Changing Forests
Provided by: Google Earth|Published on: April 27, 2021
Grades: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Type: Articles/Websites
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Geography
Authors: Google Earth
Region: Africa, Asia, North America, South and Central America, USA - South, United States, Global, Alabama
Languages: English
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This Google Earth voyage takes students on an interactive trip to see forests around the world, showcasing the impacts of human activity throughout the years.
- The resource provides information on deforestation, land use change, mitigation efforts, and supplemental links for further learning.
- Students will learn about changing forests in Bolivia, Tanzania, Brazil, Indonesia, China, and Alabama.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- Many of the stops on the voyage provide time-lapse Google Earth footage of forests throughout the world.
- Each of the stops on the voyage is accompanied by photographs and written descriptions of the location.
Prerequisites
- Students should be comfortable with technology and navigating Google Earth.
- Younger students can be guided through the trip as a whole class activity.
- Students should be familiar with vocabulary words like deforestation, fossil fuels, palm oil, and biodiversity.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Social studies teachers can use this resource as a cooperative learning activity with pairs of students observing and writing about each location.
- Elementary classes can view the resource as a class with students using a graphic organizer to record the name of the forest, where it is located, what is happening to it, and why.
- To make connections to climate change, teachers can stress the importance of trees in carbon sequestration.
Students can explore this resource to visualize and gain knowledge on changes in forest cover as a result of deforestation and continued farm extensification. The resource shows changing forests over a 35-year span (1985-2020) and datasets generated from google earth are accurate. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
