Amazon

Kids will enjoy diving into the stats and unique qualities of the river. They’ll also want to explore the history of European exploration, which includes Francisco Orellana, whose party of 57 explorers found the mouth of Amazon by a fluke of fast-moving water. Delving into the rubber boom and bust will give kids a glimpse of the science and history of this natural resource, including the origin of familiar names like Goodyear and Dunlop. Future social scientists will want to explore the people connected to rubber, including the wealthy barons and the low-wage indigenous tappers who harvested tree sap and turned it into rubber.

History buffs will want to explore the first peoples of Amazonia while future naturalists will enjoy the images and information about the unique plants and animals of the region. Fittingly, the unit concludes with an exploration of who really owns the Amazon–the government of Brazil where most of the Amazon is located? The peoples of the world who need the oxygen given off by the trees in the rain forest? The indigenous people who farm the land to survive? What about the researchers who have found rain forest plants that might be used to treat cancer? There are plenty of questions to ponder here and lots to like.