DR. FILEMON C.

AGUILAR MEMORIAL COLLEGE

Golden Gate Subdivision, Talon 3, Las Piñas City
General Education Department

Course Code and Title : MST (Environmental Science)

Lesson Number : 4-8
Topic : Effects of Human Activities on the Balance of Nature

Overview

Human impact on the natural environment has reached unprecedented levels. Humans are
present on all continents almost all ecosystems have been modified by human activities (Rhode,
2013). Impacts from human activity on land and in water can influence ecosystems. Climate change,
ocean acidification, permafrost melting, habitat loss, eutrophication, pollution, and invasive species
are among the many problems facing ecosystems. According to Weedmark in 2018, the effects of
human activities on the ecosystem, including the water, air, and land and the life that we share the
world with, are almost immeasurable.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. Identify the root causes of the major environmental problems

2. Determine what human activities worsen an environmental problem
3. Explain the effects of environmental problems on the environment and human welfare

Module Titles

Module 4 – Deforestation

Module 5 – Destruction of Coastal Resources

Module 6 – Eutrophication

Module 7 – Acid Precipitation

Module 8 – Plastic Pollution

1
 Module 4

Deforestation

Introduction

Along with other Southeast Asian countries deforestation in the Philippines is a major
environmental issue. Over the course of the 20 th century, the forest cover of the country dropped
from 70% down to 20%. The Philippines is paying a high price for the destruction of its forests and a
number of major problems confronting the nation can be traced directly to deforestation. Today, the
country faces food insecurity due to soil erosion which means depleted nutrients and low crop yield.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:

1. Explain the major causes of deforestation.

2. Predict the possible implication of the decline of the forest cover.
3. Create a campaign poster to stop deforestation.
Pre-Assessment

Answer the following questions by choosing the letter of the best answer.

1. Which of the these is one cause of deforestation

a. Urbanization
b. Buying Christmas tree during Christmas
c. Overbreeding of birds in the wild
d. Cutting trees in your backyard

2. What is deforestation?
a. Clearing forest in massive scale
b. Eating too much vegetable
c. Pulling weeds in the forest
d. Practice urban gardening

3. What are the effects of deforestation?

a. Loss of habitat
b. Increased greenhouse gas
c. Soul erosion and flooding
d. All the choices

4. Which of these will reduce deforestation?

a. Use bicycle instead of cars
b. Replant immediately trees that have been cleared
c. Take good care of animals

2
 d. Plant vegetables instead of trees

5. Which of the following is a cause of one of the fire mass extinctions?

a. Invasive species
b. Deforestation
c. Asteroid impact
d. All answers correct

6. If a natural disaster flooded an ecosystem, which organisms would be most likely to survive?
a. Organisms with fur
b. Organisms with gills
c. Organisms with webbed feet
d. Organisms with lungs

7. Deforestation have caused some animals go extinct. What is one way that humans can do to
reduce extinction?
a. Creating new homes for animals
b. Take good care of the animals
c. Stop destroying animal habitat like the forest
d. Domesticate animals

8. There are many organisms that were alive years ago that are now extinct. This most likely was
caused by:
a. Destroyed by fire
b. Organisms were too big to survive
c. Organisms didn’t want to live in a new home
d. Organisms cannot adapt to their environment

Lesson Presentation

For every agricultural field you see,

chances are that there was once a forest in
its place. As our population continues to
increase, humans create more and larger
farms. Forests are also cleared for the
lumber that we use to build our houses. One
of the country’s environmental problems is
the rapid rate at which forest cover is
decreasing in the Philippines. It may be
attributed to the following:

a.) Indiscriminate logging

b.) Shifting cultivation (Kaingin) https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/deforestation/

c.) Forest fires

3
 d.) Natural calamities
e.) Conversion to agricultural land
f.) Human settlements

The effects of decreasing forest cover are listed below:

a.) More flood, greater erosion

b.) Affects climate (Global Warming)
c.) Less income for people whose livelihood depends on forest product
d.) Less protection of fragile ecosystems from typhoon
e.) Less protection of coastal areas
f.) Fewer trees to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
g.) Depletion of wildlife resources

Tropical rain forests are among the richest, if not the richest habitat on earth in terms of
biological diversity. Biologists estimate 35,000 species of plants and animals found in the Philippines.
The problem is the rate at which wildlife species become extinct. Species extinction may result to
biodiversity loss and can have a significant direct human health impact of ecosystem services are no
longer adequate to meet social needs. Indirectly, it will affect livelihood, income, and local migration.

Below are possible solutions on deforestation:

1. Plant a tree
2. Go paperless
3. Recycle and buy recycled products
4. Eat less meat as often as possible
5. Buy certified wood products
6. Support the product of companies that are committed to reducing deforestation

Reference:

1. Climate 101: Deforestation

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic-J6hcSKa8

2. Humans Pushing 1 million species to brink of extinction, says UN report

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8iNhxxPzkg

3. Deforestation Effects on Climate

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc7f5563azs

Activity

The Philippines is one of the most severely deforested countries in the tropics. Removal of
tree cover and other vegetation especially in mountainous areas worsen flooding and erosion. Human
driven and natural laws of trees affect ecosystems, weather pattern, and climate. Forest cover about

4
30% of the earth’s land mass but humans are clearing these essential habitats.

Answer the following:

1. It was found that forest cover is decreasing estimated to be 2% per annum on the average.
From 2013-2017 this meant losing an average of 130,000 hectares per year. Thus by 2019,
how many hectares of the 10 million hectares will remain? Make a prediction. What will be
the possible implication?

Rainforest

2. Make a campaign poster to express the student’s desire to stop deforestation.

Reinforcement

Deforestation is a major environmental problem that affects the ecosystem and the living
thing that live in it. without trees there will be no supply of oxygen. The global temperature will
increase which lead to climate change and global warming.

The next module will discuss another effect of human activity on the balance of nature which
focuses on the most productive coastal resources of the Philippines.