Rain forests are dense, they're tall and very wet, and they're full of more different kinds of plants and animals than anywhere else on Earth. Rain forests regulate the Earths climate by storing carbon dioxide and by recycling rainfall through evaporation. Every year these forests can get as much as 400 inches of rain, which is 800 times what Americas wettest cities usually get.
Rain forests are also disappearing. They use to cover 14 percent of the Earths surface in a thick belt that encircled the equator. Today they cover less than 6 percent. When the forests disappears, so do the plants and animals that once lived in them. When trees that store carbon dioxide are cut down, the gas that is released into the atmosphere helps to make the temperature around the world rise. This warming trend is called the greenhouse effect.
“SAVING THE RAIN FORESTS”
Why are rain forests disappearing? Mostly its because people everywhere need the wood that comes from trees in these forests. Imagine a world without wood for houses or furniture or no paper for packaging and books and writing. People also cut down trees to clear land for farms and pastures or to make a way for highways and dams. Yet, in the time to blink your eyes, an acre of forest somewhere disappears and, along with it, untold numbers of plants and animals, some we haven't even discovered yet.
How can we stop this destruction? We can put some part of the rain forest off limits to loggers and hunters. The World Wildlife Federation has helped set aside parks and protected areas in rain forests from Costa Rica to the Congo Basin. But that's only part of the answer.
Another thing we can do is make sure we buy
wood and paper that comes from forests where loggers are careful not to
destroy the forest or their wildlife inhabitants. Soon people everywhere
can help protect rain forests by making sure the wood and paper they buy
have come from forests that have earned the Forest Stewardship Council
seal of approval.
Location of The Tropical Rain Forests
Student Made Miniature Rain Forest
Life In The Tropical Rain Forest
Making A Living In The Rain Forest
The focus of this weeks lesson will be the location of the tropical rain forest and their characteristics.
Guided question - Why are our Rain Forests so special?
Student Information:
- The Rain Forests covers only six percent of the earths land surface,
yet they are home to more than half of the plant and animal species on
earth.
- Almost half of all medicines which are used today originally came
from the Rain
Forests.
- The Rain Forests are a major source of wood for the world.
- The Rain forests provides many food products.
- The vegetation of a Rain Forests is so diverse that you can walk
for over a mile without ever encountering the same species or trees twice.
- Nearly two hundred million people around the world derive their livelihood
from
hunting and gathering in the Rain Forests or from cultivating
within and around
their fringes.
Focus Layers of the Rain Forests
The Rain Forests is made up of a complex system of layers which include
trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, and other plants. There are no distinct boundaries
between the four layers, which include the forest floor, understudy, canopy
and the emergent layer.
Meet
the Rain Forests
Home Is Where You Make It
When you think of a species disappearing from the wild, living only in zoos or maybe a national park, you probably picture something like a buffalo or red wolf. You may be surprised to learn that plants can suffer the same fate. The African violet, a very popular houseplant, is one of the worlds rarest flowers in the wild. It has almost disappeared from its native home in the hillside rain forests of Tanzania, Africa.
The African violet may be considered fortunate compared to other rain forest plants, some of which will die out without ever being discovered or classified. It has been bred successfully and in fact is now a very popular houseplant sold by florist everywhere. Fearing that other species would be less fortunate, scientists have begun to gather seeds and cuttings from native plants found in each of the biomes. Keeping them in “gene banks” is protecting the future of these species. Proper storage methods will allow the seeds to be saved for many years. That will give researchers time to find new and suitable habitats if a plant becomes endangered. It also means that scientists investigating the medicinal value of various plants won’t miss out on the potential benefit of a particular species.
Its hard to believe that a flower can hold the key to a normal life, but scientists are making more and more discoveries about the potential of different plant species in treating a wide variety of ailments. A drug made from the rosy periwinkle is just one of many examples. This drug increases the chances of survival for many children with a type of cancer called leukemia. It has greatly reduced the number who dies from this blood disease. The rosy periwinkle comes from the rain forests of Madagascar. Many scientists believe that the rain forests of the world are the most promising places to look for the cures for cancer and other diseases.
Oral reading
In much of the area around the equator, the weather is always wet and warm. These climate conditions support a biome called the TROPICAL RAIN FOREST. Here, the total rainfall average between 200-400 cm. a year, with at lease a little bit of rain falling every day. Tropical rain forest temperatures are a fairly constant 25 degrees C all year long. Although they can range from as low as 15 degrees C as high as 30 degrees C.
The largest areas of the tropical rain forest
are found in eastern South America,
central Africa, and southeastern Asia. Because these areas has had
stable climates for hundreds of millions of years huge number of plants
and animals have evolved and live in this biome. Scientists have estimated
that half of all the worlds species inhabit tropical rain forests, even
though the forests cover just a small percentage of the Earths surface.
Life in the rain forest has resulted in some unique adaptations. Few are more interesting than those of the three-toed sloth, one of the strangest animals in the South American rain forest. This animal spends most of its life dangling upside down from high tree limbs. Sloth's have hook like claws and long arms that are perfectly suited for hanging from branches. They feed on leaves, but dine on only one tree species. Since sloth's are the only animals that eat this particular leaf and no one tries to dine on them, the sloth is able to lead a slow paced life. When they do move, its at the incredible slow rate of about one kilometer per hour. Sloth's spend eighteen hours out of every day sleeping, so its easy to see how they got their reputation for laziness.
Another unusual resident of the rain forest is the armadillo. The name “armadillo” comes from the Spanish word for armor, which makes sense considering this animals appearance. An armadillos body is covered by a tough shell that is jointed in the middle to provide flexibility. The armor protects armadillos from their enemies. About twenty species of armadillos live in the rain forest today, but once there were many more. The biggest of these ancient armadillos was the size of a small car. Early humans may have used its fossil shell as a tent! Not all armadillos are large, however. One type can roll itself into a little ball with nothing but its armor facing the outside world.
Armadillos are especially good at holding their breath. This comes in handy when they're hungry. Many different species find food by frantically digging up the ground when they smell something to eat. Since armadillos can hold their breath for as long as six minutes, they avoid ingesting any dirt by breathing as they dig. Some folk tales suggest that an armadillo can cross a river by holding its breath as it walks along the bottom from one side to the other. If these stories are true, they may help explain how armadillos have spread so far into Central and North America from the tropical forests around the Amazon River.
