Over the course of the i2P Amazon Expedition the Youth Ambassadors will be seeking answers on the ground to biodiversity research questions submitted by students. This research will be conducted by talking to local people, interviewing experts, and examining the terrain over which the expedition passes. Responses will be gathered in the form of video, still photographs, sound and written reports which will be posted on the website during or immediately after the expedition.
The following research questions were submitted by participating schools, and are organized in two project categories: Deforestation and Food Security.
The information gathered is for the free use of all schools, students and interested individuals.
Project 1: Deforestation
- Why are the trees in the region cut down?
Answer (Video)
- Where do animals go when the trees are cut down?
Answer (Video)
- Are there any signs of reforestation, and is there any evidence of recovery to the ecosystem?
Answer (Video)
- Are the people who harvest trees educated about the effects of deforestation, and do they feel remorse or guilt?
Answer (Video)
- Will we still have oxygen if the rainforest is destroyed?
Answer (Video)
- Is the cutting of forest in the area influencing climate change?
Answer (Video)
- Since they’re cutting down trees in the Amazon Rainforest, are they trying to save the unusual plants, especially the ones that might be used to cure diseases? Please take a picture of unusual plants you see.
Answer (Video)
- Are you seeing animals in places where they shouldn’t be since they’re cutting down their homes? Are there any animals whose population is decreasing because of deforestation? Please take a picture of this animal if you see one.
Answer (Video)
- What impact do you think your trip will have on deforestation? Could you interview your partners (other youth Ambassadors) about this and send a picture and some audio?
Answer (Video)
- What do the people use to cut down the trees? What is the land used for after the trees are cut down? Please take pictures.
Answer (Video)
- How will deforestation change my life?
Answer (Video)
- Is there anything I can do to help the animals that no longer have a home in the Amazon Rainforest now that their home has been destroyed? Please take a picture of an animal that’s still in its home.
Answer (Video)
- Has deforestation affected the Amazon River? Please take a picture of the Amazon River. Show a place where it has been affected, if you can.
Answer (Video)
- How do the animals survive when they cut down the trees? Where do the animals go?
Answer (Video)
- How big are the trees that are being cut down in the Amazon? Please take a picture of a very big tree that you see.
Answer (Video)
- Has deforestation affected the water that the rare fish called the goliath tiger fish lives in? If you see one, please take a picture.
Answer (Video)
- Can you count the rings on a tree that has been cut down and tell me how old it was? I’d like a picture, please.
Answer (Video)
- If you take a rope that is 20 feet long and mark a spot that is 5’ x 5’, how many different plants, animals and insects do you see in that square? Could you take a picture of some of the different plants and animals in that square?
Answer (Video)
- Please interview someone who lives in the Amazon Rainforest and ask him or her what effect deforestation has had on his or her life. Could this be a video?
Answer (Video)
- How do local people keep insects out of their homes?
Answer (Video)
- Are local people encountering more predators closer to your homes now that they're being pushed out of their environment?
- Are they burning rainforest and are fires affecting the local air quality?
Answer (Video)
- How many trees do you see cut down each day?
- Why are they cutting down the forests if it is killing the plants that give us medicine?
Answer (Video)
- How many animals are being killed by deforestation?
Answer (Video)
- Where do the animals go when their homes are destroyed?
See Q2
- What do the local people eat if the foods from the trees are being destroyed?
Answer (Video)
Project 2: Food Security
- What is the daily diet of a 12-13 yr. old like who lives in the Tapajos Region of the Amazon?
Answer (Video)
- What types of food do the local people eat, and where do the foods come from? Are they local products (produce, veggies, fruits)/meats/ fish/dairy/breads) or are they imported?
Answer (Video)
- How is food kept fresh in the area?
- How is local food prepared?
Answer (Video)
- What food related health concerns do local people have, and are they related to biodiversity?
Answer (Video)
- Considering the collective wellbeing of these young children, what do they do for exercise/activity?
Answer (Video)
- How much of the local food come from species that are exotic to the region, likes cows, chickens, rice and others?
Answer (Video)
- Where does the food you are eating on your expedition come from?
Answer (Video)
- Has the production of food in the area caused deforestation?
Answer (Video)
- Is there any hunger in the region or do all have enough to eat?
- Do they have genetically modified foods in Brazil?
Answer (Video)
- Is the local population growing and if so where are they getting the extra food to eat?
- Are there any kinds of animals or plants that have gone extinct because of over harvesting?
- Are there any problems caused by pollution in the area from farms?
