Exploring Our World: People, Places, and Cultures

"The Amazon River"

Introduction
In this chapter you have read about the geography of Latin America and its diverse physical features, including its many waterways. The world’s second longest river, the Amazon, serves as a transportation route and helps sustain more than one-third of all species in the world. On this Web site, you will learn that the Amazon River runs through a fragile, threatened ecosystem.

Destination Title: World Wildlife Organization: Amazon

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Directions
Start at the World Wildlife Organization: Amazon Web site.

• On the left side, click on the Facts link.

Read the bullet points, and then answer the following questions.

1			What is the world’s largest water basin?
2			How many gallons of water does the Amazon River pour into the Atlantic Ocean every second?
3			Click on About the Region. Read both Rain Forest and Amazon River Basin to answer the next two questions. Why are more than one-third of the world’s plant and animal species able to live in the Amazon rain forest?
4			How do floodwaters from the Amazon River help the tropical rain forest and species that live there?
5			Click on Conservation Results. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on WWF Helps Establish Amazonas Protected Areas. Read this page. Using the information, create a map of the Amazon region and the Amazon River on a poster. Outline the size of the region that has been lost over the last three years to deforestation. Attach pictures from magazines to identify different species of plants and animals that would become extinct if the rain forest were destroyed. Write a paragraph explaining what is being done to protect the region and why. Attach to the poster.