Rain forests are also home to the worlds largest snakes. There are confirmed reports of anacondas in South America and pythons in Southeast Asia that measure 9 meters, and unconfirmed reports of specimens that are even longer. Pythons and anacondas share many similarities. Both spend a lot of time in the water, trying to keep their huge bodies cool. Both are constrictors, which mean that they kill their prey by suffocation. When its hungry, a constrictor catches an animal in its mouth, wraps loops of its body around the prey, and then squeezes the animal until it is no longer breathing. These snakes can kill animals as big as a deer, antelope, or crocodiles. They swallow their prey whole, and often do not eat again for weeks.
Scientists describe life in the rain forests
as it exists in the different layers. The tops of the trees form a dense
network of branches and leaves which is called the forest canopy. Life
and sunlight are most abundant in this layer. Many of the plants and animals
in the rain forest spend their entire lives in the canopy, never touching
the ground at all. Instead of having roots in the soil, many small plants
grow directly
on the branches of the tall trees, which form the canopy, include insects,
birds,
reptiles, and mammals who have adapted to life high in the treetops.
The trees that form the forest canopy are 25m to 35m tall, and very tall trees (up to 70m) extend above the canopy in some places. All the trees making up the canopy are similar in appearance. The trunks are slender and branch out near the top (crown) of the tree. The bottom of these tree trunks is often thick and triangular. This helps to anchor them to the ground, since the trees are very tall and “top heavy.”
The trees that make up the canopy of the tropical rain forest shed their leaves continuously few at a time. These leaves tend to be large, leathery, and dark Greenwich helps them to catch more light. Flowers produced from the trees are usually greenish or white, and not very noticeable. An interesting example that sounds tasty is the “chocolate” or “cocoa” tree. This tree produces its flowers and fruit on the stems and main branches, rather than on its smaller twigs. The bark on most of the trees is smooth and covered with lichens.
Epiphytes, or air plants, are specialized plants that are important in the moist climate of the rain forest. Instead of growing in soil, these plants attach their roots to the bark or branches of trees. Vines are one example of epiphytes, as are lichens, mosses, ferns, orchids, and bromeliads. You could say that epiphytes literally “hang on for dear life.”
Beneath the canopy, we find the layer referred to as the understudy. Here, there is less sunlight because of the dense canopy above. Plants and animals of the understudy have adapted to these conditions and do not need the bright light found at the tops of the trees.
The ground or forest floors the lowest layer of the tropical rain forest. It is dark here because of the thick vegetation of the understudy and the canopy block out almost all the sunlight. Few plants grow here, and matter falling from the higher layers decomposes quickly on the forest floor. This process places nutrients in the swallow soil, but the tree roots quickly absorb them, so few nutrients actually accumulate in the soil. That explains why serious problems arise when the forests are cleared to make room for farms. Without trees, there is no matter, which can fall and decompose so the soil loses its nutrients and fertility quickly. For a little while, the nutrients left after the trees and plants are destroyed can support crops, but the soil soon becomes useless.
The problem is complicated by the fact that the rain forest is very slow to replace itself. It may take hundreds of years for New Forest to grow on a new area that has been used for agriculture. If all the nearby forest has also been destroyed, it may not be able to grow back at all. Loss of forest habitat from human actions is known as deforestation. Scientists are concerned about deforestation because of the incredible number of different species that could be lost. Rain forests are being cleared at the rate of 2,500 hectares (ten square miles) every hour. Deforestation is occurring so rapidly that many species may become extinct before scientist even “discover” them. Scientist has predicted that up to one million different plants and animal species could die out by the year 2000.
Unfortunately for the rain forests, many of the countries where they grow are extremely poor. Naturally, these countries are more concerned with feeding their citizens and raising their standard of living than they are with protecting the rain forests. Richer countries contribute to the problem by buying rain forest timber and farm products, such as cattle, which has been raised on cleared forest land. Many environmental groups are working to raise money for the poorer countries so that they can afford to protect these areas.
The tropical rain forest of equatorial Africa is home to the Pygmies. This group is often the subject of bizarre tales about the “mysterious African jungles.” Undoubtedly, many of the strange ideas about these unique people relate to their small size. The tallest Pygmies only grow to a height of about 1.4 meters (55 inches). The Pygmy tribes are hunter gathers, meaning that they are a group who live off food that grows naturally in their environment, instead of farming.
In traditional Pygmy society, the women do the entire food gathering. They search out foods growing wild in the forest, including roots, berries, and fruits. The men are the hunters, using bows and arrows and blowguns to take their prey. Occasionally, women help out in the hunt by heading out into the forest and scaring small animals back towards the Pygmies’ campsite. There, the men are waiting with nets, ready to trap the animals and kill them.
They wear simple clothing, usually breechcloths or short skirts made of bark, grass, or leaves. Most live in homes made of sticks and palm trees. Today the Pygmies interact with other tribes. While their hunting and gathering lifestyle provides the Pygmies with most of the goods they need to survive, they must trade with other tribes to fulfill some of their needs. The Bantu, a taller group of people who are farmers, are their major trading partners. Pygmies move about and hunt on the Bantu's land and sometime seven guard their crops for them.
In return for serving as guards and sharing some of the animals they kill, the Bantu's give the Pygmies grain, cultivate fruits and vegetables, and iron tools. Interestingly, the Pygmies and the Bantu get along fine, each group considers themselves superior to the other. Bantu think the Pygmies are primitive for hunting, while Pygmies believe farming to be an inferior occupation.
No longer isolated in the rain forests, modern
day Pygmies maintain close relationships with neighboring peoples. This
has led to the loss of their native language. An exception is the famous
tribe of Pygmies in the Inure forest of Zaire. Known as the Mbuti, they
were probably the first people to live in this area. Their language and
culture have remained relatively unchanged through the years, although
increased exposure with the modern world is slowly changing their way of
life.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF DR. DORINDA
Reading comprehension/Problem solving
Students will the read the story aloud and answer the questions that
follow
Dr. Dorinda was in a bind. Almost 500 km from the nearest human population center, in the middle of the Sumatra rain forest, she had acquired a tropical illness that seemed immune to the medicine she carried with her. This was a rather odd turn of events, as she had come here in the first place to look for a medicinal plant. Scientists believed that a certain kind of orchid, found only in Sumatra, might contain a compound that could heal “ozone eyes,” a dreaded condition that struck many workers in the Operation Albedo project.
