Science - Year 3/4B Spring 1 Living Things and their Habitats Habitat Helpers Session 5 Teaching PowerPoint © Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.

Habitats change when humans need to use the land for something else What might humans need to use the land for? Here are some ideas you may have thought of Building Houses In the UK there are not enough houses for everyone so lots of cities, towns and villages need to build new housing estates. Often these are built on land that used to be countryside. This means the destruction of habitats for plants and animals. Are there any new houses being built near where you live?

Car Parks There are many more cars now than there were in the past so we need more places to park them

Some people find it hard to find a parking space on the street where they live so they pave or tarmac their front garden.

In some streets everyone has done the same thing and that adds up to a lot of lost habitats for local wildlife!

Shops Roads Schools Airports There are more people in the world than ever before. The number of people in a place or country is called the population. As we have already seen, more people means more houses and more cars but it also means more … Shops Roads Schools Airports And just about everything else you can think of! More building means fewer habitats

An increased population also means we need to produce more food To cope with this, modern farm machinery has become bigger and more efficient than it used to be But bigger machinery needs bigger fields and this means taking out old hedgerows like these that were home to a large variety of wildlife.

There is one type of habitat that is being lost at an alarming rate Rainforests are found in different parts of the world. Here you can see them shown in green on a map. Rainforests are large areas of dense, tall trees, with high rain fall and a hot climate.

Rainforests are important to the whole planet. Here are some of the reasons The plants make lots of oxygen which is needed by all living things to survive. The rainforests are so rich in wildlife that it is thought they are home to over 30 million species of plants and animals! Many have not even been discovered yet! The plants use up carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas that is causing climate change. Many important foods and medicines come from rainforest plants. There could be many new cures and treatments for diseases that are still undiscovered. They are home to tribes of people who live in harmony with the plants and animals of the forest (in a sustainable way). Once a rainforest has gone, it would take at least 4,000 years to get back to the way it was.

So why are rainforests are being cut down? To plant crops like this palm oil plantation To use the timber for fuel, building or paper To graze cattle

This photograph taken from space shows where the rainforest has already been destroyed – the areas that are no longer dark green.

But there is some good news But there is some good news. Even though they are far away, there are lots of ways you can help stop rainforests from being destroyed. There are also ways you can help look after wildlife in your area and create new habitats for plants and creatures too. It’s time to do some research of your own to get ready for your Habitat Helpers Fair.