LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Classroom » Multimedia

White latex sap dripping into collection pan on tapped rubber tree in plantation

About this photograph

Creator
Margery H. Freeman
Date created
May 1997
Location
between Dalat and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
License
This photograph copyright ©1997. Terms of use

See this photograph in context

  • Contemporary life in Vietnam: Photographs and text describe contemporary life in Vietnam and the impact of economic and social reforms since the 1980s. (Page 12)
  • Bounce into rubber: Natural latex from Thailand: This lesson for grade nine investigates the natural latex rubber sources from Thailand. Students complete research and experiments to determine which plants from Thailand are sources of latex, and explore images of rubber harvesting in Thailand.

Related media

Learn more

In the classroom

  • See our collection of articles on visual literacy for ideas on using photographs meaningfully in the classroom.
White latex sap dripping into collection pan on tapped rubber tree in plantation

Sizes available: 683×1024 | 333×500

White latex sap is dripping into a collection pan fastened to a tapped rubber tree in a plantation between Dalat and Ho Chi Minh City.

Small incisions are cut into the trees’ bark at night so that latex sap will drip longer before drying out in the tropical sun. Workers collect the tapped latex the following morning. Progressively lower cuts are made in the rubber trees, allowing them to be tapped for many years.

After sufficient amounts are collected, basins of latex are processed with an acid to coagulate it, making the latex more solid. The acid is then removed by rolling the latex under pressure into thin sheets, which are smoked over a fire to stabilize the rubber. In that form the rubber can be exported.

Rubber is an elastic latex from the Hevea braziliensis tree that is coagulated, or turned from liquid to semi-solid form. Waterproof and elastic, rubber is used for sports balls, vehicle tires, and many other practical items manufactured around the world.

Rubber trees originally were a New World plant originating in Central or South American forests. Like corn (maize), cassava, and spicy capisicum peppers, rubber plants were moved by European colony rulers to Southeast Asia. Now 90% of the world’s rubber is produced in Southeast Asia.