport? Do you run around outside a lot? Do you have rainforest animals for pets? (laughing) And don't forget to fill in the Awa people as well.

Have a go, come back, and we'll have a look at one that I've had a go at as well.

How did you get on? So when I was looking at the surrounding environment, I said that the Awa people live in the rainforest and it's very rural.

For me, I live in a town, which is urban.

For the homes, the shelters are made of leaves and branches.

They sleep in hammocks made of tree fibres, and there's no electricity for the Awa people.

For my own life, I live in a house made of bricks and concrete.

I sleep in a bed.

I have electricity, gas, and the internet, very lucky.

For food, the Awa people hunt and fish.

They pick fruit and they collect honey.

For my life, I buy food from the supermarket.

And then looking Awa people's children's lives, they don't go to school.

They help parents with chores.

They pick fruit, go swimming and play games.

And they're often named after rainforest plants and animals.

Whereas children where I live go to school.

They help their parents with chores most of the time.

And they play games and watch television.

And actually, you might have a dog or a cat or a hamster or a rabbit, something not a rainforest animal, as a pet.

So we've had a look at comparing settlements, what is life like for the Awa people.

Now we're going to have a look at how is life changing for the Awa people.

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

They have faced many challenges over the years, and their traditional ways of life continue to be threatened today.

What do you think these challenges are? Pause the video, collect some ideas as a class, and then we'll come back and have a look together.

How did you get on? Let's have a look, shall we? When the European settlers arrived in South America in the 15th century, they brought diseases with them, such as flu and smallpox, which people living in and outside of the Amazon rainforest hadn't been exposed to before.

Many people were moved from their land by these early settlers or forced into slavery.

Many people died because of warfare, the diseases that they brought over, or famine, which is a lack of food.

So those were some historical challenges.

Today, Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rainforest are threatened by other people looking to take their land.

Many of these people are illegal loggers who want to grab areas of the rainforest to cut down the trees and sell the wood.

Deforestation is also a threat.

Deforestation means the complete removal of trees from the forest.

And causes of deforestation include: logging, so you're cutting down the wood to sell, maybe to build furniture or make paper, cattle ranching, you need to cut down the trees so that you have areas of grassland where your cattle can roam and eat, and you need quite a lot of it, plantations, so cutting down the natural forest and just planting a lot of one tree or one shrub, for example, Brazil nut trees or palm oil trees, and also wildfires.

They just come through and burn all the forest away.

Climate change is also affecting the lives of Indigenous peoples living in the rainforest.

Increasing temperatures and unpredictable rainfall affects the rainforest and can make it difficult to grow food.

Natural events, such as wildfires and flooding, are happening more frequently.

So let's have a think.

Name one of the challenges Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rainforest face.

I want you to tell your talk partner and then come back and we'll check our answers.

How did you get on? You could've said logging, cattle ranching, plantations, wildflowers, wildfires, sorry, (laughing) not wildflowers, and climate change.

Well done if those were some of your answers.

Very few Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest still manage to live their traditional lifestyles.

Most people live more modern lifestyles that have been influenced by the outside world.

How do you think their lifestyles might have changed? Pause the video, collect some ideas as a class, and then come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? Let's have a look together, shall we? Possible changes include: where people live, the work people do, people's clothes and possessions, leisure activities, access to electricity and the internet.

What do you think might be the positive and negative consequences of these changes? Pause the video, collect your answers as a class, and then come back.

How did you get on? Let's just do a little check before your next task.

So true or false? Most Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest live a traditional lifestyle in isolated groups.

True or false? And then, as usual, I want you to justify your answer with either A, the lifestyles of most Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest have been influenced by the outside world, or B, most Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest have no contact at all with the outside world.

So true or false and then pick A or B to justify your answer.

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

How did you get on? If you said it was false, that most Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest live a traditional lifestyle in isolated groups, because A, the lifestyles of most Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest have been influenced by the outside world, you would be correct.

Well done.

So task three today.

You're going to think about how life is changing for the Awa people and what the possible positive and negative consequences of these changes might be.

And you're going to record your ideas in the table.

So you're going to have a think of what the positive consequences are, so good, and the negative consequences, so the bad ones.

You might have differing ideas with some of your classmates.

So make sure you can justify your answers.

Pause the video, come back when you're done, and we'll have a look at one I did.

How did you get on? So some positive consequences I thought of was that there might be better job opportunities.

They might have better access to electricity and the internet.

And they might have increased access to hospitals and schools.

And some negative consequences I thought of: people might be forced to leave their land, family, and friends.

Their lifestyles might become less sustainable.

And there might be a loss of Indigenous knowledge about the Amazon rainforest.

I'm sure you came up with lots more as well, though.

So the summary of today's lesson about people of the Amazon rainforest.

Different types of settlements are located in the Amazon rainforest.

There are similarities and differences between lifestyles in the Amazon rainforest and the UK.

And there are a variety of challenges facing the Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rainforest.

Well done on all your hard work today.

You were definitely really, really, really good geographers today, weren't you? You were making observations, comparisons, and thinking about positive and negative effects.

I also find it really interesting to learn about how different people live all around the world.

So I hope you had fun.

Really well done again on your fantastic listening and hard work, and I will see you again soon in the next lesson.

Don't forget to do your exit quiz, just to see if you need to recap anything from today's lesson before we go again.

All right then, bye.