Finding the orchid had not been too difficult. Dr. Dorinda was an accomplished explorer, having learned her way around the rain forest with the help of the Amazon Indians many years ago. Once she located the plant, a simple chemical analysis of the orchid seemed to indicate it held the hope for the compound. Now if she could only find a plant that would stem her raging fever, she might make it back to the space station with this precious cargo.
She was certainly trying to fight hallucinations and delirium brought on by the fever. But her weakened condition slowed her progress through the rain forest and whenever she encountered old logging lands, her passage was slowed almost to a crawl. The vegetation in these areas had not returned to the natural state of tall trees and dark forest floors. Instead, it was a thick tangle of vines and small trees, known as jungle. As Dorinda hacked and slashed her way through the undergrowth, she imagined the vines she cut turning into massive, coiled snakes. She wanted to return to her last campsite and rest, but DD knew that there was only one way out of this remote area and that was straight ahead. There could be no turning back.
To make matters worse, DD had lost her radio transmitter as she rafted across a lowland swamp. Searching for it had been out of the question since crocodiles inhabited the swamp. If she had not lost her radio, she could have contacted the space station and asked them to send a shuttle down to pick her up. But there was no point in thinking about a hopeless prospect! Now, her only communication hope was the small homing device she had strapped to her wrist.
All team members had a standing agreement with headquarters any time they were away on a Biometica mission. If they failed to make radio contact for five days, then the space station team would send out a search party. She just hoped she could last until their arrival.
And so Dr. Dorinda trudged on. The intense heat and humidity of the jungle air soaked her clothes. Biting insects tormented her. As the jungle gave way once again to the Rain forest, the cries of the innumerable birds high in the tree canopy rang in her ears. Not sure whether or not she was hallucinating, Dr. Dorinda sensed that she was being watched.
Maybe it was a native Sumatran, some of whom had returned to the rain forest and embraced the lifestyle of their ancestors. Could one of them be watching her? If only a tribesman or two would appear and share some of their extensive knowledge the medicinal plants found in the area. But the Sumatran rain forest was also the home to several large predators, among them leopards and tigers. There were also plant thieves trying to steal some of the native species. And, of course, there were animal poachers who frequented the forest, seeking exotic creatures to sell on the black market. Was her feverish mind playing tricks on her? Or was something, or someone, watching her? DD heard a noise behind her, She whirled around and gasped in surprise at what she saw...
Four days later, a crew from the space station
arrived in Sumatra to search for Dr. Dorinda. In a small clearing, they
came upon her research equipment, with the sought after orchid propped
up neatly on her backpack. Next to the backpack was her homing signal wristband.
But no Dr. Dorinda. Where had she gone? What had happened to her? Human
footprints, made by someone other than Dr. Dorinda, led away from the area,
as did the large paw prints, of a tiger...The team began an investigation
of the area immediately, but there were not enough clues to explain her
disappearance or help them locate her. Obviously, they would keep on searching.
HOMEWORK
DR. DORINDA, I PRESUME?
1. What do you think happened to Dr. Dorinda in the rain forest of Sumatra? Try writing an ending to the story.
2. Have plant thieves who want her to show them the location of the orchids nabbed DD?
3. Did she run across animal poachers who didn't want any witnesses to their crime?
4. Will DD survive and get out of this predicament on her own, or will
the search team rescue her?
Don’t forget about wild animals such as tigers and boa constrictors
THE FOCUS OF THIS WEEKS LESSON WILL BE THE LOCATION OF THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.
GUIDED QUESTION- WHY IS OUR RAIN FOREST SO SPECIAL?
STUDENT INFORMATION:
The rain forest covers only six percent of the earths land surface, yet they are home to more than half of the plant and animal species on earth.
Almost half of all medicines used today originally came from the rain forests.
The rain forest is a major source of wood for the world.
The rain forest provides many food products.
The vegetation of the rain forests is so diverse that you can walk for over a mile without ever encountering the same species or trees twice.
Nearly two hundred million people around the world derive their livelihood from hunting and gathering in the rain forests or from cultivating within and around their fringes.
Layers Of the Rain Forest
The rain forest is made up of a complex system of layers, which include trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, and other plants. There is no distinct boundary between the four layers, which include the forest floor, the understory, the canopy, and the emergent layer.
Activities
Students will create a three dimensional display showing the four layers
of the rain forest: the forest floor, the understudy, the canopy, and the
emergent layer.
Distribute pages:
(Math)
(1)
Visualizing the enormous size of many rain forest trees is sometimes
difficult to do. For example, The African mahogany tree is 200 feet (61
meters) tall and the Koompassia of Southeast Asia can grow
to 272 feet (83 meters) tall. The Koompassia is the tallest rain forest
tree.
Predict how many students would be needed to reach the height of a
chosen giant rain forest tree if each student stood on the others head.
(2)
Using a partner and a measuring stick, determine your height.
(3)
Collect the heights of all the students in your class and find the
average height.
(4)
Using this new information, once again predict how many students would
be needed and compare this to the original prediction.
(5)
Using either a meter stick or a yard stick (or both for comparison),
measure and mark with chalk the correct height of a giant rain forest tree,
convert yards to feet and inches. Convert meters to centimeters, and compare
them.
(6)
Students will form a line lying head to foot for the entire length
of the rain forest tree drawing, on the school grounds. How many students
did it actually take to reach the length of the tree?
(7)
How does these numbers compare with your other predictions?
(8)
Display your prediction and final outcome on a graph.
(9)
A photograph can be taken of the chalk tree and the line of students.
An interesting angle would be from the roof of the school.
