Desertification

Year level: Upper primary/Lower secondary Learning outcome Students examine the impact of human behaviour on arid environments. Read the about desertification and its consequences in the Desertification section of the Global Education website. http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/page2006.html Create a web map of the causes and consequences of desertification. Collect pictures of desertification and label these with the causes and consequences of the land degradation. Examine maps to find the areas of the world that are most vulnerable to desertification, eg. http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/mapindex/dsrtrisk.html http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/mapindex/desert.html Select a particular area to examine the causes and consequences of desertification. You may want to do this in pairs or small groups. Use these questions to start your research: What climatic factors of the area are contributing to desertification? What human activities in the area are affecting desertification? Present your findings to others in your class. Using the information you have gathered create a poster of the causes and consequences of desertification. Discuss and list your answers to the question: How might you and your community support people living in areas affected by desertification? You might include guidelines for tourists, means of supporting people to make a living in the desert, purchasing the goods they make, etc. Evaluate each method using a PMI chart. Order the list - individually, then with a partner and then joining two pairs. Assessment task Create a role-play outlining behaviours for protecting the fragile arid areas from desertification.

	Risk of Human-Induced Desertification Map
	Global Desertification Vulnerability Map