Manaus
The Amazon · Rio Negro
Maths + Geography · Ages 11–13 · Cross-curricular lesson
Mission South America
An international commission is looking for a site for a research centre that will monitor environmental change in South America. There are three candidates: Manaus (the Amazon), Lima (the Pacific coast) and Buenos Aires (the Río de la Plata Basin). There is no “right” city decided in advance – the winning decision is the one with the most accurate data and the strongest arguments.
Step 1 of 5
Mission: a temporary field base
A team of scientists needs to recommend where to set up a temporary three-month field base for monitoring climate and water. Three candidates are waiting to be analysed:
Your team will analyse just one station in depth. Once you have finished your analysis, the system will show the results for all three stations.
Step 2 of 5
Analysing one climate graph
Choose a station to analyse in depth:
—
Changed scale – do not compare the bar heights directly with the other stations.
Temperature (°C)
Precipitation (mm)
| Month | Temperature | Precipitation |
|---|
°C
mm
%
Extension (for faster teams or homework)
- Calculate the station’s mean annual temperature.
- Choose the best three-month period for fieldwork – justify your choice using temperature and precipitation.
- Lima: what share of the annual precipitation falls in July–September? Does a high percentage mean a “wet season”? Justify your answer.
Step 3 of 5
Comparison dashboard
The system shows the results for all three stations. The dashboard does not name a “best” location – it only marks the lowest (▼) and highest (▲) values.
Check the statement: “Manaus and Lima are both similarly warm, so their water supply conditions are similar.”
Step 4 of 5
Climate and river regime
Note: the precipitation at the station itself does not always fully explain a river’s regime – a river can receive water from distant parts of its drainage basin.
%
%
pp
Check: “Because of its high annual rainfall, Manaus has no water-related risk.”
Step 5 of 5
Mini decision: a temporary field base
Choose a site for a three-month field base. Give one piece of numerical evidence from the climate graph, one piece of evidence from the river regime graph and one natural risk.
The natural environment study is complete
Lesson A is complete
Step 1 of 6
Mission: a permanent international centre
The commission needs to recommend a permanent site for an international research centre. This lesson works on its own – you do not need to complete Lesson A first.
Your field file from Lesson A
Comparison dashboard (Lesson A)
Step 2 of 6
Logistics diagram and access
A teaching logistics diagram with the linear scale 1 cm = 800 km. Each candidate city is supplied from its own supply point. The lengths of the routes on the diagram are given below – work out the route distances.
The values are adapted for teaching (modelled route data) and are not intended for real navigation.
| Route | Length on the diagram |
|---|---|
| Supply point → Manaus | 4.6 cm |
| Supply point → Lima | 0.8 cm |
| Supply point → Buenos Aires | 0.5 cm |
| Manaus → Lima (on the diagram) | 3.75 cm |
km
km
km
km
Check the claim: “The supply route to Manaus is 3,000 km longer than the supply route to Lima.” Work out the actual difference on the diagram and correct the claim.
km
On the diagram, deliveries to Manaus travel in two sections: 2,960 km by water and the rest overland.
km
%
Step 3 of 6
Population and pressure
The data refer to service areas defined for this task, not to the official boundaries of the cities.
| Candidate | Population | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Manaus – Amazon area | 1,920,000 | 48,000 km² |
| Lima – coastal area | 10,680,000 | 2,670 km² |
| Buenos Aires – Río de la Plata area | 5,400,000 | 13,500 km² |
people/km²
people/km²
people/km²
times
times
If the population of the Manaus area grows by 12.5% and the area stays the same:
people
people/km²
Step 4 of 6
Weighted model
A panel of experts gives scores from 1 to 5 on five criteria. Work out the weighted score of each candidate with the weights shown: the sum of (score × weight) across all the criteria.
pts
pts
pts
Which candidate wins according to this model?
Step 5 of 6
Final recommendation
Choose a site for the permanent centre. Support your decision with a distance calculation, a population calculation and the model score. Name a limitation of the model.
Field file from Lesson A
Use values you calculated in the earlier steps that relate to the city you have chosen.
km
Step 6 of 6
Reflection
Which decision could you not have made with geography alone, and which one with maths alone?