El Proyecto Day Three

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El Proyecto :  Los Mapas

01.30.03:  Las Selvas y Los Desiertos

El Objetivo: Today my team will construct los desiertos y las selvas de América Latina.

Paso Uno:    Los Desiertos

We are constructing the dos desiertos grandes of Mexico, and un desierto en América del Sur onto our maps.  Below you will read about the characteristics of los desiertos, but as a summary, los desiertos en América Latina are important for several reasons:

           

       *They are diverse regions, the only habitat in the word for many animal species.

       *They bring in tourists, and thus money and income, into Latin America.

       *They offer clues as to how earlier civilizations of Latin America lived.

                                               

Using the instructions given to you in class, build deserts on your map according to the drawings below.

Next, read the following information about los desiertos. You should be amazed by how different these desiertos are from what you experience in Carolina del Norte. Read carefully, and be prepared to answer a couple of questions.

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The Sonoran Desert

The Sonoran Desert is a land of stunning diversity—of ancient lava flows, shifting sand dunes, strange cacti, ephemeral waterways, unique native fish and frog populations, and a host of plant and animal life adapted to the extreme conditions of the desert.

The Sonoran Desert is also a fragile landscape and its biodiversity is under siege. In 1990 the region contained 6.9 million residents, nearly double the population size in 1970. By 2020 the population is expected to reach 12 million! As human population grows, native habitat is converted to cities and houses, scarce water resources are increasingly apportioned to human uses, and other growth-related impacts strain the viability of the region’s biodiversity.

 

                                                                                                            

http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/arizona/preserves/art7717.html

The Chihuahua Desert

Where on Earth can you find a grey whale in the middle of a desert lagoon? The answer lies in one of the largest and best-preserved deserts in Mexico, the Vizcaino and Magdalena deserts of Baja California. From the dry-hot sand dunes to volcanic mountain soils, the range of habitats here are very harsh and seemingly inhospitable. Yet an amazing diversity of life flourishes in this region. The Ojo de Liebre Lagoon in the central coastal area on the Pacific is a winter home to more than a million migrant ducks and geese and is a breeding area for migratory grey whales. From mountain sheep to burrowing owls, this region is home to over 400 species of plants, some 4 amphibians, more than 40 reptiles, over 190 birds and 69 mammals. It is also known for its high number of endemic bee species and numerous scorpions and spiders. And almost a quarter of all the plants in Baja California, from cacti that dominate the desert to thick-stemmed trees and shrubs in the rocky mountain soils, are found nowhere else on the planet.

WHERE                                                                                                             BIOME
Southern North America:                                                                                   Deserts and Xeric Shrublands

Baja California Peninsula in Mexico

SIZE                                                                                                            CONSERVATION STATUS
About 30,000 square miles (77,700 square kilometers) –                           Relatively Stable/Intact

Almost as big as South Carolina!

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/na/na1301.html

Please answer these questions on a separate sheet of paper! You may turn in one paper per group, but you should first copy these questions on your paper – then answer.

1. What does diversity (in los desiertos) mean?
2. Describe current problems that might cause destruction of los desiertos?
3. Write down three questions that you would ask if you had an opportunity to talk to a world’s expert on los desiertos de América Latina. 

Paso Dos:    Las Selvas

We will construct las dos selvas de América Latina on our maps. Picture the jungle. There are green plants on every single inch, and they are extremely large. Some of the largest leaves are easily as big as a person.  The climate is very humid – it rains almost every single day! Las selvas are extremely diverse regions, and offer some of the most unique animals, insects, and plants (which are often used as medicine) in the entire world. As you will read, las selvas are also home to a shrinking number of Native tribes or Indígenas, who (as we will learn) have a very different lifestyle than you or I.

Use the instructions given to you in class as well as the drawings below to construct las selvas. 

Next, read the following information about las selvas.. Again, you should be amazed by how different these selvas are from what you experience in Carolina del Norte. Read carefully, and be prepared to answer a couple of questions.

The Amazon

A canopy of green spreads over a 2,030,000 square mile ecosystem that includes the Amazon River Amazon Forest (the largest and densest rainforest in the world) and upwards of five million animal species.

Over 25,000 species of plants and more butterflies can be found here than anywhere else on the planet. There are also 170 Indian cultural groups living in the Amazon remnants of the 7 million who flourished there once but who have been reduced to no more than 200,000 today

The Amazon Basin is the planet's largest body of fresh water with 1100 tributaries 17 of which are more than 1000 miles long. Many of the tributaries begin in Colombia and Peru.

Recognized as the world’s greatest reserve of life form with the greatest biological accumulation of carbon on Earth the Amazon is one of the largest remaining contiguous tracts of nature on earth. The Amazon is the "lungs of the world."

http://gosouthamerica.about.com/library/namazon.htm

CENTRAL AMERICA

This region was once entirely covered with rainforest, but large areas have been cleared for cattle ranching and for sugar cane plantations. Like other major rainforests, the jungles and mangrove swamps of Central America contain many plants and animals found nowhere else.  Central America is famous for its large number of tropical birds, including many kinds of parrots.

http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/where.html

Please answer these questions on a separate sheet of paper! Use the same paper that has the answers for los desiertos, but copy these questions on your paper – then answer.

4. List three landforms, plants or animals that you could find in una selva, that you could not find in North Carolina.

5. The paragraphs above say that from the 7 million people who used to live in las selvas only 200,00 now remain. Stretch your mind, and write down at least 4 reasons to explain why this might be.  (Hint:  Think about why there are many fewer Native Americans living in the United States than there were before the explorers landed.)

6. Describe the weather in una selva.

7. Write down three questions that you would ask if you had an opportunity to talk to a world’s expert on las selvas.