World Cultures 11

Unit Latin America

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Block:_______
The Amazon Rainforest Internet Assignment

Purpose: This assignments goal is to expose you to basic facts about the Amazon rainforest as well as
introduce you to some of the wildlife and people that live inside it. You will also understand how the rainforest
affects the nations and people of South America and how it is facing unique challenges in the modern world.
Part I (Overview): Use www.worldwildlife.org/places/amazon and follow the directions carefully to
complete this assignment.
1. Review the photograph. Choose one descriptive word (adjective) that comes to mind and explain how it
relates to the image.
Tranquil: the animals look like their happy grazing amongst the pasture.
2. Click on Overview and review the information, including the visuals. List the 8 nations that the
Amazon rainforest is located in.
- Brazil
- Peru
-

Bolivia

- Ecuador

Venezuela

- Guyana

Colombia

- Suriname

3. Click on Forest Habitat and review the information there, including the visuals. A forest can vary based
on several factors. What are these four factors?
- Rainfall
- Temperatures
-

Latitude

- Local Soil

4. What makes rainforests special?

It is the most biologically diverse place on the earth.
5. Worldwide, how quickly is deforestation occurring? How quickly is it occurring in the Amazon? Use
statistics from the reading to explain your answer.
a. Worldwide 46-58 million square miles a year
b.

Amazon lost 17% of its rainforest cover in the last half century

6. Scroll down to the Why They Matter section. Scroll through the three images and review the captions.
List and explain why rainforests matter.
a. People depend on the forest for medicine, hunting, gathering, and products.
b.

The forest trees store carbon dioxide away.

c.

Holds 80% of the worlds known species and plants. And home to more species than any other
terrestrial habitat.

7. Return to the main page (www.worldwildlife.org/places/amazon) and scroll down to the Species section.
Choose three animals found in the Amazon and describe them in the chart.
Animal
Description
Kangaroo
Chestnut hair coat and pale belly. Small tree kangaroos that are located at lowland
and mountainous rainforests in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the far
north of Queensland, Australia. Species population is slowly decreasing.

Animal
Chimpanzee

Description
Social animals who care for their own offspring and live to be over 50. They
spend most of their day in the treetops, but when their down on the ground they
use all fours.
Amur Leopard
Incredibly fast animal can run up to 37 mph. and can jump 10 feet vertically and
19 feet horizontally. Live up to 10-15 years. And has been reported that some
male leopards stay with females after mating. And even help with the young.
Part II (Native Peoples): Use www.survivalinternational.org/about/amazontribes to learn about the native
peoples of the Amazon rainforest.
8. How many people live in the Amazon rainforest, and how are they organized?
The amazon had one million Indians. And they are organized into 400 different tribes.
9. To what extent have they had contact with outsiders? Explain your response.
Many of the tribes have had contact with the outside for over 500 years. Other tribes havent had contact at all
with the outside world.
10. Create a t-chart that compares and contrasts your daily life with that of the people of the Amazon. Include
at least four points of comparison.
My Daily Life
Daily Life in the Amazon
I go to the grocery store for my food.
They grow vegetables and fruits. They also hunt and
fish for their food.
We own homes.
They own land.
My biggest problem is my school work.
Their biggest problem is deforestation.

11. Why are land rights so important to the Amazon tribes? Read the text and watch the video clip in the Land
= Life section to answer this question.
The tribes receive more respect when they have the lands that thrive so its important that they have rights to
protect them from other people taking it away from them.
12. Do you think most Americans agree with the viewpoint expressed by the woman in the video clip? Explain.

Part III (Current Challenges): Use www.theguardian.com/environment/amazon-rainforest to research

some of the current challenges facing the Amazon rainforest. Please be mature in handling photographs of
native people, as their dress is quite different from ours!
13. Choose articles that interest you about each of the topics in the chart. Read them and complete the chart.
Challenge
Impact (2 sentences)
Possible Solutions (2 sentences)
Deforestation
Ezequiel Antnio Castanha is being Government should keep a better eye on
accused for being the number one
people destroying the Amazon. And have a
component for destroying the
specific amount of land that could be torn
Amazon. From august 2013 to July
2014 he apparently destroyed and
down within each year.
torn down 1,870 square miles of

the Amazon. He is now being

detained for it and can face up to
46 years in prison.
Mining/Drilling

Crime

Oil companies go up and down many of the

rivers in the Amazon. And recently it has
become a problem. Some of the tribes that
live in the Amazon specifically the Kichwa
tribe have been standing at the Tigre river
ever day protesting about the pollution the
oil companies have created.
Many tribes live in the amazons. And one of
the tribes attacked and raided another tribes
area. Over 200 men came in with bow and
arrows. And they raided and attacked their
village. The government now has them
under protection. But they took all their
food.

Have oil companies take care of the

pollution they create. Have the oil
companies not be allowed to use those same
routes as they usually do until the pollution
situation is fixed.
Government should keep them under
protection for a while. Also help supply
them to food. And get back to their daily
lives.

14. Go to edition.cnn.com/2013/07/25/sport/football/football-brazil-world-cup-manaus/index.html and

review the article there. What challenges did the rainforest pose for Brazil in its efforts to prepare for the
2014 World Cup?
They faced many challenges about completing the stadium on time. Because of where the stadium is located
so close to the amazons they get the rainy season in December. So they were rushing to finish the stadium
before. So they started building some of its parts in other places. Such as Portugal or south Brazil.

15. How did the regions emphasis on environmental protection influence the stadium project?