Topic title: Tropical Rainforests
Year group: 7
When taught: May to July
What are we learning?
· Biomes and Ecosystems including the location of Tropical Rainforests
· Structure of the rainforest and its climate
· Plant and animal adaptations in a Tropical Rainforest
· Causes of deforestation
· Impacts of deforestation
· Possible management strategies of Tropical Rainforests
Why is this important to know?
· Tropical Rainforests are a key biome or global scale ecosystem. They are vital to understanding global environmental systems and human-environment interactions, as a source of biodiversity and raw materials, as well as being important for regulating our climate and a home for indigenous people.
· They are an ecosystem that is also under threat by human actions, from deforestation for cattle ranching, mining and agriculture.
· Students look at how their actions as consumers might have far reaching consequences, through a focus on palm oil plantations and how this can have significant impacts on this vitally important ecosystem.
Where does this link into our past and future learning?
· This units makes links to the previous unit on sustainability, as we consider unsustainable human actions and their consequences on our planet.
· It also makes strong links to Biology and Science, with a focus on ecosystems, plant and animal adaptations and food webs. These are important concepts to introduce for further topics, including within the year 8 topics of Climate change and Coral Reefs, and Antarctica.
How will we be assessed on this topic?
· In class assessment, quizzes and homework tasks
What makes a strong piece of work in this topic? What are teachers hoping to see?
· Use of key terminology about the adaptations and structure of the rainforest, e.g. canopy, emergents, competition, photosynthesis
· Make links with your learning in Biology and Science, including on food webs, climate and adaptations
What key words are there in this topic?
What can I try if I want to stretch and challenge myself on this topic?
· Explore the links between the health of tropical rainforests and the health of our wider planet, thinking about their value in a range of spheres and range of scales, e.g. atmosphere, hydrosphere, global and local
· Research how successfully countries are managing their tropical rainforests around the world, including in Brazil, Malaysia and the Congo to look at the range of strategies with varying rates of success
What wider reading can be done on this topic?
Life on Earth by David Attenborough
The Incredible Ecosystems of Planet Earth by Rachel Ignotofsky
