Mangroves: forests of the seas
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the role of mangrove forests and talk about the impact of forest loss in the Sundarbans.
Key learning points
- Mangroves are shrubs and trees which grow in coastal waters.
- Mangroves help protect the land from flooding, caused by tropical storms and tidal surges.
- The Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh are an example of a mangrove forest.
- Mangroves face a variety of threats including coastal developments, farming and sea level rise.
- The impacts of mangrove loss include: coastal flooding, loss of biodiversity, resources and income.
Keywords
Tide - the regular rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravity from the moon and the sun pulling on Earth’s oceans
Tropical storm - a powerful low-pressure weather system that forms in tropical regions
Tidal surge - an unusual rise in sea level above the normal level of high tide
Urbanisation - the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities rather than the countryside
Biodiversity - all the living things in an ecosystem or area
Common misconception
Removing mangroves on the coast will not affect people inland or out at sea.
Mangroves provide many services, including flood protection for settlements inland and nurseries for young fish (who may be caught for food when they have grown and left the protection of the mangroves).
Teacher tip
There is potential for students to research the actions people are taking to protect the mangroves as homework.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the term with its definition.
Q2.What are mangroves?
Q3.The is an imaginary line that circles Earth, dividing it into two halves: the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
Q4.Mangrove forests are located in tropical and sub-tropical areas. The tropics are called ...
Q5.How do mangrove trees help fish and other marine life?
Q6.Which of these is a threat to mangrove forests?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Why are mangrove forests sometimes called "forests of the seas"?
Q2.What benefits do mangroves provide?
Q3.Mangrove forests are at particular risk from ...
Q4.Mangroves grow at the coast in some tropical and subtropical regions and need warm waters to survive. Most of the world's mangrove forests are located between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of .
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: Mangroves: forests of the seas, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: Mangroves: forests of the seas, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 geography lessons from the Forest biomes: why are forests so important? unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.