Every minute, an area of forest the size of dozens of football fields is cleared. Most of the living things in it have never been named.
Not started yet.
Students will name two dangerous effects of tropical deforestation, explain why the rain forest matters to the world and to the people who live there, and reason about a hard question with more than one side.
This lesson isn't an origins argument, so there's no sorting of observed against claimed. The one place where the lesson must stay fair is the book's You Decide question. Both sides are given their full weight and the student answers in the notebook, with no answer key.
The numbers are the 1994 book's own estimates, and the lesson says so.
Species diversity is the great variety of plants and animals, and a rain forest has more of it than almost anywhere. Cutting the forest destroys species before they've even been identified.
The people who live there and the people who depend on what the forest does for the air and weather have claims that pull in different directions, and the honest answer takes both seriously.
The comparison with football fields is added from the record. The book's own parts are the 50 acres a minute, the 15 percent of species identified, the estimate that a fourth of all species could be lost, the air and weather, the native people, the poor soil and the You Decide question.
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Before You Start
The words this lesson uses. Tap a card to see what it means, then come back to them whenever a question uses one.
Part One
Questions about the story you just read. Pick your answer straight off, or press Find it in the story if you would rather hunt for the sentence first.
Part Two
The word cards are at the top of this page. Look back at them as often as you need, then answer.