UNESCO resource kit - science and technology educa...

Outline of the modules (continued)
9 Forests for the future (continued)
10 Tropical rain forests
In this module, students are asked to:
• become familiar with key features of tropical
rain forests through interpreting data presented
in the form of a map, an illustration
and bar-graphs;
• select and use information about the rate,
causes and some effects of the destruction of
tropical rain forests;
• interpret information about the impact of
tropical rainforests (and of their destruction)
on the Earth's atmosphere and to relate the
likely effect of this to a simple" greenhouse"
experiment;
• reconcile differing points of view to reach a
balanced judgement regarding an appropriate
policy for the remaining tropical rain forest.
11 Wood as a fuel
In this module, students are asked to:
• interpret textual information about the reasons
for the fire-wood crisis in many countries
despite wood being a renewable fuel;
• suggest possible solutions to the firewood
crisis;
• interpret and evaluate data about ways of
making cheap, efficient and acceptable
alternatives to the traditional fires used for
cooking;
• make a simple stove and compare its efficiency
with that of a traditional fire.
Finnish laws governing forestry are aimed at
achieving sustainable management and use of the
forests. Thisinvolves the stewardship and use of
the forests which will maintain their biodiversity,
vitality and productivity into the future. ~his
module is designed to help students to gam an
appreciation of these ideas and some of the
problems associated with achieving them.
The first page sets the scene; after this, you may
wish to select particular pages from the module to
make up your own sequence of activities relating to
the study of a local forest. Groups of students
could be set different tasks: investigating the forest's
biodiversity, microclimates, soil types, tree density
and so on. Then each group could report back to
the class and a joint report produced.
The module begins by providing students with an
opportunity - via the interpretation of visual~y .
presented information - to acquire an appreciation
of what tropical rain forests are like and where they
are found. They then study written information
about why these forests are under threat and the
effect of their destruction on soil erosion and
bio-diversity. The effects of tropical rain fores~s (~nd
of their destruction) on atmospheric carbon dioxide
levels are then explored and a simple experiment
undertaken to show the likely effect of this. Finally,
students use information from all the earlier
sections of the module, together with additional
information and points of view to decide -
individually or via group discussion/debate - an
appropriate policy regarding tropical rain forests.
The module begins with information about the
importance of wood as a fuel for billions of people
and about why this energy source, though
renewable, is not at present sustainable. After brainstorming
and then discussing possible solutions to
the problem, students are provided with information,
via text and diagrams, about a partial solution to the
problem - replacing inefficient 3-stone fires with
more efficient stoves - and asked to interpret and
evaluate this information. Finally, students are given
guidelines for making a stove - full-scale or, n:or:
probably as a working scale model - and for finding
out how much less fuel it needs than an "open" fire
to do the same job.