How to use this resource...

Our Forest, Our Future helps teachers and pupils to explore the interdependence of people and forests and the vital role forests play in sustaining our environment – in the past, the present and hopefully the future.

The Scots Pine forests in Scotland and the Congo Basin rainforest in Africa provide case studies through which pupils will begin to understand why our forests are under threat and the implications for our planet. Further information about these forests is provided in the following documents.

In making connections between consumerism, people and the environment, pupils will be encouraged to see how they and their actions have an impact on the lives of others globally. It encourages reflection on the possible futures of the world's forests and ways of taking positive actions for a future where people and forests co-exist in a sustainable way.

The resource is structured around a global citizenship framework devised by Oxfam.

The reflection and evaluation sections in each activity support formative assessment and ongoing monitoring of pupils learning.

Additional assessment opportunities are indicated by...

Outdoor learning opportunities are indicated by...

Homework activities are indicated by...

Taking Action for Change

Education for Global Citizenship is committed to enabling pupils to bring about positive actions for change either locally or globally. This process should support pupils to make their own informed choices through a critical evaluation of the options open to them and the possible implications of those choices.

Throughout the resource there are ideas for possible actions, such as reflecting on our power as consumers, peer education and tree planting. Your pupils themselves should be encouraged to think creatively about the many actions they could take, critically evaluate the impact these actions might have and then evaluate what they have done.

The materials below support your pupils through this process.

> Making connections

3. Where are the world's rainforests?

What you need:

Atlas
Copies of world map per pair [pdf]

Aims

To find out where the world's main rainforests forests are located

To challenge the pupils images about the locations and size of the world's tropical rainforests

What to do

Ask the pupils to imagine that all the tropical rainforest in the world is represented by 100 trees. Therefore each tree represents 1% of the total amount of rainforest in the world.

Using the atlas and world map, pupils need to mark on the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator. Elicit from the pupils that the tropical rainforests are found between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Working in pairs, invite the pupils to distribute the 100 trees throughout the world estimating relative size of rainforest. Emphasise the total number of trees must add up to 100.

Invite comment from the pupils on their estimates for each continent. Reveal the actual figures:

Brazil 33%
Rest of South America 25%
Indonesia 10%
Rest of SE Asia 13%
Democratic Republic of Congo 10%
Rest of Africa 9%

Ask pupils to find and label Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia on their maps. Explain that we will be looking mainly at the Congo Basin rainforest and using their atlas they can add the other countries of the Congo Basin where the African rainforest can be found. (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon)

Teacher prompts For Reflection and evaluation

Are pupils surprised about where in the world there are rainforests? Where did they previously think rainforests were?

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4