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Upper Key Stage 2 Comparing People and Places
Amazon Basin

Study the Amazon Basin in South America. Become environmental scientists as you explore this resource-rich environment, investigating the impact of human activity on the natural resources and communities of the region. Use mathematical measures and analysis to create a report on land use, cultural vulnerabilities, environmental impact and economic trade, for presentation at your own Earth summit.

Session 1 The Amazon Basin in numbers

Objectives

Geography

  • Locate the Amazon Basin within South America, concentrating on its key physical and human characteristics, and major cities.
  • Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography in the Amazon Basin.
  • Describe and understand key aspects of physical and human geography.
  • Use maps and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied.

Maths

  • Construct, read and interpret information in tables, pie charts and line graphs and use these to solve problems.

Lesson Planning

Journey along the great Amazon River into the Amazon Basin and use maps, satellite images and film to create a narrative about the region. Learn about the region through numbers and create a geographical infographic poster.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To explore the climate zones, rivers, biomes and vegetation belts of the Amazon Basin.
  • To interpret, analyse and represent data to identify trends.

Children will:

  • Travel to the Amazon Basin and experience it as an environment from maps, satellite images and film.
  • Become environmental scientists and analyse physical and human geography statistics and present them in graphical form.
  • Create an ‘Amazon Basin in numbers’ poster.

Provided Resources

  • Exploring the Amazon, covering: Region clues, Map of the world, Maps, Editorial guidelines, Data tables (vegetation, animals, climate, O2 production)
  • Examples of infographics

You Will Need

  • Access to the Internet
  • Rainforest products (see list in resources)
  • Calculators

Session 2 Economics and trade in the Amazon Basin

Objectives

Geography

  • Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography in the Amazon Basin.
  • Describe and understand human and physical geography.
  • Use maps and digital/computer mapping to describe features studied.

Maths

  • Solve comparison, sum and difference problems through reading and interpreting information in tables, pie charts and line graphs.
  • Calculate and interpret the mean as an average; estimate the area of irregular shapes.
  • Use all four operations to solve problems involving measure using decimal notation, including scaling.
  • Use, read, write and convert between standard units.

Lesson Planning

Start preparing for your own Earth Summit by analysing data about the land use, trade and economics of the Amazon Basin. Get to grips with contrasting arguments about the uses of local resources and develop your own informed opinion.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To explore trade and natural resources in the Amazon Basin.
  • To analyse land use and forms of trade in the Amazon Basin.

Children will:

  • Examine contrasting accounts of the Amazon Basin and its trade and economic uses.
  • Run a series of analysis meetings, looking at charts and graphs depicting the trade and economics of the Amazon Basin.
  • Use maps and area formulas to help calculate changes in Amazon Basin land use over a period of 30 years.

You Will Need

You do not need any particular resources for this session.

Session 3 Earth Summit: the Amazon Basin

Objectives

Geography

  • Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography in the Amazon Basin.
  • Describe and understand human and physical geography; use maps and digital/computer mapping to describe features studied.

Computing

  • Select, use and combine a variety of software on a digital device to design and create content that collects, analyses, evaluates and presents data and information

Lesson Planning

Create your final Earth Summit report using data and information gleaned and analysed over the past two sessions. Have a go at creating computer generated graphic representations of data and put together a ‘report findings’ summary.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To create a report on the geographical impact of deforestation in the Amazon Basin.
  • To create graphic representation of data using selected/various software.

Children will:

  • Create a professional report in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, on the impact of economic and trade activities on the human and physical geography of the Amazon Basin.
  • Create online graphic representations of data to accompany an Earth Summit report.

You Will Need

  • Access to a computer or tablet with either Excel or another program/s for creating graphs/charts from data