1. Which of the following groups would most likely want to protect the forest and reduce the cutting down of trees?

• paper companies
• conservation groups
• loggers and woodsmen who cut down trees
• furniture stores

2. Refer to the population figure. As human population increased, consumption of wood likely .

3. The goal of the law passed in 2001 to stop the export of mahogany from the rainforest in Brazil was to , and from the evidence in it appears to have had on the logging of the rainforest in Brazil.

4. The information that the author presented here to support the following claim:


“The changes seen in the Amazon rainforest are due to the growth in population of the United States.”

5. Is there enough evidence to show a causal connection between the forest change in Brazil, U.S. consumption of Mahogany, and the U.S. population growth?

• No. Since Brazil passed a law that made logging Mahogany illegal, there can’t be a connection between U.S. population growth, Mahogany, and the Amazon rainforest.
• Yes. As the population has grown in the U.S., they’ve consumed more Mahogany and this has led to further harvesting of mahogany in Brazil.
• Maybe. There could be a connection, but we don’t know the change in mahogany consumption in the U.S. to compare to the population change and Amazon change.
• No. There is definitely a change in the Amazon forest, and there is definitely a change in the U.S. population, but they have no connection.

6. What scientific evidence presented could lead you to believe that there has been a change in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil after 2001?

• The claim that 20-90% of exported wood from Brazil is illegally exported.
• The laws put into place by the Brazilian government to stop the sale of mahogany.
• The changes in forest density seen in the satellite images.
• The population growth in the United States in the last 100 years.

7. Describe 2 pieces of scientific evidence, from the information provided or what you’ve learned about ecosystems, that support the following claim:



“The changes seen in the Amazon rainforest will negatively impact the animals and plants that live in this ecosystem.”

8. Evaluate whether or not there is sufficient evidence presented to support the following claim:



”Since 2001, laws and technology have successfully stopped the export of mahogany wood from Brazil over the last 20 years.”

9. Is there sufficient evidence presented here to support the following claim? ”The population growth in the U.S. has led to an increase in the cutting of the rainforest in Brazil.” Justify your response with at least two pieces of evidence. Then, make a prediction for the future of the Amazon Rainforest.

10. What alternative explanations may explain the change in the Amazon rainforest, aside from the sale of mahogany wood?

11. A thousand years ago, trees weren’t used too far from where they were cut. Humans have now built many ways to move things and people to the other side of the world. Explain one positive way and one negative way that this technology has impacted the Earth’s systems.

12. Using the data presented, write a claim about logging in Brazil, the growing population, and the effects this will have on Earth’s systems.

13. Use evidence from the information presented or anything you’ve learned in class to support your claim.

14. Explain the reasoning that supports your claim, given the evidence you cited in the last question.