Palm Oil Basics
This common candy ingredient is produced in the same locations where orangutans live.
What is palm oil?
Cutting down rainforests causes this important habitat resource to disappear for animals.
What is their habitat/food source?
Two plant-based oils investigated as possible substitutes for palm oil.
What are canola oil and soybean oil?
Palm oil trees need high sunlight, rainfall, and warm ________ to grow.
What are temperatures?
Many farmers cut down rainforest even though it harms animals because they need this to support their families.
What is money/income?
This is the name of the plant that palm oil comes from.
What is the oil palm?
As oil palm trees increase, these three animal populations increase because plantations provide easy food.
What are rats, pigs, and snakes?
Students compared these two traits of oils: how much land is needed and how much of this is made.
What is oil produced?
This biome is where most oil palms currently grow.
What is the tropical rainforest?
The average adult in Indonesia lives on about this much per day.
What is $6.50?
Rainforests in this country are being cut down to grow oil palms.
What is Indonesia?
More oil palm trees → fewer orangutans. This is an example of this scientific relationship.
What is cause and effect?
This reason makes palm oil appealing to farmers compared to substitutes—it's very high per hectare.
What is profit/production amount?
Students identified locations where palm oil could grow that are not rainforests. This step required using this type of map feature.
What are climate maps?
Oil palm farms can make over 10 times more money than growing this traditional crop.
What is rice?
To remember the difference, “palm oil” is the product, and “oil palm” is the _____.
What is the plant?
If a population is decreasing, it may be because of loss of food, increased predators, or this human activity.
What is deforestation?
This is one pattern shared across palm, canola, and soybean oil production.
What is they all require large land areas OR they are used in many everyday products?
On the class map, students shaded these areas with diagonal black lines.
What are rainforests?
About this many people in Indonesia rely on forests for their livelihoods.
What is 50 million?
When oil palm plantations expand, this large orange primate’s population decreases.
What is the orangutan?
This component is effected by snakes and pigs.
What are humans?
Canola and soybean oils can replace palm oil, but may not be a “good” substitute because they need this much more resource.
What is more land?
Finding places outside rainforests where palm oil could grow involves checking these three conditions.
What are sunlight, temperature, and rainfall?
Many people besides farmers benefit from palm oil production, such as people who transport, sell, or perform these.
What are services related to palm oil?