In this activity, students will analyze two graphs that show the change in the annual loss of forests in Indonesia and Brazil.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The Educator Materials document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions.
The materials are available in English and Spanish.
Additional Prerequisites
The data is from 2000 to 2012, so the trends in deforestation are not up to date.
Students should know how to read a bar graph.
Differentiation
Social studies or civics classes could learn more about the policies that Brazil enacted to preserve forests. Students could discuss how the policies have changed and if similar policies could help preserve forests in other countries.
Biology classes could discuss how deforestation impacts biodiversity because of habitat loss.
There is no contradiction in the resource, the datasets used are accurate to estimate forest loss over time, but more recent data may show different trends. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-6 Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
HS-LS2-2 Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.13.9-12 Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)
Statistics & Probability: Interpreting Categorical & Quantitative Data (9-12)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.ID.C.7 Interpret the slope (rate of change) and the intercept (constant term) of a linear model in the context of the data.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.ID.C.9 Distinguish between correlation and causation.
World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (ACTFL)
Connections: Connect with other disciplines and acquire information and diverse perspectives in order to use the language to function in academic and career-related situations.
3.1 Making Connections: Learners build, reinforce, and expand their knowledge of other disciplines while using the language to develop critical thinking and to solve problems creatively.
