Design Solutions Project Walkthrough

Project Design Solution: Day 1 & 2

DAY TWO

02

Table of contents

DAY ONE

01

PAGE 1

Today, you will:

• identify factors that impact the Indonesian ecosystem
• identify the relationship between oil palm plantations and orangutans

Day 1 Overview

Use your glossary to match the definition with the term.

PAGE 1

the act of remaining alive

population limit

protecting resources for future generations

survival

the maximum population size that can be supported in a particular area without destroying the habitat

conservation

VOCABULARY - Question 1

PAGE 2

How could your favorite candy bar be responsible for the decline of the orangutan populations in Indonesia?

Driving Question

In previous lessons, you explored ecosystem services. While ecosystems are important for resources and human survival, human activity typically negatively impacts ecosystems. Scientists look for solutions to address problems related to human impact on ecosystems.

Identify the problem

PAGE 3

Look through the products below and study their ingredients. Click to enlarge.

Products

PAGE 4

Use the information on these pages to answer questions 3 & 4 in edio.

Palm oil comes from the fruit of palm trees. Palm oil comes from the fruit of oil palm trees. Oil palm trees are grown in warm areas near the equator. The palm oil we get from these trees can be used for cooking. It is also used in food products, detergents, and cosmetics. Palm oil is found in more than half of all packaged products that Americans consume, like lipstick, soaps, candy, and even ice cream. Many food and beauty products need oil as an ingredient to achieve the right consistency. Some of the original oils used in food and beauty products were bad for our health, so scientists were excited when they discovered palm oil as a replacement.

What is palm oil and wHEre does it come from?

PAGE 5

Oil palm trees produce a lot of palm oil and use less land compared to other types of plants that make oil. The demand for palm oil is increasing rapidly, so more land needs to be used to grow this plant. Producing 1 ton of palm oil requires .25 hectares of land (just under half of a football field). Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil. Most of the Indonesian oil palms are grown on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. To make space for large oil palm plantations, large areas of tropical rainforest trees and plants (for example, fig trees, tall trees, small bushes) have been cut down. There is concern about orangutans and tigers, whose populations appear to be decreasing. Orangutans live high in the forest trees and eat fruits. Palm kernels are not a food source for orangutans. Tigers hide in the brush to hunt their prey. Palm oil plantations do not have much brush. Indonesia has already lost two types of tigers to extinction: the Bali tiger and the Javan tiger. The only remaining tiger population is that of the Sumatran tiger. Scientists estimate that there are fewer than 500 Sumatran tigers remaining.

PAGE 5

Watch the video and answer the questions that follow.

PAGE 6

PAGE 7

Special Role in the Ecosystem

What they eat

What eats them

Where they spend most of their time

The Role of an Orangutan in the forest

You did it!

In this lesson you:

• identified factors that impact the Indonesian ecosystem
• identified the relationship between oil palm plantations and orangutans

In the next Project Design lesson (Day 2), you will develop solutions to address concerns affecting the orangutan habitat

PAGE 8

PAGE 1

Today, you will:

• develop solutions to address concerns affecting the orangutan habitat
• learn about sustainable farming

Day 2 Overview

PAGE 2

1. Open the simulation.
2. When it opens, you will have the option to "Set Independent Variables". Leave "allow birth & death" button selected.
3. You will change the % of fruit trees to 0, 20, and 40 to answer the following questions.

Use the Simulation to answer the questions.

PAGE 3

Orangutan Populations & Distribution over time

Look at the graphs below. Look closely at patterns and relationships then answer the question that follows.

Land used to grow Oil Palm Plants from 1970-2016

PAGE 4

How This helps the population

Not Clearing New Forests

Growing Areas of Wildlife habitat on the farm

Sustainable Palm Oil

Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia

Watch the video and answer the questions that follow.

PAGE 5

Reflect:

Question 6: Think about your daily life, what can you do to help your local, or global, ecosystem? SENTENCE STARTER: To help my local or global ecosystem, I can...

PAGE 6

YOU DID IT!

In this lesson, you:

• developed solutions to address concerns affecting the orangutan habitat
• learned about sustainable farming

In the next lesson, you will explore the resources humans use.

PAGE 7

Where they spend most of their time

Orangutans live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, which are part of Indonesia and Malaysia. There are more orangutans in areas of the forest where more fruit trees grow. Orangutans like to live where fruit is plentiful all year long. The spend most of their lives living in the trees.

What They eat

Orangutans mostly eat fruit (90%), like figs and durian fruit. They also eat insects, like termites and ants. They sometimes eat bark, leaves, and flowers.

What Eats them

Orangutans primary predator on Sumatra is the Sumatran tiger. On Borneo, there are no tigers, so the clouded leopard is their primary predator.

Special Role in the Ecosystem

When orangutans eat durian fruit, they spit out the seeds, which helps spread the seeds to grow plants in new places. Other seeds are spread when orangutans poop. This makes orangutans especially important to fruit trees, because they help spread seeds to grow new fruit trees.

Growing Areas of Wildlife Habitat on The Farm

A second criterion for getting certified is protecting areas of wildlife habitat on the farm. Some farmers plant habitat plants on the edges of the farm. Others maintain habitat areas alongside rivers. Some farmers also plant wildlife habitat between fields. Farmers must keep 15-20% of the land as wildlife habitat to be a sustainable palm farm. Around the world, farmers grow areas of wildlife habitat on the farm. For example, some farmers in lowa plant native prairie plants between their fields.

Not clearing new forests

The first criteria to get certified is to not clear any new forest for oil palm farms. People could only use land that was already cut down, or deforested, in the past. In Indonesia, farmers can decide to not cut down forests for farming.In Costa Rica, the government made a law in 1996 to stop the cutting down of forests without permission. No farmer can clear a forested area to plant crops. Evidence from Costa Rica suggests that stopping deforestation will help populations in ecosystems. Since the new law, Costa Rica replanted about half of the deforested land. That land is now forest again. Plant and animal populations thrive because they have resources to meet their needs.

Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia

Sustainable palm oil is being used to help mitigate the impacts of deforestation and habitat loss.Some large-scale farms and family farms get certified as sustainable palm oil. Their products have a label that says they used sustainable palm oil. Farms need to meet several criteria to get certified. This article highlights two of these criteria.

How this helps the population

Growing areas of wildlife habitat on farms helps populations for four reasons.

1. Plants that grow there prevent wind and erosion. This helps the soil stay healthy for plants to grow and critters to live.
2. They provide a habitat for pollinators and birds.
3. They act like sponges to keep water, soil, and nutrients on the farm. This helps plants get the water and nutrients they need.
4. They connect existing areas of forest. In Indonesia, this helps orangutans travel to areas of forests next to the farms. They don't come into conflict with farmers.