World Cultures 11

Unit Latin America

Name:________________________
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.
The first word that comes to mind when seeing the Amazon Rainforest is huge. This comes to mind because it
seems like a very big, never ending place with a lot of different nature inside of it. It is very beautiful and full of
beautiful things.
2. Click on Overview and review the information, including the visuals. List the 8 nations that the
Amazon rainforest is located in.
- Brazil
- Colombia
-

Bolivia

- Venezuela

Peru

-Guyana

Ecuador

- Suriname and French Guiana

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?
- Latitude
- Rainfall
-

Local Soil

- Prevailing Temperatures

4. What makes rainforests special?

Forests are essential for life on earth, and three hundred million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6
billion depend on them for their livelihoods.
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 to 50 million square miles of forests are lost each year.
b. Amazon lost 17% of its forest 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 around the world depend on forests for hunting
b. Forests provide a vast array of resources to people.
c. Forest trees soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it away as they grow and
thrive.
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
Tiger

Description
Tiger numbers are at an all-time low, we have lost 97% of tigers just over a
century. They are the largest of all the Asian big cats and typically rely on sound
and sight rather than smell. A tiger can consume up to 88 pounds of meat at one

Polar Bear

time.
They spend most of their lives on the sea ice of the artic ocean. They have a thick
layer of body fat and a water repellant coat. Polar bears spend over 50% of their

Giant Panda

life time hunting for food.

Giant pandas are the rarest members of the bear family. They live in bamboo
forests high in the mountains of China. They must eat from 26 to 84 pounds of

bamboo everyday.
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 rainforest is home to 1 million Indians and are divided into 400 tribes with their own language,
culture, and territory. Most Indians live in settled villages by the river, and grow vegetables.
9. To what extent have they had contact with outsiders? Explain your response.
Many have had contact with outsiders for almost 500 years and others, who are called the uncontacted
tribes have had no contact with others at all.
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 life: I live in a house on a street, my food is bought at a food store, my family has ownership to our
house and the land on our house, and I do not rely on hunting and gathering food and materials because I
buy the things I need at stores.
People of the Amazon: Live in villages by rivers, hunt for their food, has problems with others over the
ownership of land, Grow their own vegetables.

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.
Land rights are so important to the people in the Amazon tribes, this is because they need access to their
own food and materials. The problem with land is that either outsiders want to take ownership of their land

or something underneath it. The key threats are massive bomb in oil and gas exploration and the rapid
spread of ranching and farming. A solution to this would be if people were not using their materials.
12. Do you think most Americans agree with the viewpoint expressed by the woman in the video clip? Explain.
Yes, I think this because the women in the video clip because she explains that materials and valuable things
to them that they need for survival are limited in different parts of the Amazon rainforest.
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
This is when people to cut down trees and
A possible solution to the problem of

Mining/Drilling

take from the rainforest. When trees are cut

deforestation would be to stop cutting down

down in the rainforest it takes away the

trees. There is recycling for a reason and

most important thing which is oxygen. In

that should be put to use, instead of

result if this does not stop there will be no

constantly taking away trees and forgetting

oxygen and the people will die.

Mining and drilling causes the use of more

about trees importance.

A possible solution could be to put other

valuable materials. When they put important materials to use that do not come from the

Crime

materials to use it is taking away from

rainforest. The people doing the harm need

peoples needs. This can cause the

to take into consideration the destruction

rainforests to run out of important materials.

Many casualties of innocent people like

that this causes to the rainforest.

A solution to this problem would be to get

taking away things that are theirs. When

rid of the cartel. If the cartel was not in use

taking away something that is someone

these problems would not be occurring and

elses it is stealing.

less crime would come about.

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?
The challenges that the rainforest faced was Brazil placing a 300 million dollar stadium. This is an issue
because rain occurs a lot in the rainforest and this could cause an effect in the soccer games.
15. How did the regions emphasis on environmental protection influence the stadium project?
The regions emphasis helped because it caused them to think harder about how much the rainforest helps so
many, so why wouldnt they treat the rainforests better?