Students will make their own miniature rain forest and observe how it creates its own rain. (Materials): clean dry grass, jar with lid, potting soil, gravel, charcoal (the kind used in an aquarium), small rain forest plants, or mosses (for example): philodendron, begonia, pepperoni, artillery plants, spoon. Spread a layer of gravel on the bottom of the empty jar. Add a layer of charcoal to the jar. Add approximately 2 in. (5 cm) of soil. Place the plants in the soil, making sure the roots are covered. Water the soil to dampen. Do not soak. Place the lid on the jar and keep it out of direct sunlight. Jar lids may be decorated.
Life in the tropical rain forests
This section focuses on the diversity of the rain forest life, how plants and animals adapt, and the interaction of the rain forests animals with the environment. The endangered species are also addressed in this section. Students will learn more about these animals and how they can be saved. Students will receive a 12 page information packet consisting of animal information and animal illustrations.
Activities
Students will receive a 12 page information packet consisting of animal information and animal illustrations.
1. Students will classify vertebrate animals into five groups; birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, mammals.
2. Students will write a letter from the prospective of an endangered rain forest animal. The letter will include how the person they are writing to can help to preserve the animals way of life.
3. Students will construct their own natural bird feeder. Materials
- 1 large pine cone, peanut butter, bird seeds, 24 inch (61 cm) piece of
string, plastic knife, wax paper.
- Cover work area with an appropriate sized piece of wax paper.
- Tie string around pinecone, leaving a loop as a hanger.
- Spread peanut butter on large pinecone.
- Generously sprinkles peanut butter with birdseed.
- After the peanut butter dries, hang pinecone on a tree.
- Enjoy observing the visiting birds to your natural bird feeder
Another way to help the environment is to rinse and recycle man-made
products. Instead of throwing away your next milk carton, try reusing
it to create this bird feeder.
Materials - one quart (.95 liter) milk carton (empty), birdseed, string,
and scissors
- Thoroughly wash the empty milk carton
- Cut a large rectangular window on each side of the carton.
- Fill the bottom of the carton with birdseed.
- Cut a hole in the top of the carton and pull the string through it.
- Decorate your carton if you wish.
- Hang your bird feeder from a tree.
Life in the tropical rain forest - Plants
This section focuses on the uniqueness and importance of rain forest plants. Plants that have disappeared from other parts of the world are still alive today in the rain forests.
Guided question - How important are plants?
- Trees produce oxygen and consume carbon dioxide. The rain forests
of Madonna produce about 40% of the worlds oxygen.
- To maintain and improve resistance to pests and disease, domestic
plants are crossbred with the genetic material from their wild relatives
found in tropical forests.
Activities
Students will receive an information packet that consists of rain forest plant information and rain forest plant illustrations.
1. Students will draw a picture to illustrate an interdependent relationship of a plant and animal living in the tropical rain forest.
2. Student will draw another picture showing what would happen if a plant or animal species were removed.
3. Students will be able to distinguish between a symbiotic relationship and a non symbiotic relationship.
Note: A symbiotic relationship means that the association of two different organisms creates benefits for each individual organism.
4. Students will grow their own pineapple.
Note: Bromeliads are a family of plants that include the pineapple. Many bromeliads grow on other plants. They collect rain- water in their cup-like centers and have stiff, spiky leaves. The hairs on the leaves absorb water so to be used by the plant. A large bromeliad can hold over one gallon of water and serve as home for insects and small water animals.
Materials – 1 fresh pineapple (make sure top is fresh and green), 1 medium flower pot, potting soil, pebbles, 1 large plastic bag
Directions:
1. Cut off the leafy top of the pineapple leaving one third of the
fruit attached. Allow the top to dry overnight.
2. The next day, scrape away any fruit that is still sort making sure not to scrape the center core of the pineapple.
3. Place a layer of the pebbles on the bottom of the pot.
4. Fill the pot about three quarters full with moist potting soil.
5. Place the cut pineapple top in the soil
6. Cover the top of the pineapple and pot with the large plastic bag and put it in a warm, sunny place.
7. When new leaves begin to appear in the center, remove the bag.
8. Watch your pineapple plant grow into a beautiful bromeliad. ( If you are lucky, eventually a new baby pineapple will appear.)
The focus of this section of the unit will be some of the ways people make a living in the rain forest and the products of the rain forest that enrich our lives.
Students will receive a ten-page information packet that consists of
reading materials as well as worksheets.
1. Students will learn about Pygmies of the Congo
2. Students will learn about the Wazann Indians in Brazil
3. Students will learn about Penan of Borneo in Southeast Asia
4. Students will make a toy that originated in the rain forest of Brazil.
It was very popular with the rain forest people between 1880 and 1910.
It was also known as rattlesnake eggs and Tasmanian termite. This
toy demonstrates potential and kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is
energy that comes from the motion of an object. Potential energy
is the stored energy in an object, for example, water in the reservoir
behind a dam.
Materials – 1 large paper clip, 1 thin rubber band, 1 large button with holes, envelope, small paper clip, masking tape
Directions:
1. Open the large paper clip and shape it into a “U”.
2. Bend the ends down and cover them with tape.
3. Thread the rubber band through two holes in the button.
4. Attach the rubber band to the paper clip.
5. Twist the button until the rubber band is tightly wound up.
This is potential energy.
6. Carefully hold your Brazilian beetle, place it inside the envelope.
7. Close the envelope with the small paper clip
8. Give the envelope to an unsuspecting person. When the envelope
is opened, the beetle “buzzes”. This is kinetic energy.
Students will learn how to make latex into a rubber ball.
Material – 1 teaspoon (15 ml) latex, paper cup, 1 tablespoon water, one tablespoon vinegar, two or three drops of food coloring (any color), craft stick, paper towel, plastic sandwich bag
Directions:
1. Pour latex into paper cup. Dip the end of your finger into
the latex and notice how it feels. Latex is not a hazardous chemical.
2. Stir water into the latex with a wood craft stick
3. Add 2 – 3 drops of food coloring.
4. Stir the mixture again with the Popsicle stick.
5. Add the vinegar to the mixture and stir. Observe the mixture
carefully as you add the vinegar.
6. You have now made rubber. Wash it carefully in the sink to
remove any extra latex and vinegar. Vinegar is a mild acid and may
sting if it touches a cut. Simply rinse the area with water.
