Format
1. Introduction
2. All about the rainforest
3. Layers of the rainforest activity and song
4. Visit from an animal ambassador and/or a zookeeper (with at least 3 weeks’ notice)
5. Animals of the rainforest and their adaptations
6. Rainforest product game
7. Time for questions
Objectives
• Name the layers of the rainforest and animals that live in each layer
• Identify adaptations of plants and animals in the rainforest
• Understand how the rainforest affects our lives even if we live thousands of miles away
Standards Alignment
National Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
Kindergarten:
Performance expectations
K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live
K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and interpreting data – Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the natural world in order to answer scientific questions.
Disciplinary core idea: ESS3.A – Natural Resources – Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do.
Crosscutting concepts: Systems and System Models – Systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together.
Grade 1:
Performance expectations
1-LS1-2. Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.
Science and Engineering Practices:
• Make observations (firsthand or from media) to construct an evidence based account for natural phenomena.
• Read grade-appropriate texts and use media to obtain scientific information to determine patterns in the natural world.
Disciplinary Core Ideas - LS1.A: All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
Crosscutting concepts: Every human-made product is designed by applying some knowledge of the natural world and is built by using materials derived from the natural world.
Grade 2:
Performance expectations
2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
Science and Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations – Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data which can be used to make comparisons.
Disciplinary Core Idea - LS4.D – Biodiversity and Humans – There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Crosscutting Concepts: Structure and Function – the shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s).
Grade 3:
Performance Expectations: 3-LS4-3 – Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Scientific and Engineering Practices:
• Use evidence to support an explanation.
• Use Evidence to Construct an explanation
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
• LS3.C - For any particular environment, some kids of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
• LS4.D - Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.
Crosscutting Concepts: Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort and classify natural phenomena.
Grade 4:
Performance Expectations: 4-LS1-1 – Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Science and Engineering Practices: Construct an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: LS1.A – Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Crosscutting Concepts: A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
Grade 5:
Performance Expectations:
• 5-PS3-1 – Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
• 5-LS1-1 - Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
• 5-LS2-1 – Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
Science and Engineering Practices: Use models to describe phenomena.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
• PS3.D – The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
• LS2.A – The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (Both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of live. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
Crosscutting Concepts: A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
State Standards
Nebraska:
SC 2.3.1 - Students will investigate the characteristics of living things.,
SC 2.3.2 - Students will recognize changes in living things
SC 5.3.1 - Students will investigate and compare the characteristics of living things
SC 5.3.3 - Students will describe relationships within an ecosystem.
SC8.3.3 - Students will describe populations and ecosystems
SC8.3.4 - Students will identify characteristics of organisms that help them survive