In this lesson, students will consider how people affect the natural environment in their home area and in Africa. They will learn about two African habitats (the savanna and the rain forest) and some of the animals that live there, and focus on how cheetahs and chimpanzees make use of their habitats. Students will conclude by creating posters to encourage people to protect the savanna and the rain forest, as well as the animals in the area where they live.

Geography

Standard 8: "The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface"
Standard 14: "How human actions modify the physical environment"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"

Two to three hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Wall map of the world
• Drawing materials
• Access to a computer with the QuickTime plug-in to watch animal videos (optional)

Students will

• discuss human impacts on the environment near their homes;
• view pictures of the African savanna and rain forest and discuss the features of the habitats that might be attractive to animals;
• discuss how specific behaviors of cheetahs and chimpanzees are affected by the habitats they live in;
• discuss ways that human activities might impact these habitats; and
• make signs promoting the protection of savanna and rain forest animals and their habitats.

Ask students to think about the natural environment near where they live. What does it look like outside? What types of plants and animals do they see each day? What types of plants and animals might they see at a park, forest preserve, or other nearby area with large open spaces?

Write the word "habitat" on the board, and tell the class that a habitat is any place where an animal or plant naturally lives. Ask students to describe the habitats of some wild animals they are familiar with, such as squirrels or deer.

Ask students to state some of the ways that people impact the lives of animals that live in their area. They might mention littering, cutting down trees, chasing animals, or a number of other common human activities. Explain that not all human impacts on wild animals are ultimately bad. For example, some people litter, but many other people help clean up the litter; and sometimes people chase animals to rescue them from harm and take them to rehabilitation centers.

Point out Africa on a world map, and make sure all students can identify the African continent. Tell the class that it takes about fourteen hours to travel in an airplane from New York City to Johannesburg, South Africa, and point out this route on the map. Students should realize that Africa is quite a distance from the United States, across the Atlantic Ocean.

Show the class some pictures of the African landscape from National Geographic's Wild World Web site. Either project the Web site from one computer onto a large screen, or have students gather around one classroom computer and look at the monitor. Follow these directions:

• In the "Find an Ecoregion" window, type AT0711, and click Go.
• In the new window, click on "AT0711, Terrestrial Ecoregion of the World."
• You will see a close-up map of East Africa. Click the deep pink color to the east of Nairobi.
• You will see a new window describing the "Northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets." This landscape is commonly called the savanna.
• Click "More Photos" (by the small camera icon to the right of the photograph).

Have students describe what they see in these photographs. In particular, ask them to describe the habitat and natural landscape, including grasses, trees, hills, etc.

Ask students what they think the animals shown in these photos might like about this savanna habitat. Why would these animals live in this grassland? How might they use the plants?

After students have brainstormed ways that savanna animals make use of their habitat, inform them of this cheetah behavior (paraphrased from the Cheetah Fun Facts section of National Geographic's Creature Feature):

• Cheetahs are the fastest runners on land and can run up to 60 or 70 miles per hour.
• Cheetahs have excellent eyesight, which helps them hunt.
• Sometimes they sit in high places to look for prey.
• They hide in the grasses while stalking their prey.
• Their spotted coats blend in (camouflage) well with the grasses.

[If you have access to QuickTime, you can view these cheetah videos with your students.]

Discuss how the savanna grasses help the cheetah in its daily life.

Repeat the above steps, but this time type "AT0124" into the "Find an Ecoregion" window.

Again have students discuss the landscape they see and the things the animals might like about this rain forest habitat. After students have brainstormed the ways that rain forest animals make use of their habitat, inform them of this chimpanzee behavior (paraphrased from the Chimpanzee Fun Facts section of National Geographic's Creature Feature):

• When chimpanzees discover a tree full of fruit, they pound on tree trunks to let other chimps in their forest community know it's there. The other chimps come from up to two miles away to enjoy the fruit.
• Chimpanzees make nests in trees.
• Chimpanzees often "fish" for termites by poking long pieces of grass down into a termite nest. When they take the grass out of the nest, they have a tasty termite treat. Many termite nests can be found in the rain forest, as well as in the grasslands.
• Some chimpanzees live in the grasslands, but many live in the rain forest.

[If you have QuickTime access, you can show students this video of a chimpanzee fishing for termites.]

Discuss how trees in the rain forest help the chimpanzee in its daily life.

Ask students to think of ways that people might impact the two African habitats they've just seen (savanna and rain forest). What activities do people do that could change the way these places look? Students might mention cutting trees, hunting animals, building homes, and a number of other ideas. List their suggestions on the board.

Ask students to think about the specific ways that each of the human activities you've listed on the board might change the savanna and rain forest habitats, and discuss their ideas. For example, how might building homes on the savanna affect the grasses and the animals that depend on those grasses? How might cutting trees in the rain forest affect the animals that live there?

Explain that the issue of how to protect animals can be complicated. People need to live, eat, and have shelter, but the animals also need plenty of space to live. Explain that many adults are working on solutions to make both the people and the animals happy.

Ask students to pretend they work for a conservation organization that helps protect African animals. Have students, either individually or in pairs, make posters promoting protection of African savanna and rain forest animals and their habitats. Their posters should show pictures of the animals in their natural habitats and should include words explaining why these animals depend on this habitat.

As an option, have students add to their signs pictures of human activities that might impact the habitats.

More advanced students can write paragraphs describing their signs.

• Have students look at specific African animals in National Geographic's Creature Feature archive. They may choose from the following animals: cheetahs, chimpanzees, crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, gorillas, hippopotamuses, lemurs, lions, rhinoceroses, and warthogs.

  Ask students to draw pictures of some of these animals in their natural habitats. Then have them hypothesize ways that human activities might affect these animals' lives, and have them draw pictures showing specific potential impacts to these animals.

  Have students conclude by writing paragraphs or drawing pictures suggesting what they think might be done to protect these animals while still allowing people to live near the places where the animals live.

National Geographic Magazine: Africa MegaFlyover—Charting the Last Wild Places on Earth
National Geographic News: Africa Explorer Takes Off on Yearlong Aerial Survey
National Geographic: Creature Feature
National Geographic: Wild World