7. Dry the ball carefully. Now drop the ball onto the floor.
What happened? Your rubber ball can be preserved in the plastic bag.
Eating food from the rain forest is not always good. For instance, in order to make enough orange juice for everyone some orange juice companies destroy rain forest land to plant orange groves. One thing we can do to help save the rain forest is to drink orange juice made only from oranges that are grown in the United States. Orange juice containers will say where their oranges are grown. Oftentimes it will say that the oranges are from Brazil, which means they were grown on cleared rain forest land. If that's the case, try to find another brand of orange juice to buy.
Chocolate, popcorn, cola, and salsa are all foods whose ingredients were originally discovered in the rain forest. There are other delicious foods that originated in the rain forest: bananas, pineapples, oranges, lemons, coconuts, cashews, peanuts, corn, rice, avocados, onions, tomatoes, egg plants, peppers, ginger, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, and kola nuts( this is used to color cola drinks).
We look for snacks like nuts and dried fruits that are labeled sustainable harvested from the rain forest. This means that they came from the rain forest without doing harm to the trees, plants, animals or people that live there. Eating this food is good for you and helps the rain forest.
We also need to eat less beef. Thousands of acres of rain forest are burned each year to grow grass for cattle pastures. For every quarter pound of fast food we eat, 55 square-feet of rain forest are destroyed. If we choose to eat less beef this can really help the rain forest.
We need food to survive, but we need to make rain forest friendly choices about what we eat. We all have the power to save the rain forest. Lets make the difference.
Can rain forests grow back once they have been destroyed?
Rain forest have been evolving for 70 to 100 million years. They contain plants and animals that live nowhere else on earth. When the rain forest is destroyed, so are the plants and animals that have lived there for millions of years.
A rain forest cannot be replaced. Plants and animals have no way to rebuild their complex communities.
For Your Information
Wildcats (WWF) World Wildlife Fund
Wild, Weird, and just Plain Wonderful
1. Monkeys so tiny they fit in your hand
2. Ants that farm
3. Fish that eat fruit
4. Frogs that fly
5. Spiders that eat birds
6. Antelopes the size of rabbits
7. Plants that cure aches and pains
8. Songbirds that visit our backyards each year
“Saving The Rain forest”
Why are rain forest disappearing? Mostly its because people everywhere need
the wood that comes from trees in these forests. Imaging a world with no wood for
Houses or furniture or no paper for packaging and books and writing. People also cut
down trees to clear land for farms and pastures or to make a way for highways and
dams. Yet, in the time to blink your eyes, an acre of forest somewhere disappears and,
along with it, untold numbers of plants and animals, some we haven't even discovered
Yet.
How can we stop this destruction? We can put some parts of the rain forest off
limits to loggers and hunters. The World Wildlife Federation has helped set aside parks
and protected areas in rain forests from Costa Rica to the Congo Basin. But that's only
part of the answer.
Another thing we can do is make sure we buy wood and paper that comes from
forests where loggers are careful not to destroy the forest or their wildlife inhabitants.
Soon people everywhere can help protect rain forests by making sure the wood and
Papers they buy have come from forests that have earned the Forest Stewardship
Council seal of approval.
“ Rain forests”
Rain forests are dense, they're tall, they're very wet, and they're full of
More different kinds of plants and animals than anywhere else on Earth.
Rain forests also regulate the Earths climate by storing carbon dioxide and
by recycling rainfall through evaporation. Every year these forests can get
as much as 400 inches of rain, which is 80 times what Americas wettest
cities usually get.
Rain forests are also disappearing. They use to cover 14 percent of the
Earths surface in a thick belt that encircled the equator. Today they cover less
Than 6 percent. When the rain forests disappear, so do the plants and animals
that once lived in them. When trees that store carbon dioxide are cut down, the
gas that is released into the atmosphere helps to make the temperature around
The world rises. This warming trend is called the greenhouse effect.
1999 “Pennies for the Planet”
Activity Ideas
By: World Wildlife Fund
If you want to teach your students more about the diversity of life in 3 target ecoregions, try one or more of the activities that follow.
1. Research a web on the web.
Encourage your students to learn more about the interrelationships of organisms within an ecoregion by having them make a web of life for one of the ecoregions. Have them list every species mentioned in the newsletter that's found within one ecoregion. Then have them draw arrows showing the ways that these different species’ lives are interdependent. For example, in the Bering Sea ecoregion they could draw and arrow from the “polar bears” to the “seals” with the word “eats” over or inside the arrow. To get more information on the ecoregion, the students may need to conduct research on the web or use other resources.
2. Home Sweet Home
How are Southwest Chinas temperate forests similar to forests and other wild places in your state or ecoregion? How are they different? Have your students research one of the three regions and then describe three different ways it is similar to and three ways it is different from their ecoregion or state. In many parts of the eastern United States, for example, you can find sassafras, rhododendrons, and other plants that are also found in Southwest Chinas temperate forests.
3. Zoo Views
Take your class on a trip to a nearby zoo or aquarium to learn more about the Bering Sea, the temperate forests of Southwest China, and the Congo Basin rain forests. The students can write down every species they find that lives in one of these areas. Or you can create an ecoregional scavenger hunt and see how many answers the students can track down. To make the game more complex, you can ask them to find species that match specific descriptions, such as “a predator from the Congo Basin”, “a bright yellow bird that shares a living space with pandas”, “an insect pollinated plant from the rain forest of the Congo”, “a bird that spends part of its life fishing in the Bering Sea”.
4. Biodiversity on Board
Have the students create a colorful bulletin board or photo collage depicting the biodiversity of one or more of this years ecoregion: the Bering Sea, the temperate forests of Southwest China, or the Congo Basin rain forests. You might want to hang a world map on the board so the students know exactly where the regions are located. Then have them collect newspaper articles about the ecoregions, photographs of the wild places and species within them, and any other relevant information that can be pinned up around the map.
5. Biodiversity Verses
Have each student write a poem about a favorite plant or animal from one of the three regions. Or, have everyone write a creative story, beginning with the phrase, “One day I traveled to (insert ecoregion name)” or “Once upon a time, when I was a (insert species name)”. The student can illustrate their poems or stories and hang them around the room. Or they may prefer to compile their verses in a class “biodiversity book” or wildlife literary journal.
