Bulletin 2
– 28 July 1997
Telecom Amazon Adventure Update
 Update
from Andrew
Well things here are terrific. I spent a
few days last week at a Jungle Lodge and visiting an
ecological reserve owned by an ex-Hollywood director
called Zigmunt Sulistowski and his wife. They own 11,000
hectares of virgin rainforest which they keep as a
reserve.
Most of my time has been spent at Ariau
Towers. I visited a village, and later that night went
hunting for jacare/alligators (we didn't kill them - just
pulled them out of the water so they could be passed
around the curious tourists - like me - before being
re-released).
The next day we went Piranha fishing and
THEN we went swimming - fortunately in another river
tributary. Not far from where we were swimming, we
spotted something big in the water. My first thought was
that it was an anaconda, but it turned out to be two pink
Amazon river dolphins diving for fish. They were about 15
metres away from me - it was an incredible thrill to be
so close and in the water with them.
I'm having a great time and there's so
much I could tell you, but I'll keep some of it for the
next audioconference.
Until next week . . .
Andrew
All about rainforests
The Amazon rainforest is one of the last
great unexplored wildernesses on earth. Rainforests
developed millions of years ago, when many of the
world’s continents were connected together in two
giant super-continents
called Laurasia (comprised North America, Europe and
Asia) and Gondwanaland (included South America, Africa,
India, Australia, and Antarctica).
Because continents were joined together,
they shared similar wildlife and forests. This is why the
big cats in Africa, like leopards and lions, have cousins
like jaguars and pumas living in South America. Boa constrictor
snakes are related to pythons,
llamas are related to
camels, and the South American tapir is related to the
African rhinoceros and has another close relative which
lives in Malaysia.
There were once even native South American horses, but
these became extinct as a result of hunting by the early
Indians. Horses were reintroduced in the Americas 500
years ago by the Spanish. Because of their common
origins, the rainforests of South America, Africa,
Australia, and parts of Asia, still share many
similarities today.
Because continents move very slightly
each year – the continents which made up
Gondwanaland slowly drifted apart. It took them millions
of years to drift to the point where we recognise them
today – but if you look at a map, you can see how
Africa and South America once fitted together like two
gigantic jig-saw pieces. As the continents moved apart,
conditions for the plants and animals changed so that the
plants and animals in South America developed differently
from plants and animals in Africa and Asia.
Even in South America plants and animals
in some regions developed differently from plants and
animals in others because territories were isolated by
high mountain ridges or wide inland oceans and rivers.
Later, when the inland ocean which flooded most of the
Amazon basin, dried up, it connected many of these
once-isolated territories –resulting in a huge
rainforest containing an enormous variety animals and
plants. There are far more species of plants and animals
living in Amaz⌠nia than anywhere else on earth. There
are about 2,500 types of trees; 2,000 varieties of fish;
2,200 different birds; and about a million species of
insects. Because Amaz⌠nia is located on the equator, within the tropics, the weather is
hot and wet with rain most days. Plants love these
conditions, so the rainforests have grown lush and rich
even though the soil is poor in nutrients.
The arrival of humans
Humans are very recent arrivals in
Amaz⌠nia. The first people arrived about 15,000 years
ago. They were Indians who had originally migrated across
the Bering Strait from Asia and Siberia into North
America, then gradually moved downwards to South America.
These first people were nomadic
hunters who hunted large animals like buffalo, deer,
mammoths, horses, and the now-extinct giant ground sloth.
Unfortunately, as a result of hunting, many of these
animals either became extinct or became increasingly
difficult to find – forcing people to find new ways
to live. People living near the Andes became farmers,
while people living in the rainforests learnt how to hunt
smaller animals, fish, plant gardens, and gather produce
from the surrounding forests.
When Europeans arrived, they began to
develop the land, digging gold mines, clearing forests to
build farms and plantations, and introduced widespread
hunting of animals for their hides and sport.
Today, much of South America has been
developed into modern farms and cities. Amaz⌠nia is
still mostly intact – but there is increasing
development of the area. Parts of the rainforest are
being cleared and Eucalyptus
plantations developed for paper milling and logging.
Other parts are being mined for iron, silver, and gold.
There are even plans to flood large areas in Amaz⌠nia to
build dams for electricity generation. The Indians who
still live in the rainforests are coping with pollution
and an increase in settlers from Brazil’s
overcrowded north-east who come in search of land to
build new homes and farms.
Because of the importance of the Amazon
rainforests to the global environment, developments in
Amaz⌠nia have caused concern for scientists and
environmentalists around the world. If the forests
continue to be destroyed at the current rate, it will
result in the loss of many unique animals and plants
– and may even result in dramatic world-wide changes
of climate. Scientists and governments are working to
find out more about how these things might affect us, and
how the rainforests can be protected for future
generations.
 Wow!
A record 275 schools took part in last
week's audioconference. Isn't it stunning to think about
8,200 students around the country are taking part in the
same phone call.
And the weather is . . . hot
Last time we talked to Andrew it was 33
degrees Celsius in Manaus - much hotter than he's use to
in Wellington!
If you're keen to know what the weather
is like in Amazonia throughout Andrew's Amazon Adventure,
and you're on the Internet, check out the new weather
link on the Amazon homepage.
