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Collaborative Rainforest Collage

Students will learn about rainforests and collaboratively create a mural depicting life in these important ecosystems.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Poster Board
  • Textured Materials

Steps

  • Step 1

    Rainforests are ecosystems that play a vital role in the health of the planet. Tropical rainforests cover about 8% of the world's surface and contain over half of the Earth's species of animals and plants. Have students learn about the various types of rainforests, such as mangrove, tropical, temperate, etc. and where they're located. What is a carbon sink? Why are rainforests called "the lungs of the world"? What are some of the species of flora and fauna that live in rainforests? What are some of the threats to the survival of rainforests?

  • Step 2

    Have students form small groups, each of which will create plants and/or animals to contribute to a large mural on a class bulletin board or their group's poster board. Have them look at images of some of the species of plants and animals that live in rainforests. If all the groups are contributing to one large bulletin board display, have each group focus their contributions on one type of plant or animal. For example, one group might create underwater creatures, another might create some land animals, another could create trees, etc. To create a textured lush look, students can make a crayon rubbing by placing paper over a textured item such as bubble wrap, sandpaper, or corrugated cardboard and rubbing the side of an unwrapped crayon over it.

  • Step 3

    Have the groups arrange their cut-outs on a class bulletin board or their team's poster board. Blank spaces can be filled in with markers if desired.

Standards

SCI: Understand that events have causes, sometimes simple and sometimes multifaceted. 

SS: People, Places, and Environments: Use maps, globes, and other geographic tools. Demonstrate understanding of the use and misuse of the environment and the relationship between human populations and the physical world. 

Adaptations

Have students form teams to create a rainforest-themed board game based on their research on the subject. There could be challenge questions involving knowing which species of animals live there or how to protect the health of the rainforest. They can make game tokens out of Model Magic.

Invite a wildlife specialist to talk to the class, either in person or via video, about species of animals that live in a rainforest. Have the students prepare questions in advance for the speaker.