You can find additional activities and support materials on our “Pennies
for the Planet” web site. Visit the homepage at www.worldwildlife.org
and select “Pennies for the Planet”.
Caring is an important component of character to foster in Middle school children. A study by the Search Institute of more than 250,000 children found that only 52% of the sixth through twelfth graders placed a high personal value on helping others. When broken down by age, the results showed that as students get older, they place less value on caring especially boys. By making services a regular component of the curriculum, students may grow to view caring as a natural part of their lives.
Character Education
Teaching Values for Life
Instructional Fair
Ts Denison
Grand Rapids, MI
Character Education
Books to read or share
1. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis Delacorte, 1995, 210 pages (Historical fiction
for grades 4 – 8)
Purpose: Read aloud or independent reading for students
Highlights: The Watsons take a trip from Michigan to Alabama in this
funny, tragic story of a loving African American family.
2. After the Rain, Norma Fox Mazer, Morrow, 1987, 291 pages ( Realistic
fiction for grades 6 – 8
Purpose: Independent reading for students
Highlights: A 15 year old learns to love and appreciate her dying grandfather.
3. The Kids Guide to Service Projects, Barbara A. Lewis, Free Spirit,
1995, 175 pages (Nonfiction for grades 5 – 9)
Purpose: Independent reading for students
Highlights: A step-by-step guide with over 500 service ideas
4. Almost a Hero, John Neufeld, Atheneum, 1995, 147 pages ( Realistic
fiction for grades 6 – 8)
Purpose: Independent reading for students
Highlights: A boy must learn to balance his good intentions with responsible
actions when he gets in over his head doing a service project.
5. What about me? Colby F. Rodowsky, Franklin Watts, 1976, 137
pages ( Realistic fiction for grades
5 – 8)
Purpose: Independent reading for students
Highlights: A teenage girl tries to balance her feelings of love and
hate toward her younger brother who has Down syndrome
6. Nothing But the Truth, Avi, Orchard Books, 1991, 177 pages ( Realistic
fiction for grades 7 – 9)
Purpose: Independent reading for students
Highlights: Everyone seems to lose in this novel of citizenship gone
awry, where characters use patriotism to further their own agendas.
7. The Moral of Compass, edited by William J. Bennett, Simon and Schuster,
1995, 824 pages ( Adult resource)
Purpose: Read aloud
Highlight: More than 50 stories and poems on citizenship and leadership
.
8. Kids With Courage, Barbara A. Lewis, Free Spirit, 1992, 175 pages
(Non-fiction for grades 5 –
Purpose: Read aloud or independent reading for students
Highlights: These are inspiring biographies of real kids making a difference.
9. Maudie and Me and the Dirty Book, Betty Miles Knopf, 1980, 144 pages
(Realistic fiction for grades 5 – 7)
Purpose: Read aloud or independent reading for students
Highlights: This volume in the series features human rights advocates.
10. Great Lives: Human Rights, William J. Jacobs, Charles Scribner’s,
1990, 288 pages (Non-fiction for grades 4 – 8)
Purpose: Read aloud or independent reading for students
Highlights: This volume in the series features human rights advocates.
Caring Skits
Activities
Divide the class into groups of three or four students. Write the words
Rain forest or endangered animals on a slip of paper, making sure there is enough slips
For each group. Place the slips in a bowl. In another bowl, place slips that say the
environment, plants South America, Bats, teaks, etc. In turn, call groups to the front of
The class and have them pick one slip from each bowl.
Give groups one minute to prepare a short skit that matches the topic they
Picked. (Example: a skit showing kids who don’t care about animals) After each skit,
Have a brief discussion to answer one of these questions: Who benefits when people
Care? Who suffers when people don’t care?
Home – School Connections
How can you show you care about?
Give students the activity sheet “How can you show you care about…..?”. Direct
Students to work alone or with a partner to list (?) ideas. Then have students meet in
Groups to read and share their ideas. Have groups choose three ideas that they would
Like to feature in posers to be displayed around the school. Give students time to make
Their posters in class, or assign the project as homework. Invite students to display there
Work after they have presented it to the class.
For Animals
Your City
The Rain forest
Your School
Your Neighborhood or Community
Your Planet
Community Service Projects
Challenge students to complete a community service project on their own, with a
Partner, or with a group. First brainstorm a list of possible projects. Discuss what would
Be involved in each project, whether students would need to raise money to cover the
Costs, and whose permission they would need to do it. Explain that students are
Responsible for doing the project on they is own time.
Have students submit a proposal for their project that includes parental
Permission. After students complete the project, have them do the activity sheet
“Community Service Project Evaluation”.
You can make this a whole class activity if that is more appropriate for your
School population.
Community Service Ideas
Pick up liter at a park or cemetery
Participate in a graffiti clean-up day
Hold a performance at a senior citizens home
Volunteer in the preschool class at your place of worship
Plant a garden; share your harvest
Tutor someone
Shovel snow for elderly or disabled neighbors
Collect and distribute used toys
Prepare a meal for a family (new baby, serious illness, and recent death)
Quotations – Caring
Directions: Read the quotations below. Select an activity to complete.
_______ Choose the two quotations you like best. Explain Why.
_______ Choose a quotation. Draw a comic strip or editorial cartoon to illustrate it. Work alone or with a partner.
_______ Choose a quotation that you agree with. Write about an experience from your life that supports it.
_______ Choose a quotation that you disagree with. Discuss why with a partner.
_______ Work in a small group. Choose three quotations.
Discuss how they apply to a school setting or to a community setting.
Parent Letter
Trustworthiness Responsibility
Respect Citizenship Fairness
Dear Parents,
Our school believes that students need to learn more about the three R’s to become productive citizens of the future. We hope you join us in our efforts to strengthen the community through character education.
We are involved in a program that highlights several critical components of character education. Our class will be doing a variety of activities in school and your child will have homework periodically. Some of the homework activities are designed to let your family communicate about the topics we are studying and to reflect on the values you hold.
