Locating the world’s rainforests Social Studies individual Print out the map of the world and give it out to students. Ask students to label countries on their maps. Send students to the library to research the rainforests in the world and to place them on their maps, labeling them. Researching the Amazon rainforest’s ecosystem Science, Social Studies small group, individual The Amazon rainforest is an ecosystem. As such, it provides for the animals, plants and humans who live from it; reciprocally, it depends on the same animals, plants and humans to survive and retain its equilibrium. Brainstorm with students what an ecosystem is and what is involved in maintaining an ecosystem; ask them to focus particularly on the Amazon rainforest. Assign one or two aspects of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem to each student to research. They are to become experts in them. These aspects may be, among others: Water life and systems Land animals Indigenous people(s) The impact of modern civilization Fishing and preying Photosynthesis Climate and River Environmental policies The day the reports are due, have students with the same questions gather and exchange information, completing their report. In their expert groups, ask that students decide who is/are responsible for the oral presentation of what material. Original and completed reports will be submitted for evaluation.  Allow 15 to 20 minutes for this exchange of information. For the rest of the period, students will orally present their information to the class. Students not presenting are to take notes. Notes will be turned in at the end of the period for evaluation. Scan all student work or include physically into the students’ individual folders. Identifying the threats to the Amazon rainforest Science small group, individual Brainstorm with students the different threats to any ecosystem, such as air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, deforestation, rapid and indiscriminate settlement, large-scale farming, etc. Summarize brainstorm on board or poster paper. Send students to the computer lab and/or the library to research the Amazon rainforest. Students can search alone or in small groups. Ask them to specifically obtain information about the different threats currently placed on the rainforest, and to research as well what scientists and other ecologists propose as solutions. Reconvene as a group and ask students to report on their findings. Were those findings consistent with their understandings of the threats to the Amazon rainforest? Are the solutions proposed by the scientific and ecologic communities reasonable, affordable, possible? What is needed to make them possible, at an individual level? At the government level? As a homework assignment, ask that students write a summary of the class discussion, arguing the pros and cons of the arguments that were offered, either by classmates or by the scientists and ecologists consulted. Setting up a farm business in the Amazon rainforest Math small group, class Brainstorm with students what they can do in order to help alleviate the deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Send students to the www.tropicaltreefarms.com site and ask them to navigate it to get an idea of what this business did and does as one answer to the problem. In your area, ask students to work on the cost analysis of the set up of such a business. They will need to buy land, set up a cooperative, grow and plant trees, etc. Then ask students to do the same cost analysis if setting up such a business in one of the rainforest countries. Compare and discuss in class. Identifying rainforest types of wood Science individual, class Ask students if they know any tropical hardwoods. List them on the board. Send students to look up http://www.tropicaltreefarms.com/htm/main/tropical_hardwoods.htm and view the different types of woods presented. Ask students to make a comparison chart of the different woods for Rate of growth Type of tree (size, where it grows, family) Color of wood Density of wood Subsistence in the natural forest Uses as lumber Price on the market Students may have to go to different sites to obtain the previous information. Reconvene as a class and compare the different woods and their prices Researching the recycling of old wood Science class, individual Ask students to research, either through their local lumber businesses, or through websites, what salvage lumber is. Discuss the pros and cons of salvage lumber for Amazon rainforest hardwoods. Ask students to take notes as the discussion is underway and to summarize their notes as homework. Planting a tree on Earth Day Science class Acquire a tree in prevision of Earth Day. Before Earth Day, show students pictures of the grown tree and share characteristics of the tree. Explain the importance and symbolism of planting a tree. Go over planting procedures and requirements. Assign jobs (carrying the tree, the soil, the tools, the water). On Earth Day, make sure that all students get to dig some of the soil and that they get to put a shovel or handful of soil in the tree bed. Record the event on video and post on the school website. Have students sign up for caring for the tree and keep a record of the adaptation of the tree into its new location. Share the record on the school website. Giving a slash-and-burn workshop Social Studies, Language Arts pair, individual Ask students to interpret the expression “slash-and-burn”. Then send them to the library or the computer lab to research what this farming technique entails. Reconvene and ask students to pair up. Each pair is to design a workshop explaining to the Amazon peoples (indigenous and recently immigrated) The slash-and-burn technique, Its advantages (rationale for) Its disadvantages (rationale against) Their position on the issue Each workshop project must have visuals, and short