To make life easier, don't forget to
Bookmark the address while you're there!
There are links to lots of other
interesting Amazon-related Internet sites on the Amazon
Adventure homepage - so start surfing!
 Live
link-ups
Isn't it amazing to think we're linking
live to Andrew deep in the heart of Amazonia - talk about
technology taking us places we've never been before!
As you can probably imagine some of the
phones and technology Andrew will be using to call us for
his weekly audioconferences will not be as modern as New
Zealand's phone system, and this may mean the call is not
of the high quality we're used to.
We really need your help to ensure these
audioconferences are the best possible quality,
especially given the older phones Andrew will be using.
There are two main things you can do to
improve call quality.
1) Please make sure you use the mute
button on your handsfree phone or voicepoint. If you
don't use the mute button, there's an increase in static
and other noise. This occurs whether you're a listening
or speaking school.
2) Always test your equipment before
calling into the audioconference. Why not make a local
call to ensure everything is in working order - including
the mute button?
Whoops
The observant ones among you who have
Internet access may have noticed the Amazon Adventure
homepage featured the incorrect time for Andrew's weekly
audioconferences. They are, of course, at 11.30am each
Wednesday.
Get your work on the Net
If you've been wondering how to get your
Amazon stories, poems and other creative work published
on Amazon homepage - wonder no more. Simply fax the
Adventure Line on 0-4-498 5575 or e-mail Danielle Greig
on sarah.berry@telecom.co.nz.
You can also check out Andrew's Amazon
Adventure programme progress through the homepage at:
http://www.telecom.co.nz/tef
At the Telecom Education Foundation
homepage, click on the Explorers and Adventurers pointer
and you'll see the Amazon Adventure button.
Amazon activity
Design and plan an "Explorers
Survival Kit" that you would be able to use if you
were lost in the Amazon jungle. Think about the dangers
and conditions you might face. What would you need to
survive? What equipment would help you to find the way
out? Research the sorts of things that organisations like
the Mountain Safety Council and the Department of
Conservation suggest you take with you when you go
tramping in New Zealand. How are these things the same or
different from the kit that Andrew Mercer is taking with
him.
Here's what Andrew Mercer is taking on
his expedition
light, long trousers; shorts;
togs; several pairs of light hemp socks; a light
plastic raincoat; and a hat
toiletries including sunscreen
and insect repellent
a spare pair of light walking
boats and leather shoes
Portuguese and Spanish
dictionaries plus guidebooks
cameras with lots of spare film
laptop computer
gas primus
torch and spare batteries
notebooks
a walkman and novels
Fill us in!
We'd love to hear about your classroom's
Amazon activities. We're sure you've got some innovative
ideas and plans so why not let us know so we can share
them with other schools taking part.
You can fax your Amazon activities
suggestions to Danielle on the Adventure Line –
0-4-498 5575 or e-mail her on sarah.berry@telecom.co.nz
Fun facts
The Amazon Basin, which includes
also all the area and rivers around the Amazon,
holds two-thirds of all the flowing fresh water
in the world.
Several species of dolphin live
in the Amazon river and its tributaries,
including a species of pink dolphin which the
locals call the "boto". Botos are also
the only dolphin to have a neck, which allows
them to easily manoeuvre through the flooded
forests during the wet season. Old Amazon legends
also tell of dolphins that can change into men.
International interest
The Amazon Adventure homepage has been
attracting a lot of interest. Here are three oversees
schools that are interested in the Amazon too. You may
want to contact them and see what they're doing as part
of their Amazon studies. (The America schools started
their summer holiday in June, so you may not get a
response from them until late August/early September.)
Good Shepherd Primary School, Australia
Contact Tim Emery on gsps@iinet.net.au
Daystar School Chicago
Contact Suzanne Vander Zee on Daystarl@concentric.net
East Washington Middle School
Contact Darrel Lee Haub on dhaub@wcrtc.com
Explorers mystery quiz - Bulletin 2
Answer the Explorers Mystery Quiz
questions below correctly and be in to win a Panasonic
cassette recorder for your class. You will find the
answer to this week's first question on your Explorers
and Adventurers Mystery Trail poster. You might need to
do a bit more research to answer question two. Fax your
answers to the Telecom Adventure Line: 0-4-498 5575.
Entries close at 5pm on Friday 1 August.
The classes whose students correctly
answer the most Explorers Mystery Quizzes during the
Explorers and Adventurers programme will go into the draw
for a grand prize in December. So good luck everyone.
Question one
How many species of insects did European
explorers find when they started their scientific
research in Amazonia in the 19th Century?
Question two
Which American President led a scientific
expedition in the Amazon Rainforest in 1914?
Last week's winner
The winner of last week's Explorers
Mystery Quiz was the senior class at Oparau School.
Last week's answers
Answer one
Christopher Columbus discovered the
"New World" at San Salvador in 1492.
Answer two
While some scholars believe the
Amazon Rainforest was named after Amazons - women
warriors in Greek mythology who were thought to
reside in the area - others insist its name comes
from the Native American word Amassona - meaning boat
destroyer.
Congratulations
Congratulations to those classes using
audioconference equipment, the Internet or any other
communications technology for the first time. It's not
always easy to try new things - so well done.
 
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