Although children at this age are greatly influenced by peer pressure, you are still your child's most important teacher
Thank you for your support!
History
Matching Activity
Directions: Draw a line from the date to the correct answer.
Date Answer
1903 First Puerto Rican forest conservation law
1916 Spain establishes Public Forestry Commissions
1898 Spain proclaims El Yunque a Forest Reserve
Making it one of the oldest reserves in the
Western Hemisphere.
1839 Crown lands of
Puerto Rico passed from Spain
To the United States.
1907 US officially designates
Luquillo Forest Reserve the only tropical rain forest in the
National Forest System.
1860 USDA Bureau of Forestry published the report “Luquillo Forest Reserve Puerto Rico’. This was the first detailed report about the Forest ant its resources.
1917 The Luquillo Forest Reserve was renamed Luquillo National Forest.
1876 The first boundary survey indicates Luquillo National Forest is 12,443 acres.
1860 First supervisor
of Luquillo National Forest appointed. Puerto Rico Forest Service
was created within the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and Labor
and placed under federal forest supervisor
1. The students will be able to skim and scan all given work/reading
assignments with at least 70% accuracy.
2. Be able to locate information quickly.
3. Be able to reread, note take, outline and summarize reading material
with at least 70% accuracy.
4. Be able to relate new information to prior knowledge and experience.
5. Be able to read aloud with expression.
6. Be able to apply knowledge to construct meaning.
7. Be able to discern key ideas, principals, and generalizations by
an author.
8. Be able to compare and contrast major themes and trace their development.
Activities
1. The teacher will conduct an informal class discussion about what
students already know about the rain forest. Show the students the
colorful posters. Find out what they want to learn about the rain
forests.
2. The teacher will draw a web on a large sheet of paper or on the
overhead projector. They will begin by writing the word “Rain forest”
in the middle of the paper. As the students share ideas or words
about the rain forest, write them down. Group the words and ideas
that are related by circling the main ideas and connecting the sub-ideas
to them with lines. Then as a group, let the students write questions
detailing what they would like to learn about rain forests. Save
the questions and at the end of the unit, look at the questions and the
web again.
Metric Measurement
Make copies of the rain forest animal patterns on pages 40 and 41 for
each student. Give students a metric ruler. Have students measure and record
the answers to the following questions in centimeters:
1. Which is the longest animal? __________________ Length _______________.
2. Which is the shortest animal? ____________________ Length_____________.
3. Which is the tallest? _____________________________ Length _____________.
4. How long is the Toucans beak? ____________________.
5. How long is the Jaguars tail? _______________________.
6. How wide are the bat’s wings? _______________________.
7. How tall is the Chimpanzee? _______________________.
Bibliography
1. Abraham, Dean. The Challenge of Global Warming.1989.
2. Ader, W.Neil. Land use and the causes of Global Warming.1994.
3. Conway, Dennis. Global Change: How vulnerable are North and South
Communities? 1995. Indiana Center on Global change and World Peace.
4. Leggett, Jeremy. Global Warming: The Greenpeace Report, 1990.Oxford
Univ.Press.
5. Nordhaus, William D. Managing the Global Commons: The Economics
of Climate Change.1994.MIT Press.
6. Pearce, Fred.Turning up the Heat: Our Perilous Future in the Global
Greenhouse.1989.London.
7. Rifkin,Jeremy. Entropy Into The Greenhouse World.1989.Bantan Press
8. Shneider, Stephen.Global Warming: Are We Entering the Greenhouse
Century? 1989.Sierra Club.
The Biodiversity of The Rain Forest Game
Biodiversity refers to differences that exist among all living things.
Nowhere else on earth, except for the tropical coral reefs, is life more
abundant then in tropical rain forests. If you combine all of the tropical
rain forests that still exist, they would contain at least half of the
worlds species, even though the rain forests cover less than six percent
of the lands surface.
LETS PLAY THE ANAGRAM GAME
Directions: How many words can you create from the word
BIODIVERSITY?
Biodiversity refers to differences that exist among all
living things. Nowhere else on earth, except for the tropical coral reefs,
is life more abundant then in tropical rain forests. If you combine all
of the tropical rain forests that still exist, they would contain at least
half of the worlds species, even though the rain forests cover less than
six percent of the lands surface.
LETS PLAY THE ANAGRAM GAME
Directions: How many words can you create from the word
BIODIVERSITY?
Over 90,000 species of plants have been discovered in the rain forests and more are being discovered. There are a 107 species that have been counted in only a half square mile. There are four horizontal layers of forest vegetation. Each provided specific riches for animals and plant life.
The first layer is the floor level. A mosaic of small herbs, and ferns under which jewel like poison dart frogs lives.
The second layer is bushes and taller herbs such as helicon as and ginger.
The third layer is a shade loving tree, often covered by: orchids, ferns, bromeliads and pipers.
The fourth layer constitutes taller trees or the canopy. These are breath taking forest giants. They stand alone like sentinels overseeing the jungle.
There is a similarity incredible variety of animal life. There is a wide variety of bird life: Hoatzins, Toucans, Screamers, and Parrots.
The Amazon is also home to 3000 species of fish, 4000 species of butterflies, and the worlds amphibians and reptiles are represented in a wide variety of color and forms.
Colorful tree frogs and toads, and camaflouaged Anoles and huge Iguanas are present.
The Capybaras, tapirs, Jaguars, and forest deer’s are found deep in the jungle. The sloth, monkey and caiman are seen occasionally along the river.
To conclude, with all the diversity of the great expanse, and its importance to the worlds ecosystem, there seems to be little question that the Amazon is natures greatest question.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
1. Who lived in Latin America before the 1400's?
2. Who are the Mestizos?
3. Why were Africans brought to Latin America?
4. How has parts of African culture influenced Latin American culture?
5. Why did the number of people in Latin America decrease after the
first European arrived?
6. Is Latin America's population increasing or decreasing today?
7. Where will three fourths of the people in Latin America live by
the year 2000?
Latin America includes people with many different ways of life. For some Latin Americans, life today is not much different from the lives of their parents and grandparents. Other people in Latin America, however, have faced great changes in just a short time. As we read about Latin America, there will be three words we will keep in mind: variety, growth, and urbanization. Urbanization is the movement of people into cities.