explanatory bullets. Ask that each pair videotape their workshop and submit text and tape for evaluation. Ask volunteers to give their workshops to the class. Researching common drugs made with rainforest ingredients Science individual, class Ask that students look with their parents into the family medicine cabinets. Ask that students look for common drugs information sheets, and possibly bring them to school. Gather some common drugs fact sheets to make available to students. Go with students to the www.rain-tree.com site, click on the facts link that should bring you to the http://www.rain-tree.com/plantdrugs.htm page. Ask them to look into their drug information sheets to see if any of the listed rainforest plant-derived ingredients enter into the composition of their medicine. Discuss the importance of rainforest plants for modern and traditional/natural medicine and medications. Making a rainforest game Language Arts, Art/PE/Music small group Set up this activity as a competition. The goal of this activity is to sell the games to game companies to raise awareness of the need to conserve and mind the environment. Have students form groups of 2 to 4, and brainstorm ideas for games. Criteria for the games: The games are to be based on factual information gleaned through the different activities that they have worked with throughout the unit. They are to be engaging and fun. They must be geared toward elementary to middle-school children. They can take any kind of format, such as board games, card games, word games, video games, etc. The day the games are due, set up the classroom for such an event, and let students play with their and their classmates games. Display the games for administrators and parents to see. Send selected games to rainforest countries Chambers of Commerce, or to game companies for feedback. Researching the supply and demand of hardwoods Math pair In pairs, send students to the web to research supply and demand of tropical hardwoods. Ask them to look for the cost associated with the supply and demand of hardwoods, and to extrapolate the profit that can be made from growing and selling tropical hardwoods. Ask that students work out the math portion of the activity and write their mathematical reasoning for you to check. Listening to rainforest music Art/PE/Music class Download onto one or two school computers a freeware application such as www.limewire.com enabling you to temporarily download music. Music downloaded using such programs must be deleted from the computer hard drive as you exit the application. With students, conduct a search for “rainforest music” and “musica bosque tropical”. Download the music found and have students close their eyes and listen. Ask students to record their impressions as they “feel” the music. Share students’ reactions to the music. If instruments are available in the school, have students reproduce or create songs that speak to them of the rainforest. Recording natural sounds Art/PE/Music pair, class Pair students and provide each team with audio recording equipment. Send pairs to the outdoors, either behind the school when other students are in class or during a field trip to a particularly serene area. Ask students to record the sounds of nature, such as birds chirping, water falling, leaves rustling, etc. In class, listen to the different audio recordings, and agree on which recordings to keep, given the sound quality and the overall effect intended. Decide as a group in which order the recorded segments need to be produced, and assign the production of the tape either to volunteers in your class or to the school’s radio or TV production team. Make copies of the tape and give them to students to sell. Profits may go into the class fund to buy recycled paper, environmentally sensitive school supplies, or to a conservation group of your choice. Calculating the school’s consumption of paper Math individual Ask students to individually keep track of how much paper they use daily over a week. Do the same yourself, keeping track of how much paper you use in one week for instructional as well as administrative purposes. Ask self-selected students to go to the administration and ask how often they purchase realms of paper for office use. Make sure that paper used for instruction in not counted, since it is included in your count. Have students crunch the numbers to figure out how much paper is used daily in their school over a day, a week, a month, a year. Ask students to search, or obtain the number of students in your county and in your state. Have students calculate from the average consumption of paper they reached for their school and per student, how much paper is used on average at the county and state levels. Wax painting Lake Titicaca (a Uro person/boat/house/ruins) Art/PE/Music, Social Studies individual Have students pencil draw a scene from Lake Titicaca with objects/people in the foreground, middle distance and background. Students will apply one layer of a particular color over the entire drawing. This color will be the background color. After the first layer of color has dried, they will cover with a wax crayon the areas of the drawing that will remain this background color. They will then apply a layer of another color over the whole drawing, let it dry, and wax the area that will remain the second color. Students will repeat the application of a color, drying, and application of wax to areas of the drawing until objects/people in the foreground are of the desired color and the painting is finished. Calculating how many trees are killed to make one realm of paper Math individual, pair Send the students, either individually or in pairs, to the provided websites and other general sites or physical locations to look for the following information: The amount of wood it takes to make one realm or one sheet of paper; The weight of one realm of paper; The