To accompany feature “Made in the Shade“

SCIENCE

Before reading:

1.    Look around a garden or park: Some plants appear to grow better in the sun and others in the shade. Why is that?

2.    List some common foods that grow on trees.

During reading:

1.    Define “agroforestry.”

2.    List as many benefits as you can of agroforestry.

3.    What link do coffee and chocolate share?

4.    What is the origin of the word “coffee?”

5.    Where (and why) would you expect to find a tree-protected riparian zone?

6.    With silvopasture, what two things are raised together?

7.    Based on the article, what are three negative impacts from allowing cows to overheat in the sun.

8.    Identify an economic benefit of shade-grown coffee.

9.    What are mist nets?

10.  How can trees lessen the problem of climate change?

After reading:

1.    What evidence does the story present for the benefit of agroforestry to bird populations in Ethiopia?

2.    “Agroforests are not perfect replacements for natural forests.” What evidence did Evan Buechley find to support that statement?

MATHEMATICS

1.    The land area of India is 2,973,193 square kilometers (1,147,956 square miles). The country wants to increase its tree cover to 33 percent, from 25 percent.  Calculate the percentage increase. How many additional square kilometers (or miles) of tree cover would it take to meet India’s goal?