This article details how soy and livestock production in South America is negatively impacting specific forest ecosystems on the continent.
Students will learn the specifics about the effects of soy farming in South America and the steps that have been (or could be) taken to limit deforestation.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article is incredibly detailed and features several charts and graphs to further illustrate the points in the text.
Students will be able to see the connection between agricultural expansion and deforestation with specific examples.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be able to read bar graphs and may benefit from looking at the interactive map of deforestation linked in the article to locate the areas discussed.
Access to the Internet is required to read the article.
Differentiation
Connections can be made in math classes using real-world data to strengthen their lessons about graphing, data analysis, or reading stacked bar graphs.
This resource is dense enough that it would work well for a jigsaw activity. Assign each section to a group of students and have them present their section to the class.
Science or social studies classes can use this article as an example of direct connections between human activities, deforestation, and climate change.
As an extension, have students use the interactive map resource linked in the article to explore deforestation in another country or region and then write a report or present their findings to the class.
Scientist Notes
This resource presents a broad analysis of the impact of soy production on forests across South America. Soy production can lead to the direct cutting of forests, but soy is often planted on recently deforested land that pastured cattle use for several years. This resource provides an in-depth look at a variety of biomes and nations all across South America. The most engaging feature of this resource is the link to the Global Forest Watch Interactive World Forest Map, which allows students to visualize how forests are shrinking and soy planted area is growing in sensitive ecosystems. This resource is informative, features several peer-reviewed sources for further study, and is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
HS-LS2-6 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.3.9-12 Analyze the ways in which incentives influence what is produced and distributed in a market system.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.6 Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, identifying important issues that remain unresolved.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.10 By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
