2. Starter
• Watch the video clip and try to come up
with as many problems as you can see
– Here
– Here
3. Lesson Objectives
• To know there are several conflicts in
the tropical rainforest
• To understand why these problems
exist
• To develop an opinion on each issue
4. Who uses the Amazon?
Miners, wanting to extract
minerals, such as bauxite.
Loggers, who gain a high
price for timber like
mahogany.
Commercial farmers, wanting
land to grow crops, like soya.
Cattle ranchers, who need
areas for their cattle to
graze.
6. Mining for gold and bauxite
The mining industry is very
important to the expansion
of the Brazilian economy.
But miners have caused
damage to the rainforest by
cutting down large areas of
forest and using chemicals to
extract metals from the
ground.
Mercury is a poisonous chemical
used to purify gold which gets into
rivers and soils.
8. Accessing the Amazon
The construction of the 5,000 km TransAmazonian Highway
began in the 1970s but some sections are still not paved.
9. Slash and burn agriculture
Slash and burn is a technique used to clear rainforest and
provide land for settlement, crops and ranching.
This causes large areas
of land to be deforested.
Without a cover of trees,
the soil becomes worn out
and washed away by rain.
Eventually, it becomes
difficult to grow crops
and either fertilizers
must be used or a new
area must be cleared.
10. Task – Use pg 52 if needed
• Create the following table in your books
Problem Advantages Disadvantages My opinion
description
