Our Digital Rainforest Scrapbook

We have been learning many different things about one type of ecosystem called the Rainforest.  You all know where rain forests are found in the world, what the layers of the forests are, what lives there and how they are effected by humans.  Over the next few days, we are going to be showing what we now know about rain forests by creating a digital scrapbook.  


Your scrapbook will be created on your blogger accounts as a new blog and can be titled whatever you like.  There are different activities that you will do for each post and at the end of this, we will share our scrapbooks with our classmates. 


STEPS: 
1. Each day we work on this you will read one post on the "RAINFOREST ENVIRONMENT" blog.
2. Read the directions and complete the assignment. 
3. After you complete an assignment, you will see that after each one there is a place for you to select either "easy for me," "just right for me," "hard for me" or "boring." You can check one or more of these to tell me how you feel about the project.  


Before the end of this unit, please make sure that you can say "This is my best work." If you need to redo some things, that's okay.  You will be graded on your effort and the thought you put into your work. 


I hope you are excited to start scrapbooking and sharing your knowledge.  Now, look at the first activity.  This one we will do together.

Let's Get Started

Explore the following sites for kids.  Brainstorm about what you like about these.  Are there any that you like better than others?  We are going to share our thoughts together as a class in a little while.  For now, just concentrate on having fun exploring the rainforest!!

the rainforest at night simulation

the rainforest alliance

kids saving the rainforest

videos to think about

Watch the three videos below and the other links if you wish.  Either while you watch or afterwards, write down two things that come to your mind.  Don't worry about spelling or complete sentences. Just write whatever you are thinking and post it to your scrapbook with the name of the video you were watching.  These are just your ideas and thoughts, there is no right or wrong answer. 










important sites for Rainforest video clips and information:

BBC

Beetles, Monkeys and Sloths OH MY!!

We have been learning that there are millions of animals that call the rainforest habitat home.  Choose three to learn about and post in your scrapbook how each animal has adapted to living in their environment. 

TIP: Think about how they find food, what their bodies look like, and what part of the rainforest they live.  Are they canopy dwellers? Do they find their food on the rainforest floor? 

Eastern Gorilla

Boophis viridis frog

Cougar

Here are some sites to help you think of animals to choose.  Remember, in creating your scrapbook, you will want to make sure that you only have information and photos/videos about your topics.  Multimedia scrapbooks shouldn't have links to other sites.  These are just to help with your searches.  



PLANT your feet

Did you know that over 2/3 of all the plants in the world are found in rain forests?  There are plants that grow in every layer of the rainforest.  Many are even large enough to be in more than one layer at a time!



Use the sites below to learn more about plants in the rainforest and how they live.  We have talked about how plants get their food.  How does this work in the rain forest?


In the program below, you are going to design a plant and label what parts of it help it survive in the rainforest.  You can make either a plant you have read about or invent your own.  Save your drawing and post it into your scrapbook. 


TIP: Make sure that you label how it will get/make it's food. This is the most important, but also think about how it defends itself from predators. 

de-forestation. what's that?

illegal logging in Indonesia


One of the most serious topics that we have talked about is deforestation. That is big word that has a BIG meaning.  Do you remember what it means? 

Deforestation is the cutting and clearing away of trees from forests.  We learned that there are a number of reasons why humans are choosing to continue to tear down our world's rain forests.  Rain forests have many valuable resources and people want what they have.  Do you think that this is fair? What happens when people cut down trees in the rainforest? What happens to everything that lives there? 

In your scrapbook, write what you think about deforestation and how humans are impacting the rainforest. 


conserving a.k.a saving it

Do you ever think about what you would say to the people cutting down the rain forests? What would could you say to make them stop destroying the environment?  What if the animals or plants whose homes were being cut down were able to talk?  People might actually listen!



Pretend that you are an animal or plant who lives in the rainforest.  Think about how you would feel to have your home being destroyed.  Write a letter to a logging company convincing them to stop their work.  You can pick any animal/plant that you choose, but try very hard to put yourself in the position of that living thing.  This is your chance to be a voice for those that cannot speak for themselves! 






Now that you have learned so much about the rainforest and your scrapbook is complete, you are ready to help the rain forests in real life.  Make sure that you stay informed and always keep learning! 
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