During Latin America's long history, many different groups have made the region their home. Latin Americans today include people whose ancestors came from many parts of the world.
The first people in Latin America were the Indians. Latin America has been their home for thousands of years. Some Indian groups built small villages in the thick forests. They cleared a few fields for farming, but much of their food came from hunting and fishing.
Other Indian groups in Latin America lived very differently. They built great cities with temples and palaces. They had kings, priests, and armies.
For thousands of years, all the people living in Latin America were Indians. In the late 1400's, however, new groups of people began to arrive.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus raised the Spanish flag on an island in the Caribbean. He declared that the king and queen of Spain were the rightful rulers of that place. More Spanish explorers arrived in Latin America, and Spain soon controlled the largest share of land there.
Explorers also came from Portugal, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, and elsewhere. Portugal claimed the land that is now Brazil. Other European countries started new settlements along the coast of South America or on islands in the Caribbean. However, Spanish settlers out-numbered those from other European countries.
The European men that came to Latin America were mostly adventurers, coming to make their fortunes. They did not bring families with them. Many of them married Indian women. Their children were known as mesizos. Most Latin Americans today are mesizos, with both European and Indian ancestors.
A third group of people to arrive in Latin America came from Africa. In the early 1500's, Europeans took ships full of African captives to Latin America, where they worked as slaves on large farms.
The cruel slave trade lasted from the 1500's into the 1800's. Between 8 million and 10 million Africans were taken to Latin America. In many parts of the region, Africans outnumbered both Indians and Europeans.
Words from African languages, beliefs from African religions, and African music and art are all part of Latin American culture today. African customs are especially strong in Brazil and in the islands of the Caribbean.
Today, Latin America's population is growing rapidly. For most of its history, however, Latin America has had a very slow growth in population.
Between 75 million and 100 million Indians lived in Latin America when the first Europeans arrived. Soon after the Europeans came, however, millions of Indians died. Some were killed in battle. Some died of overwork on farms or in mines run by Europeans. By far the greatest numbers, though, died of disease.
The Europeans brought diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza with them to Latin America. People in Europe had been exposed to those sicknesses for hundreds of years. As a result, Europeans had become partly immune to them. A person who is immune to a disease will not catch it. Someone who is partly immune might get sick but will not die.
For the Indians however, all those diseases were new and very dangerous. A Spaniard who had measles might be sick for a few days. An Indian who caught measles from the Spaniard usually died. In the years after 1492, European diseases spread like wildfire through Latin America and wiped out whole Indian villages.
For hundreds of years after Columbus arrived, there were fewer people in Latin America then there had been before he came. The population grew slowly. Many children were born each year, but because of hunger and disease, few of them lived to grow up.
Since 1900, however, the population has grown rapidly. New medicines have helped to cure diseases that once took many lives. In 1900, there were about 60 million Latin Americans. By 1955, there were 200 million. By 1970, just 15 years later, there were 300 million. Population experts think that there will be about 600 million people living in Latin America by this year, 2000.
Cities are the fastest growing part of Latin America. More and more people are moving to Latin American cities each year. They hope to find jobs. They want to share in modern ways of life.
Not long ago, most Latin Americans were farmers who lived in small villages. By 1980, however, about half the people of Latin America lived in towns and cities. By this year, 2000, about three fourths of the people will be city dwellers.
Population experts think that Mexico City will soon be the largest city in the world. Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires are also among the giant cities of the world.
The students will illustrate a cloud forest by making one.
In the Amazon Mountains there is a special type of rain forest called a CLOUD FOREST. These mountains are covered with mist and fog just like the fog we have where we live. Because the mountain air is cooler, it causes the moisture from the rain forest to change into “clouds.”
The students will follow these directions:
MATERIALS:
q 12”X18”(30.5X45.7) PAPER
q COLORED CHALK
q COTTON BALLS
q GLUE
STEPS TO FOLLOW:
1. Draw a mountain scene with your chalk. Include green plants, trees,
and animals.
2. Pull the cotton balls apart and glue them to the tops of your mountains
to create your clouds.
3. BONUS – Write a poem about your “cloud Mountain.”
Multiple Choice Test
Directions:
Circle the letter next to the answer that is most nearly the correct answer.
1. What animal in the rain forest is sometimes called the ant bear?
a) Sloth
b) Lizard
c) Anteater
d) Anaconda
2. This mammal lives in the trees of the tropical rain forest. It has
a tube shaped head and nose, and a long tongue rolled up
Inside its mouth.
a) Sloth
b) Lizard
c) Anteater
d) Anaconda
3. These are agile rain forest predators. They are superb tree climbers.
They stalk their prey by silently moving closer
And closer to get their victims.
a) Tigers
b) Lions
c) Leopards
d) Jaguars
e) All of the above
4. These cats hunt in groups in order to ambush animals
Traveling in herds.
a) Tigers
b) Lions
c) Leopards
d) Jaguars
e) All of the above
5. This mammal has flaps of skin on each side which allow them
To glide up to 20 feet (6.1m).
a) Flying fox
b) Flying snakes
c) Flying squirrels
d) Flying lizards
6. This mammal is not a fox at all, but is a large fruit and insect
Bat.
a) Flying fox
b) Flying snakes
c) Flying squirrels
d) Flying lizards
7. This snake grows to 30 feet (9m) in length, swallows its prey
Whole, taking its time to digest it.
a) Boa Constrictor
b) Anaconda
c) Bush master
8. This snake wraps around its victim, either suffocating or
Crushing its victim.
a) Boa Constrictor
b) Anaconda
c) Bush master
9. This rain forest animal use camouflage to design or conceal
Themselves from predators. They are hard to
spot in their high
Canopy home. They hang upside down to eat
and to sleep.
a) Monkey
b) Parrots
c) Eagles
d) Sloth
10. This bird is bright in color, found primarily in the tropical
Rain forests, very popular as pets. They can be very tamed and
Affectionate.
a) Eagles
b) Parrots
c) Cockatoos
BONUS- Name the largest parrots of South and Central America.
a) Cockatoos
b) Parrots
c) Macaws