#405. Rainforest

, level: Elementary
Posted Sun Apr 19 15:15:40 PDT 1998 by Sandy/K/Mo (Angel893@aol.com).
St. Francis Xavier, Missouri
Materials Required: varies
Activity Time: intergarted throughout day
Concepts Taught: increasing awareness of Rainforest

Coming up on Earth day.. and this is my month to do the rainforest I thought I would share some of the things I enjoy doing with my kids. We read many books and look at pictures of the rainforest. The Great Kapok tree is our favorite. I think everytime I read it I see so many new things. We talk about the animals.. the colors, the textures. The Rainforest Babies, First Discovery Rainforest, Inside a Rainforest are just a few of the books we read.
We make puppets... using lunch sacks parrots, toucan's
I copy different animals and they color and cut out.. we use them as puppets on a stick or they use them in a picture that they have drawn. The puppet shows are awesome that they do and I give them guidelines and this is their assessment for the unit.

I integrate the rainforest throughout the subject matters. In math we add & subtract the trees that are chopped down.. I give them story problems relating to things happening. We do our daily writing using some of these.. What would my life be like living in the rainforest... What kinds of foods would I eat.... Why is the rainforest important to me... What can I do to help... What kind of clothes would I wear in the rainforest. What do all the bright colors on the animals mean... Design a t shirt to help save the rainforest...

We learn poems..
here are a few..
Rainforest are so green,
so damp and so misty.
Shrieks, whistles and growls of all kinds fill the air.
Plants and animals of many colors decorate this scene.
The sweet smell of flower can be sniffed out.
What a mysterious place!

One little squirrel monkey, sitting in a tree.
High up in a rainforest, happy as can be.
One little squirrel monkey, sad as can be,
Watching a bulldozer cutting down his tree.

T ropical and beautiful
O h what vibrant colors!
U p in the hollow trees they sleep
C entral and South
A merica is where they live, Can do this with other animals
N ibbling on pieces of fruit. or the word rainforest.

Green, damp, full of life-
Why are they being destroyed?
Save the rainforest.

Air plants,
Growing on trees,
Getting sunlight up high
They would perhaps die on the ground
Tree's friends.

We make bromeliads with toilet paper tubes. Mobiles of butterflies. Tissue paper flowers. Stuff Parrots and hang from the ceiling. Have a party with things only grown in the rainforest. Try to grow the top of a pineapple.

Hope this gives you some ideas.
Sandy/K/Mo Angel893@aol.com