Teacher Notes
Deforestation > Print/View All Notes
Students will explore the importance of rainforest trees in this activity and will consider the effects of deforestation on different rainforest animals.
Assist students with playing the video. Once they click the video link, they will need to click View. Alternatively, you may project the video on a screen for the whole class to view at once. After students have viewed the video, ensure that they understand the meaning of the term deforestation. Also discuss with students the causes of deforestation. Drought, forest fire and disease can kill trees naturally, but most deforestation is caused by humans who burn or cut down the rainforest so that they can use the land for farming, mining or ranching.
Help students to brainstorm about how the animals they have been studying depend on trees for their survival, and how they might be affected by deforestation. You may prompt them with some of the following questions:
- How do hummingbirds depend on trees? (Hummingbirds build nests in trees and use tree leaves for shelter. They also drink nectar from flowers that grow on trees, and they eat bugs that depend on trees for food.)
- How do tapirs depend on trees? (Tapirs eat tree leaves and sometimes use areas with small trees or thick shrubs for shelter.)
- How do red-eyed tree frogs depend on trees? (Red-eyed tree frogs live in trees, use tree leaves for shelter, and eat bugs that depend on trees for food.)
- How do leafcutter ants depend on trees? (Leafcutter ants use tree leaves to grow fungus, their only food source.)
- How do toucans depend on trees? (Toucans live in holes in trees, and eat fruit that grows on trees.)
- How do capuchin monkeys depend on trees? (Capuchin monkeys live in trees and use tree leaves for shelter. They also eat fruit that grows on trees, and eat other animals that depend on trees for food.)
