What Are Primary Forests and Why Should We Protect Them?

• In this article, students will read about ecological succession, primary forests, and why it's important to protect them.
• The article includes a diagram of ecological succession and an interactive map that allow students to explore where the remaining tropical primary forests exist on Earth.

Positives

• Terms and statistics used throughout the article are hyperlinked to scientific papers or websites to provide definitions, additional information, or context.
• The interactive map showing the locations of remaining tropical primary forests is a great visual tool.
  

Additional Prerequisites

•  Students should be familiar with the terms ecology, ecosystem, and species.
  

Differentiation

• Students can further explore the map by clicking the link to "Explore on GFW" which takes you to a more detailed version with many layers, including different types of land cover, fire alerts, land use, and biodiversity options.
• The diagram and map could be used in lower grades when discussing geography and ecological succession.
• Higher grades could use the article to discuss the importance of old-growth forests for biodiversity.
• Cross-curricular connections can be made with math classes by challenging students to calculate the percentage of old growth/primary forests that have been lost.