Rain Forest Book Project

Your Student Treasures book this year will explore the rain forest habitat. Below are the pages you will need to include in your book with information and ideas you can use in your text and links to sites you can visit for more information at the bottom. All pages need to have at least a half page of text, and a colored illustration, diagram, or chart.

Title Page and Cover

Design an interesting cover you can duplicate for your title page. It needs to have a title and colored background. You cannot have any white in the background. You may want to think and sketch out a cover design as you research the information for the pages. This does not have to be done first, but needs to be something you are constantly thinking about throughout your project.

Weather and Map of the Rain Forest - Page 1

The world map page will be the illustration for this page and the content will be the information you find on the weather in the rain forest. For the map, use your atlas to highlight the areas of the rainforest around the world. You will also need to create a map key for the coloring of the rainforest area. Label the oceans and continents too.

Layers of the Rain Forest - Page 2

Rain Forest Layers

On the layers page, your illustration will show all of the layers of the rain forest as well as some of the creatures in each layer. On the text page, you will have 4 headings and a short descriptive paragraph of the information you find on each layer. You will need to find information on each layer:

Plants of the Rain Forest - Page 3

Rain Forest Layers

On the plants page you will need to divide your illustration page into 4 squares. In each square, you will need to draw a plant and either diagram its parts or write a descriptive sentence about how it's useful to the people in the rain forest.

Banana Plant:
large, strong, fruits
Acacia Tree:
ants and tree live together, ants help pollinate tree, tree provides ants food
Blue Ginger:
flowering plant, used as a spice in food
Epiphite:
doesn't need soil, grows on other plants and rocks, one is called a bromeliad
Bamboo:
strong grass, can grow up to 2 feet a day, many uses such as furniture, bridges, houses, roof
Kapok Tree:
produces waterproof fiber used in jackets, lifejackets, mattresses, good for canoes and rafts
Pitcher Plant:
carniverous, vase shaped leaves, filled with sweet liquid, attracts insects and frogs
Rafflesia:
produces largest flower in the world, grows on roots and stems of shrubs, flower is 3 feet across and 13 pounds, stinky smell attracts insects
Lianas:
biggest vine, up to 800 feet long, sometimes pulls down trees

An Animal or Insect from the Rain Forest - Page 4

Poison Dart Frog

On the animal page, you can choose an animal or insect that can be found in the rainforest. You need to describe the animal as if we have not seen it before. Include: size, color, layer of rainforest it inhabits, what it eats, how it gets it's food and anyting else interesting about it that would appeal to the people reading your book. On the illustration page you will need to fill the page with a colored drawing of your animal or insect. Show it in action in its habitat. Your illustration will look just like you took a photo of the animal or insect.


Food and Items from the Rain Forest - Page 5

Food from the Rain Forest

Get out your homework from last week and look at the items on your rain forest foods checklist. All of those items came from the rainforest. You can categorize them and write a paragraph about each category.



People of the Rain Forest - Page 6

You will use the text in the classroom to research the men, women and children of the rain forest. You will need to describe what they each wear, their role in their village, and their daily activities. You should have a descriptive paragraph of each. For the illustration page, you can separate it into 3 boxes or draw them all in one picture.

Rain Forest Food Chain - Page 7

Describe a food chain in detail and draw the diagram of it on the illustration page. You may choose to include your animal or insect and some of the plants from our list in your food chain.

Rain Forest Endangered - Page 8

Bird from the Rain Forest

Find a plant, animal or insect of the rain forest that is endangered. Write a descriptive paragraph explaining the situation that is endangering the animal, plant or insect. Come up with a plan to help the rainforest or come up with some way people can help to preserve this habitat for the planet.



Helpful Sites:

Rainforest Facts

Rainforest Facts for Kids

National Geographic for Kids


Contact Mrs. Hankins: dhankins@fz.k12.mo.us

Written by D. Hankins