Knowledge Organiser

Knowledge Organiser Subject Area Year Term What is life like in the Geography 6 1 Amazon ? Key knowledge (e.g. timeline, people, Key vocabulary landmarks, facts etc.) A massive area of land that is separated from others by water or other natural A vast region that spans across nine Continent features. There are seven continents: countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, ( Africa, Asia, Europe, Australasia, North The Amazon Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname America, South America, Antarctica). and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France. An area of land drained by a river and its The largest river by discharge of water in River Basin tributaries—which is a freshwater stream the world, greater than the next seven that feeds into a larger stream or river. largest rivers combined. It is the second The Amazon longest river in the world, after The Nile and A type of habitat with mostly grasses, but River has the largest drainage basin in the world, Savannah also flowering plants and occasional shrubs about 7,050,000 square kilometers and or isolated trees. accounts for approximately one-fifth of the An area of land. All water that falls on the world's total river flow. Drainage watershed flows into one river. It can flow The Amazon The area home to the largest rainforest in Basin directly into the river or go through tribu- River Basin the world and covers 40% of South America. taries. The Amazon rainforest has a tropical An imaginary line around middle of the The Amazon climate, typical in areas close to the Equator Earth, halfway between the north and south Equator poles. It divides Earth into two equal parts: Climate (12 degrees north or south of the Equator). There are only two seasons; wet and dry. the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. The region consists of a variety of ecosystems including rainforests, seasonal Deciduous A forest composed mostly of trees that forests, deciduous forests, flooded forests Forest shed all their leaves each year. and savannahs. However, the region is most renowned for its rainforest, which covers Indigenous The first people to inhabit a region and form The Amazon most of the Amazon Basin. 5,500,000 people a community. Ecosystems square kilometers of the basin are covered by the rainforest, 60% of which is in Brazil. The meeting of two or more waterways. It The Amazon represents over half of the Confluence usually means the point where a smaller planet's remaining rainforests and has an river joins a more major river. estimated 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species. Fertilise To supply (soil or water) with mineral and The Amazon is home to an estimated 10% organic nutrients to aid the growth of of all species found on Earth. Scientists plants. The Amazon estimate that there are at least 40,000 plant Species species, 427 mammals, 1300 birds, 378 A forest with tall trees, a warm climate and high annual rainfall. In some rainforests it Rainforest reptiles, more than 400 amphibians and rains more than one inch nearly every day around 3000 freshwater fish . of the year. Key knowledge Key questions 1.Where is the Amazon ? The Amazon is also home to more than 30 The Amazon million people and about 9% is still made up Both the Amazon River and The Amazon Rainforest are People of indigenous people – 350 different ethnic groups, more than 60 of which still remain located in South America which is one of the 7 continents of the world and is located in the southern hemisphere. The Meeting of Waters is the confluence 2. What is the climate like in the Amazon? Manaus- between the Rio Negro, a river with dark water, and the sandy-coloured In general, tropical rainforests have hot and humid climates meeting of Rio Solimões, which run side by side where it rains almost every day. The level of rainfall depends without mixing for 6 km. The reason for the on the time of the year. Temperatures vary through the year. waters phenomenon is differences in temperature, speed and water density of the two rivers. 3. What s it like in the Amazon Rainforest? The Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the This is an agricultural system where plots of world and it is responsible for producing 40% of oxygen in land are used temporarily. It consists of the world. It experiences a large amount of rainfall and has a Shifting clearing a plot of land of the trees/plants, very warm and humid climate. then burning (slash and burn). The ash is cultivation used to fertilise the land. After a few years, the land is abandoned, so its fertility can be Books/reading links naturally restored. The farmers move on to The Great Kapok Tree—Lynne Cherry Reasons for the deforestation of the The Explorer—Katherine Rundell rainforest are numerous , but include mining, cattle pasture, hardwoods, housing, Journey to the River Sea—Eva Ibbotson agriculture, roads and medicines. Running Wild—Michael Morpurgo The region is under– going change due to Deforestation commercial development, particularly mining ( iron ore/ gold), hydro-electric schemes, road building, logging and forest Useful websites clearance fires. Deforestation has been linked to reduced rainfall: evaporation from the trees, driven by the sun, generates the www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zk37xyc rain. www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-Rainforest www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zfp34wx Can you identify the countries in South America? Where are the major cities? How are they different or the same to UK cities? .

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