I bet you didnt know Termites can help

I bet you didn’t know… Termites can help rainforests survive droughts Teacher Guide Curriculum Areas Food chains Habitats Climate change Ages 7 -11

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What are termites? Termites are insects that live in colonies and eat wood and plant matter. They feed on dead plants, dead animals and their poo – they are called detrivores. © Filipe Fortes* Termites are also called decomposers. Can you label the body parts? What do you think decomposers do?

Facts about rainforests • • Rainforests are very wet and humid Annual rainfall can be 2. 5 m – 4. 5 m Millions of species of animals, plants and microorganisms live there 1 Rainforests cover 2% of Earth’s surface Many plants growing there are used to make our medicines 2 New species are still being discovered Rainforests are disappearing due to deforestation and climate change Why do you think rainforests are called ‘the lungs of the world’? Rose periwinkle is native to Madagascar and is a source of the drugs used to treat cancer. © Joydeep*

Who were the scientists? L. A. Ashton, H. M. Griffiths, C. L. Parr, T. A. Evans, R. K. Didham, F. Hasan, Y. A. Teh, H. S. Tin, C. S. Vairappan, P. Eggleton. Published Termites mitigate the effects of drought in tropical rainforest In Science 262, pages 174 -177 (2019) Ten scientists, all interested in biodiversity and ecosystems, worked together on this project: 5 1 2 2 What do we mean by the terms biodiversity and ecosystems?

Who were the scientists? Dr Louise Amy Ashton works at the School of Biological Sciences at Hong Kong University. She is interested in biodiversity and the role of insects in tropical rain forests. Dr Hannah Griffiths and Professor Kate Parr work in the ‘Funky Ant Lab’ at the University of Liverpool, UK. They are interested in biodiversity and the role of insects in different ecosystems. They have published lots of papers about ants and termites. Professor Theo Evans and Professor Raphael Didham are professors in the School of Biological Science at The University of Western Australia. They are interested in insects and how habitats change. Fevziye Hasan and Dr Paul Eggleton work at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. They are interested in small animals living in the soil, particularly termites, ants, earthworms and beetles. Y A Tey was working at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen in Scotland when this paper was published. H S Tin was working at the Institute for Tropical Biology & Conservation at the University of Malaysia when this paper was published. Professor Charles S. Vairappan is a chemist working on the chemical interactions between plants and animals and their environment. He works in the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation at the University of Malaysia Sabah.

What did the scientists know about termites? Nutrients (food substances) are recycled in nature. Can you name some nutrients? Termites are decomposers – they eat wood and dead plants and break it down into simple substances. Termites feeding on dead plant material. Termites constructing shelter tubes made from soil and their poo!

What did the scientists know about rainforests? Half of life on Earth can be found in tropical rainforests. Increases in global temperature and changing weather patterns are reducing rainfall and threatening the survival of rainforests. Rainforest in Kinabalu Park, Borneo. ©Dukeabruzzi* Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest. ©Iubasi* Do you know why global temperatures are rising?

What did the scientists do? Scientists used poison to remove termites from some areas of the rainforest. During the drought period, they compared these test areas (termite-free areas) with control areas (areas containing termites). What features of the rainforest do you think the scientists observed and measured? How long do you think the scientists’ experiment lasted? Termites (Hospitalitermes sp. ) are found in massive numbers in rainforests. © Bernard DUPONT*

What did the scientists find out? During the drought period, there were some significant differences between the test and control areas. Variables observed/measured by the scientists Observations in control area (with termites) compared with test area (no termites) Depth of leaf litter 22% lower Soil moisture 26% higher Soil nutrients Better distribution of soil nutrients Survival of seedlings 51% higher What conclusions can you draw from these observations? Do any of these results surprise you?

Why is this research important for climate change? Dry conditions in rainforest Decomposers Fungi & bacteria Struggle to survive Decomposers Termites Dry ground - easier to tunnel Leaf litter pulled below ground and eaten Fewer nutrients and less moisture released into soil Termite poo containing nutrients and water released into soil Plants will find it hard to survive More plants will survive and grow

Quick activity 1 Are termites our friends or foe? © Alton* Termites eat dead wood on the forest floor and wood that is used to build houses. They become serious pests when they invade homes, eating the windows, doors and even the furniture! They cause billions of pounds worth of damage every year worldwide. © Bernard DUPONT* Termites can enrich the soil, even in in dry conditions, which benefits all living organisms in the rainforest. A rainforest with termites will be more resilient to the increased frequency of droughts (due to global warming).

