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Meet the people who have called the Amazon rainforest home for centuries. Learn about the threats facing all who live there and how everyone can help overcome these challenges.

Video length: 15:06 minutes.

Learning Resources with this Video*

Quiz – PDF

National Standards

*Links are active on Full Video page.

Learning Resources

Quiz – PDF

Quiz – Answer Key

Quiz – Online

A Day in the Amazon Rainforest Writing Prompt

Rainforest Reflection – Writing Prompt

Rainforest Threats Vocabulary Worksheet

Rainforest Threats Vocabulary Worksheet – Answer Key

Cultivating Change: The Human Impact on Rainforests

Draw a Scene

Universal Resources

National Standards

*Links are active on Full Video page.

Classroom Ideas

Amazon Rainforest: People & Threats

Homes Around the World

Compare/contrast houses and other structures from various countries, e.g. rainforest inhabitants’ homes vs. bohios in Cuba.

Explore Vocabulary

Identify key vocabulary terms while previewing each video. Prompt students to find the meaning of each word as they watch the video. Example: What does the word deforestation mean? Think about the meaning of each word as you watch the video about the Amazon Rainforest.

Save the Rainforest Campaign

Students can create a mock campaign to conserve the Amazon Rainforest and its important resources. This could include a campaign poster design, slideshow, persuasive speech presentation, etc.

Human Impact

Have students research how the Amazon Rainforest is changing due to human activity and create a poster to illustrate a solution to a problem there (e.g. deforestation destroys species habitats).

Ecotourism Conversation

Discuss ecotourism with students and talk about the pros and cons of it in regards to the Amazon Rainforest.

Compare and Contrast Resources

Compare and contrast renewable resources in the Amazon Rainforest and the United States.

Rainforest Food

Bring food that can be found in the Amazon Rainforest (bananas, tea, mango, pineapple, avocados, yams, etc.) and let students sample them. Discuss how these products can impact those that live in the Amazon Rainforest as well as those that purchase from them.

Diorama

Create a diorama of the Rainforest.

Rainforest Game

Ask students to make up a board game that demonstrates life in the rainforest. If the students work in groups, they can describe/demonstrate their game in front of the rest of the class.

Webquest

Create a webquest on the indigenous people of the Amazon and the threats facing them. Students will work in pairs or small groups to complete the webquest, and then present their results.

Trees in the Amazon and at Home

On the basis of what students learn about the amazingly old and tall trees of the Amazon, ask them to think of any trees around where they live or near their school. Ask them to think about the ways in which that tree is important in the ecosystem, for example – as a means of building dugout canoes for transportation.

Transportation Around the World

Compare/contrast various modes of transportation in different countries (dugout canoes in the Rainforest vs. Japanese subways vs. classic cars in Cuba)

Conservation

Prompt students to write a report about how people can conserve natural resources and eliminate threats to endangered species and populations.

Art and Social Studies

Draw a scene from the video you just watched.

Writing Topic

Write a paper on how the indigenous people rely on the Amazon Rainforest and the natural resources it provides.

Rainforest Journal

Have students write a diary or a story about traveling the Amazon Rainforest and discuss what they “saw” and experienced during their trip.

Ecotourism Debate

Create 2 debate teams – one team in favour of ecotourism, the other against. Students can use the video as part of their evidence in a debate, e.g. for/against ecotourism.

Biome Comparison

Compare the rainforest and another habitat.

Compare differences and similarities.

Compare the characteristics of each ecosystem.

Write a 3 paragraph paper discussing the similarities and differences of the two.

Writing

What was your favorite part of the video? What do you think is the best thing about living in the Amazon Rainforest? Why?

The Amazon Rainforest in Action

In groups, students could come up with and put on plays in which they play an indigenous child living in the Amazon Rainforest. At the beginning of the play, students will individually introduce themselves as their chosen character, giving the class information on life in the rainforest.

A Day in the Amazon Rainforest

Students write a story about an imaginary day in the Amazon, talking about the weather, plants, animals, and humans they might encounter. Reflect on how the rainforest is different from the ecosystem in which you live and go to school.

Classroom Ideas for ALL Videos

Here are dozens and dozens of ideas that you can use in your classroom along with our videos!

More ideas

Topics Covered In This Video

Daily activities in the Amazon Rainforest

Hunting, fishing & crops

Costumes & clothing

Housing & transportation

Medicine, food & products in the rainforest

Threats

Deforestation & damage

Extinction

Solutions

What you can do

Ecotourism

Amazon Rainforest: People & Threats – Grades 6 – 9 – Closed Captioned