- Activities and links for Unit 1 for second and third grade
Forest layers mural
Time Span: this is a multi-week project
Materials: Strips of paper approximately 6 feet long that can be hung on the walls. Crayons, colored pencils, small paper for drawing of plants and animals. Pictures from magazines or the internet to depict animals and plants.
Working in groups of three or four, students measure out areas on the long paper proportional to the layers of the rainforest (soil/forest floor, shrub layer, understory, canopy, emergent layer).
This can be used as a guideline:
Proportionality can be taught during a math lesson in keeping with:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3
Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories.
As the unit on biodiversity and rainforests progresses, plant and animal information and pictures can be added to the murals.
Rainforest Animal Report
Materials: Variety of books and internet sites on rainforest animals.
Each student picks a rainforest animal. Using books and other sources, the student researches and prepares a report on the following:
- Habitat
- Food
- Reproduction
- Behavior
- Range
- Interactions with other animals and plants
Listening to nature links
Nature Works Everywhere – The Nature Conservancy
https://natureworkseverywhere.org/resources/recording-the-rainforest/
https://natureworkseverywhere.org/resources/borneo-rainforest-symphony/
Nature Sound Map