Quick activity 2 (3 slides) How does energy get passed from food to feeder? Resources Digital/printed images of the organisms on this slide and next

Quick activity 2 What do you know about recycling in nature? decomposers

Quick activity 2

Longer investigation 1 Will termites’ tunnels be stronger in wet or dry conditions? Termites make tunnels underground. Let’s investigate. . . • • Roll two pieces of paper to make two tunnels Dip one into a jug of water so that it is completely wet Lie each tunnel on a flat surface Place coins onto the tunnels until they collapse What did you observe? Have a look at the next two slides to see what children at St. Margaret’s C of E Junior School, Leamington Spa, found out. Resources 2 sticky notes (or paper approx. 5 cm x 5 xm & glue stick/tape), jug of water, small coins (1 p or 5 p)

Longer investigation 1 - exemplar Lottie’s findings 1. Getting ready 2. Preparing tunnels 4. Lottie’s home science book – Lottie changed the time that she dipped the paper tunnels in water (10, 20, 30 seconds) to see whether it changes their strength. 3. Adding coins

Longer investigation 1 - exemplar Mya’s findings What did you find out? Why do you think termite populations do well in droughts?

Longer investigation 2 How biodiverse is the place where you live? How many ecosystems can you identify in your local environment? Choose ONE ecosystem and spend time observing the different species there. © Chris Reynolds* Resources Paper, pencils, pooters, plastic containers, magnifiers, nature guides or mobile devices to access i. Naturalist app – use to identify any unknown species.

What did you find out? How biodiverse is the place where you live? How many insect species did you identify? Which is the most common type of insect in your ecosystem? What other types of animals or plants did you see? Did you see any decomposers? Which ecosystem showed most biodiversity?

Longer investigation 3 How can you observe decomposers at work? Earthworms are decomposers. You can watch them in action in a wormery. Resources Large plastic bottles or jar, soil, sand, compost, water spray, black cardboard (cereal packets will do), dead leaves, worms from the garden Important: Once your experiment is done, take the bottle out to a bare patch of earth outside and gently empty the content of the wormery and the worms onto the earth. They will crawl away and burrow into the ground on their own and the soil they have enriched will be good for your garden.

Questions for further learning Can you describe the features of a termite? How is it similar/different to another insect that you know? Children could compare and contrast* the termite with another insect focusing on their features or and/or their lifecycles. Can you find out what plants and animals live in the rainforests? How are they adapted to live in this habitat? How do different organisms interact? Children could create food chains and webs. What is happening to the world’s rainforests? Why is this important? Logging, farming and mining reduces termite populations in rainforests. What is causing global warming? What impact will this have on our world? Children could research the causes of global warming and find out what scientists think might happen in the future. Orang Utan eating a coconut in the rainforest of Borneo. © Eleifert*

Graphic organiser: compare and contrast Comparing a termite and a ladybird/other species Main similarities 1 2 3 Main differences Termite In relation to… Ladybird/other

More about climate science These I bet you didn’t know. . . articles describe more research into climate science: • • About biodiversity and trophic cascades Bees and caterpillars can change the evolution of plants What happens underground when humans stay indoors Water can be harvested from the air in very dry climates Evolution of life in cities What is happening to the bees Whale song is changing Computers can measure the happiness of a city How does air pollution affect your local environment? Children could investigate levels of air pollutants across the UK and in their local area using PSTT’s Air Pollution Research resources.

Maths links Area of learning Activity Tally charts Observation of species in a habitat / ecosystem. Pictograms, bar charts After surveying species in a local ecosystem, draw graphs to illustrate biodiversity in your local environment Fractions What fraction of the minibeasts you observed were. . . spiders, woodlice, etc. ?

Writing links Area of learning Activity Newspaper report Describe what the scientists have found out. Instructions Explain how to make a wormery. Persuasive writing Write a letter, leaflet or poster promoting the protection of habitats/ecosystems. Narrative Imagine you are an animal living in the rainforest. What challenges do you have to overcome? Poetry ‘The bee is not afraid of me. A book of insect poems’ Ed. Fran Long & Isabel Galleymore Reading • Buddy's Rainforest Rescue: A True Story About Deforestation (Wild Tribe Heroes) by Ellie Jackson. • The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. • Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo. • The Explorer by Katherine Rundell.

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