You are a team of 4 scientists going deep into the Amazon Rainforest. You are visiting with the tribe of Yuhupde. The tribal leader will be your guide. You have 1 week to find out all you can about the rainforest. Your fellow scientists really want to know about the levels of the rainforest and what is in each of them. So get your gear and go. With so much to see and learn, you better hurry you have a big exciting journey ahead of you.  We all want to find out what you have learned.

Task:

When you come back from your journey, you should be able to tell your fellow scientists about the following things.

What lives in each level of the rainforest?

What are the different levels of the rainforest?

 trees at different levels of the rainforest and how they are used

 plants at least 4 if there are plants at that level

animals at least 4 for each level

 Each of you will have a lab journal. You will write your findings in your lab journals including snapshots of animals plants and trees that you find. You will report to your very excited fellow scientists by making a mural of the rainforest including all the information you came back with. Remember your other fellow scientists have never been to the rainforest so make sure they can picture themselves there with your illustrations.

Process:

Each scientist will have a specific area of the rainforest to study.

Scientist 1:

You are in charge of the Emergent layer. In your lab journal you should write about 4 animals or insects that live there and what they eat. Talk about how tall the trees are in this layer. How tall are these trees? What is the temperature at this level?

Here are some websites to help you:

http://www.thinkingfountain.org/s/strata/strata.html

Check out Geosystem and Ecosystem

http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/

Click on items above latest news to get the information. http://www.rainforestlive.org.uk/index.cfm?Articleid=370

http://mle.matsuk12.us/rainforest/emergent_layer_animals.html

http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/rainforests/canopy.html

Scientist 2:

You are in charge of the Canopy layer. In your lab journal you should write about 4 animals or insects that live there and what they eat. You should write about 4 different animals or insects. Give 2 examples of the trees in this layer. How tall are these trees?

Here are some websites to help you:

http://www.thinkingfountain.org/s/strata/strata.html

Check out Geosystem and Ecosystem

http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html

Click on the 2^nd picture at the top of the page and then go down to canopy

http://www.rainforesteducation.com/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/

Click on items above latest news to get the information. http://www.rainforestlive.org.uk/index.cfm?Articleid=370

http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/rainforests/canopy.html

Scientist 3:

You are in charge of the Understory layer. In your lab journal you should write about 4 animals or insects that live there and what they eat. How tall are the trees in this area? What is a vine and what types of vines grow in this area?

Here are some websites to help you:

http://www.thinkingfountain.org/s/strata/strata.html

Check out Geosystem and Ecosystem

http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html

Click on the 2^nd picture at the top of the page and then go down to understory

http://www.rainforesteducation.com/

http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/layers-rainforest.cfm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/

Click on items above latest news to get the information. http://www.rainforestlive.org.uk/index.cfm?Articleid=370

http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/rainforests/canopy.html

Scientist 4:

You are in charge of the forest floor. In your lab journal you should write about 4 animals or insects that live there and what they eat. Write about 2 types of plants at this level. Find out what life is like for a child living in the rainforest. Do they go to school? Do they live in houses like ours?  What types of pets do they have? What are the names of a few of the tribes?

Here are some websites to help you: 

http://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/305.html

http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/people.html

http://www.leslietaylor.net/gallery/life/life.htm

http://www.thinkingfountain.org/s/strata/strata.html

Check out Geosystem and Ecosystem

http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html

Click on the 2^nd picture at the top of the page and then go down to forest floor

http://www.rainforesteducation.com/

http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/rainforests/canopy.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/

Click on items above latest news to get the information. http://www.rainforestlive.org.uk/index.cfm?Articleid=370

Each scientist should be sure to include pictures from their journey in their lab journal. Include animals, plants, trees, and people if it is in your topic. You may print them from the websites you look at and glue them to your lab journal.

When you have finished you are going to share your information with your group of scientists and make a mural of the rainforest including the things that you learned. Make sure you make it to where the rest of your fellow scientists that have not been can picture themselves there. These will hang in the hall of the laboratory so others can see what you have learned. We have family members as guests coming in to explore our laboratory next week we want our murals to be easy to see what we have learned. You will have the opportunity to talk about what you learned to these guests when they come in.

Evaluation:

Lab journal 50% These will be graded individually to see if you gave me the information asked for in your task.

Mural 50% I want to see everyone participating. It must be nice and easy to read. It should be colorful and include information such as height, and animals at the different levels. This is the only grade that will be group.

Your total grade will be the amount you get on your lab journal + your group project. Everyone will get individual grades.

Conclusion:

Ok scientists, you have learned so much about the rainforest in the Amazon and you did a great job putting all your information together so that other scientists could see your information. What if it was you who actually lived in that rainforest like the tribes do? Do you think you could handle it? We know there are other types of forests do you think you could live in another forest other than the one you studied about? Look at this website and reflect on the differences between the different rainforests.

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep8e.htm