number of sheets in one realm of paper; The number of trees or the weight of wood that is contained in one acre of rainforest; Once the information has been obtained and recorded, have students’ share their findings. Once all possible discrepancies about numbers have been corrected, ask that students calculate how many trees are being killed to make their school’s, their county’s and their state’s supply of daily paper. Brainstorming ways to save on paper Language Arts, science small group, class Have students form groups of 4 to 5. Give them poster paper and markers, and ask them to find 10 ways to save on paper in 10 minutes. Have students share their ideas with the class. Decide with students which ones are executable at their level and at the school level. As a class, write out a plan to implement these conservation measures. Share these measures with school administration, and appoint student volunteers to oversee that the measures at the student as well as the school level be implemented. Have students’ report every week on the progress of the paper conservation effort and document it on the school website. Making paper Art/PE/Music individual Search the web for paper making techniques and recipes, and find one that details how to make paper with grass. Have students make one or several sheets of paper and use it to create either a booklet for subsequent units, photo albums, or other useful object through which they will be able to remember the experience and be proud of their achievement. Creating an Amazon rainforest ecotourism brochure Art/PE/Music, Social Studies pair, small group Brainstorm with students what usually goes into a 3-fold ecotourism brochure. Show some examples of design and content. Let students form groups of 2 to 4 and ask them to brainstorm ideas for an Amazon rainforest tourist brochure, such as “total natural spa”, “bird watching”, etc. Send groups to the library to gather information. Each student in a group must have an area to research; each student is responsible for gathering information in his/her assigned area. When the class reconvenes, ask each group to edit the information and to design the brochure. If technology is available, the brochure should be word-processed and pictures should be added. If technology is not available, students can draw and decorate their handwritten brochure. Collect and display the brochures. They can be used for a tourism fair and/or scanned to be included onto the class website and students’ individual folders Creating an ecotourism webpage Science, Language Arts small group Have students form groups of 2 to 4, given students’ personal preferences but also their individual knowledge of web designing and programming. Brainstorm with students The elements entering into an effective webpage; The elements relative to the Amazon rainforest that should be included into the website; The best design for such a website, given the information the students will be required to post; The rubric that will serve to evaluate their work. Ask that each group create a schedule of tasks to be accomplished toward their goals as well as detail the individual responsibilities necessary to reach the goal of the activity. Provide in-class time as well as lab time release for students to work. The day the projects are due, invite parents, administrators as well as other classroom students to come and enjoy the presentations. Either set each group of students to a computer station where they can explain their websites’ rationales and features to their audience, or project students’ websites one after the other onto the classroom’s screen and have each group in turn explain their website. Evaluate and provide links to students’ web pages on the class’s webpage. Creating “Protect the Amazon rainforest” television ads Art/PE/Music small group Brainstorm with students the elements that make TV ads powerful; if necessary, show a few ads and deconstruct them with students. Go over the process of storyboarding with students and explain what elements are necessary to produce a satisfactory storyboard. If your school has a TV broadcast program, ask that someone from the broadcasting team or class come and show students examples of completed storyboards. Brainstorm with students a list of possible ads that would promote sensible tourism in the Amazon rainforest areas. Have students form groups of 2 to 4 and come up, in their groups, with one to three ideas for possible ads. Ask that they submit their ideas to the broadcasting coordinator for feasibility. Once the ideas have come back to you, have groups choose which idea (given the feedback they received) they will develop. Provide storyboarding paper, and have students work on their storyboards during class time. Collect storyboards, evaluate, and forward them to the broadcasting team for evaluation. Students whose storyboards will have been selected may be directing or acting in their own TV ad for the Amazon rainforest! Have the ads broadcasted on the school’s TV network. Viewing the movie Medicine Man Language Arts class Rent and preview the movie for appropriateness of content for your students’ age group. Select passages to show, and prepare comprehension questions for such passages. As a beginning of unit activity, show the scene where the bulldozers are coming to destroy the portion of rainforest. Ask students to predict what will happen, have them brainstorm why the bulldozers are coming and why the scientist fights with the crew. As an end of unit activity, show the scenes where the two scientists try to understand how to find the cure for cancer. After viewing the sequence of scenes and taking notes, ask students to plot the scientific reasoning of the scientists that leads them to the discovery of the cure. Creating a wall-size rainforest Art/PE/Music, science small group, class Clear up one whole wall of your classroom. Have students research the types of trees, plants and animals that live in the Amazon rainforest. Brainstorm with students how to make a wall-size representation of the Amazon rainforest. Discuss in particular the design and materials necessary to achieve the class goal. Assign the making of wall-size trees to one group of students, the making of the Amazon River to another group of students, the making of floor plants to yet another group of students, and the making of diverse Amazon animals to the last group of students.  