Geography

Rainforest supermarketThe Amazon is not just a beautiful, far-off tropical rainforest. It’s also a source of everyday items we rely on. Can you recognise any of these?

© RICHARD STONEHOUSE / WWF-UK

© SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Rainforest supermarket

ALL IMAGES © SHUTTERSTOCK EXCEPT BRAZIL NUTS © MICHEL GUNTHER/WWF CANON

Rainforest supermarket

ALL IMAGES © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Rainforest supermarket

Unfortunately, some products are grown in the rainforest in a way that causes harm to the people and animals that live there. You and your family can make a difference by choosing showing one or more of the following labels. 

Cacao (Theobroma cacao)

The cacao tree is an evergreen tree that grows to 7m tall.

The 30cm long cacao pods grow directly from its trunk.

Each pod contains 20 to 60 reddish-brown cocoa beans up to 2.5cm long, which are processed to make chocolate.

© ZIG KOCH / WWF

Harvesting the pods

The pods are harvested by the people of the rainforest. They must be careful not to damage the tree when they cut down the pods.

© GETTY IMAGES

Fermenting and drying the beans

The pods are split open and the cocoa beans and fleshy pulp are scraped out and wrapped up in banana leaves.

Then the beans are left in the sun for a week until the pulp turns to liquid and drains away leaving just the beans.

Then the beans are left to dry.

© SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Beans are shipped to Europe for processing

After 12 days the beans are bagged up and taken by road to the city where they can be shipped to Europe.

The beans are sorted and cleaned, then roasted at a very high temperature, before being crushed and ground into cocoa mass.

© SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Making chocolate

The cocoa mass is then pressed until cocoa butter is squeezed out, and can be separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

The cocoa powder can then be used in chocolate drinks, confectionary and cooking. The cocoa butter is mixed with milk and sugar to make chocolate.

© SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

The equatorThe equator is an imaginary line which divides the world in half.

The tropicsThe space between these lines is known as the tropics.

The tropicsThere is also another imaginary line above the equator called the Tropic of Cancer and one below called the Tropic of Capricorn.

The tropicsThe tropics are on the roundest part of the Earth.

This means that the sun’s rays fall on them most of the time (except at night).

This makes them very hot.

The tropics

Because it is so hot, lots of water evaporates from the seas and rivers in this area and turns into clouds. This means that there is also lots of rain in the tropics.

The tropics

Tropical rainforests need lots of heat and rain to survive so all of the tropical rainforests can be found in this band around the equator.

© ZIG KOCH / WWF

Rainforest at home

Did you know that many of the products we use everyday and have in our homes contain products from the rainforest?

Rainforest at home

For example….

• Rubber

• Lipstick

• Pineapples

• Furniture

Rainforest at home

Rubber

Rubber (which we use in tyres and many other items) originates from a tree that grows wild in the Amazon rainforest. These days, most of the rubber we use comes from plantations or from synthetics. But they would not have existed without this amazing Amazonian plant.

Rainforest at homeLipstick

Lipstick and many other beauty products contain products like dyes and oils which are harvested from the Amazon.

Rainforest at homeFruits

Many of the delicious fruits which we enjoy like pineapples and bananas are grown in the Amazon!

© GREG ARMFIELD / WWF-UK

Rainforest at homeFurniture

Unfortunately some furniture is still being made from trees which are cut down unsustainably from the Amazon and other threatened forests.

You can make sure you avoid products like these by only buying furniture which is FSC certified. FSC means the wood has been harvested in a way that is good for the forest and for workers.

WeatherWeather is used to describe the conditions which a place is experiencing.

For example:• The temperature• Precipitation (if it is raining,

snowing, sleeting)• Wind

These factors can change minute by minute, day by day.

© GREG ARMFIELD / WWF-UK

ClimateClimate is the average weather which a place normally experiences.

The climate is different across the world and can be affected by lots of different things.

For example:• How high the place is• Where it is on the earth• Whether it is close to, or far

away from, the sea

ClimateThe shape of the world has a big effect on climate.

Because the Earth is a globe the middle parts get much more of the sun’s direct rays that the parts at the top and bottom.

This means that countries around the centre of the earth can get much hotter than those at the top and bottom.

ClimateThe charts on your worksheet show you the average temperature and amount of rainfall which three destinations get over one year.

Look at the charts and make some notes on the climate of each place.

Now use your detective skills to work out where each destination is on the map.

AnswersThe answers to the questions on worksheet 6 are…

• Destination A: Manaus, Brazil

• Destination B: London, UK

• Destination C: Reykjavik, Iceland

Conscience alley

Logging can provide an important source of income to the people and governments of the Amazon countries.

But it is crucial that logging is done sustainably to protect the forest and the people and animals which live in the Amazon.

Conscience alleyGovernments play an important role.

They need to set good standards for the environment and working conditions. And they need to ensure that logging companies stick to the rules and punish those that do not.

Conscience alleyBut we can also make a difference by making sure to only buy paper or wood products which are FSC certified.

By tackling illegal logging we can make the best use of the Amazon’s resources without destroying the rainforest for future generations.