Starter Imagine a situation where the summer in Scotland lasts for 6 weeks (difficult to imagine, I know!) Temperatures are on average 30°C, and precipitation is VERY low. What will be the impact on the people of Scotland and the environment after 6 weeks?

Lesson three: Impacts of land degradation on the Sahel Learning intention: We are learning about the impacts of land degradation on a semi-arid area. Success criteria: I can successfully sort information. I can present information in a different way. I can select information from text.

Task You will be given a set of cards for your group. Be careful not to lose any! In groups, sort the cards into two piles: Socioeconomic impacts (people and money), and environmental impacts.

Task Take a double page in your jotter. Put the heading “Impacts of land degradation in the Sahel”. You will be drawing two diagrams in your jotter. One will be for socio-economic impacts and the other will be for environmental impacts. Use pages 8-9.

Impacts of land degradation in the Sahel Socio-economic Environmental Impact 1 Impact 1 Impact 2 Impact 2 Impact 3 Impact 3 Impact 4 Impact 4 Impact 5 Impact 5

Impacts of land degradation in the Sahel Socio-economic Environmental Development affected Loss of soil Access to education Erosion Desertification Loss of crops Reduced biodiversity Poverty Change in albedo Depopulation Salinisation Threat to traditional life Rural – Urban migration

Success criteria I can successfully sort information. I can present information in a different way. I can select information from text.

Exam question 1. Explain the impacts on people and the environment of land degradation in a rainforest or a semi-arid area. (5)

In the Sahel there are many impacts of land degradation In the Sahel there are many impacts of land degradation. Firstly, access to education is affected. Farmers struggle to pay for schooling due to a loss of income from decreased crop yields. This can decrease the literacy rate.  The failure of crops will result in malnutrition and possibly death due to starvation. People will be less able to fight off diseases such as kwashiorkor, and infection due to poor health. This will increase the death rate and lower the life expectancy.  People in rural areas are forced to leave the countryside and move to the cities in search of food and employment (rural-urban migration). This causes a demographic imbalance as often the males leave in search of jobs, and a loss of traditional farming techniques such as pastoral nomadism.  Many of the migrants cannot find anywhere to live or any employment and end up living in shanty towns on the edge of the city. There can be political instability as a result of different tribes coming together in urban areas.  Vegetation is lost as pasture dries up, meaning that formally fertile land gradually turns into desert thus increasing the extent of deserts. 

Plenary Look at your diagrams. What would be the impact of land degradation on the UK? Would they be the same as in the Sahel?