Invite parents, administrators and other classrooms to visit your Amazon rainforest area when it is finished; have students give tours and explanations as to the various elements entering into this ecosystem. Preparing a workshop promoting conservation Language Arts, Science small group Have students form groups of 3 to 4. Explain to students that they will prepare and present a 15-minute workshop to peers and school personnel about ways to conserve resources. The workshop can focus on one, in-depth aspect of conservation or overview most conservation issues in the United States (or in a particular state) and suggest solutions. Have students brainstorm in their groups the content and the format that they want their workshop to have. Remind them that a workshop’s effectiveness rests partially on involving the audience in meaningful activities; the workshop should not be lecture only. Ask that students turn in an outline of their workshop and the detailing of each group member’s contribution to research, formatting, and presentation of the workshop. Schedule workshop times with classes of different levels as well as with school personnel. It is important to involve the school community in this endeavor to motivate students as well as recognize the importance of the topic. After the presentation, ask student presenters to self-evaluate in terms of their effectiveness in conveying their message and the overall quality of their workshop. Researching and presenting plants indigenous to the Amazon Science pair Brainstorm with students products they know come from rainforest plants and trees, such as rubber, gum, etc. Ask students to pair up and start researching plants indigenous to the Amazon rainforest. When students reconvene, have them share the list of plants/trees/fruit they have found. Assign one or two items to each pair, to be researched in depth. Ask students to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about their items. The presentation will include: The common and scientific names of the plant. Pictures or drawings of the plant. The location range in the Amazon rainforest. Whether this plant is endangered, and conservation efforts if any. The uses indigenous people make of the plant. The possible uses of this plant for health, food, industry, etc. Evaluate the presentations according to the rubric you will have shared with the students as they got started on their project. Creating an Amazon rainforest’s fauna and flora virtual book Science, Art/PE/Music individual Gather all the information that students have found about animals and plants living from and for the Amazon rainforest. Assign one plant/animal per student. Ask that students illustrate (drawing, painting, computer morphing, etc.) their plant and animal, one per page. On the same page they need to synthesize and organize the textual information on their animal and plant. Collect all artwork; scan it in its entirety to include into the students’ virtual folders on the Amazon rainforest. Making paper maché Amazon rainforest plants and animals Art/PE/Music small group After students have extensively researched plants and animals from the rainforest, have students form small groups of 2 to 4. Assign an Amazon rainforest environment to each group of students, and ask them to create plants and animals representative of their environment out of paper maché. Exhibit students’ environments at the end of the unit on the rainforest and ask students to identify the artifacts in Spanish if they can. Reading about a Amazon rainforest’s child day Language Arts individual Purchase the book by Jan Reynolds Amazon Basin, and prepare comprehension questions. Raise students’ awareness by asking them what is a typical day in the life of a young American. Given the diversity of students and cultures that you have in your classroom, student’s ideas of a typical day may vary, and that fact should be emphasized. Explain to students that you will read them a story about a young Yonamama child going about his day, and that they will be asked to answer some questions about the story. Give out the prepared comprehension questions to the students and read them with them prior to reading the story. Read aloud to the students the story of a Yonamama boy’s day. Ask students to answer the comprehension questions either orally or in written. Making an iMovie encouraging American people not to buy products that endanger the environment Language Arts, Art/PE/Music pair Brainstorm with students products that endanger the environment. Pair up students and ask them to research one particular such product. They must find information about: How and how much the product endangers the environment. How much the product is used in the United States. Whether this product does more than endangering the environment, such as occasioning health hazards, etc. Whether there is a replacement for this product that would not endanger the environment. Whether this alternate product is used in the United States and/or other countries, and what the results are in terms of environmental gain. How much the alternate product would cost compared to the cost of damaging the environment. Ask students to synthesize this information into a 30 second iMovie with still pictures, background music and voice over. Show students’ projects during the Rainforest Exhibit at the end of the unit.