Rainforest Unit ELA, Science, Mathematics 4th Grade Time Frame: 2 weeks

Table of Contents
Heading:........................................................1 Table of Contents:.........................................1 Description of School and Students:................2 Brainstorming Cognitive Map:.........................2 Content Overview:........................................2-3 Rational and Standards:....................................4 Goals:............................................................5 Refined Cognitive Map:...................................5 Content Outline: ...........................................5-7 Lessons and Activities:................................7-13 Resources and Materials:................................13 Unit Assessment and Evaluation:...................14

Description of the school and students: This unit is designed for an urban school in the Bronx, PS 19, The Judith K. Weiss Woodlawn School. This school is in District 11. PS 19 is located in an Irish neighborhood and is mainly made up of white Irish students. This unit is geared for a fourth grade ICT special education classroom. There are 34 students within the class, 12 of them having IEP's. All of the students in the class are English speakers. There is a wide range of skill levels within this class. Brainstorming Cognitive Map:

Content Overview: A tropical rainforest is a forest that is near the equator that experiences high levels of rainfall. Because the equator doesn't have seasons, rainforests are warm all year round. They receive around 400 inches of rainfall on average thought a year. The combination of the warm weather and the rainfall is exactly what plants need to grow extremely tall. Tropical rainforests can be found in Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Central America and many of the Pacific Islands. A tropical rainforest is typically divided into four main layers, each layer has different plants and animals that have adapted their life for that particular area. The four levels of the tropical rainforest are: the emergent, canopy, understory, and the forest floor. The emergent layer contains a small number of large trees that are called emergents. These trees grow to heights of about 45-55 meters, although they can sometimes reach heights of 70-50 meters. Eagles, butterflies, bats and certain types of monkeys live in this layer of the rainforest. The canopy layer is where the majority of the large trees

grow. The canopy is home to 50 percent of all plant species, and a quarter of all insect species. The understory is the layer that lies between the canopy and the forest floor. This is home to many birds, snakes and lizards. Predators such as jaguars, boa constrictors and leopards also inhabit the understory. Leaves at this level are much larger, although only about 5% of sunlight shining on the rainforest will reach the understory. The final layer of the rainforest is the forest floor. This is the bottom most layer and it receives only 2% of sunlight. The forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation and also contains decaying plant and animal matter. Much fungi is located on the forest floor which helps decay the animal and plant waste. Tropical rainforests support the greatest diversity of living organisms on Earth. They have about 170,000 of the world's 250,000 known plant species. The rainforest is also home to many different kinds of mammals including cats like the tiger, jaguar, and leopard. Primates such as the monkey, ape and lemur also call the rainforest their home. Although these mammals are best known, most rainforest mammals are small, and nocturnal such as bats and rodents. Tropical rainforests are also home to many different kinds of birds, including parrots, hornbills, toucans and raptors such as eagles, hawks and vultures. Reptiles and amphibians also make up a large part of the living organisms in the rainforest. Reptiles such as snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles take shelter in the forest. Likewise, amphibians such as frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts also live in virtually all of the levels of the rainforest. Another large area of living species in the rainforest are the insects. One quarter of all animal species that have been named and described have been beetles. More than 500,000 kinds of beetles are known to exist. Rainforests are often referred to as the lungs of the planet because of their role in absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They also stabilize climate, house large amounts of plants and wildlife and produce nourishing rainfall all around the world. Unfortunately, each year more and more of the rainforest is being cut down and destroyed. Humans are cutting down the rainforest for many reasons such as: wood for timber and making fires, agriculture for farms, land, grazing for cattle, road construction, and extraction of minerals and energy. It is important that we do what we can as humans to save the tropical rainforests and take care of our planet.

Rationale and Standards: Throughout this unit, students will examine concepts of interdependence within a rainforest ecosystem, as well as protection and preservation issues. Students will know how they can make positive influences toward preservation and can use the information they learn as an awareness lesson. It is important for students to be aware of the importance that rainforests play on the Earth's atmosphere. They need to know how their everyday activities affect the world around them, and ow it affects the future. Mathematics Measurement and Data 4.MD.4 Represent and interpret data Reading: Literature Key Ideas and Details RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Writing Text Types and Purposes 4.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. 4.W.2b Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. Production and Distribution of Writing W.4.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Research to Build and Present Knowledge 4.W.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation 4.W.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. 4.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Science Unit 1: Animals and Plants in Their Environment. What roles do plants and animals play in their environments? LE 6.1e Identify populations within a community that are in competition with one another for resources. LE 5.2g Describe how the health, growth, and development of organisms are affected by environmental conditions such as availability of food, water, air, space, shelter, heat and sunlight. LE.7.1b,c Identify examples where human activity has had a beneficial or harmful effect on other organism. Speaking and Listening Comprehension and Collaboration SL.4.1d Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understandings in light of the discussion.

Goals: -Students will understand the importance of the rainforest on our Earth's climate and atmosphere. -Students will appreciate the vast amount of living creatures that dwell in the rainforest. -Students will be conscious of the importance of the protection of organisms in the rainforest. -Students will understand the similarities and differences between aspects of the rainforest and other areas of the world. Refined Cognitive Map:

Content Outline: 1. Introduction 1.1. Rainforest receive around 400 inches of rainfall a year 1.2. Tropical rainforests found in a) Southeast Asia b) Sri Lanka c) sub-Sahara Africa d) South America e) Central America f) Pacific Islands

2. Four Main Layers 2.1. Emergent a) Small number of large trees called emergents Trees grow to heights of 45-55 meters Can sometimes reach heights of 70-5- meters b) Home to eagles, butterflies, bats and certain monkeys. 2.2. Canopy a) Majority of trees b) Home to 50 percent of all plant species and one quarter of all insects 2.3. Understory a) Home to many birds, snakes and lizards as well as predators such as jaguars, boa constrictors and leopards. b) Large leaves c) Receives only 5% of sunlight 2.4. Forest floor a) Receives only 2% of sunlight b) Clear of vegetation c) Decaying plant and animal matter d) Fungi 3. Living Organisms 3.1. Mammals/Primates a) Tigers b) Jaguars c) Leopards d) Monkeys e) Apes f) Lemurs g) Bats h) Rodents 3.2. Birds a) Parrots b) Hornbills c) Toucans d) Raptors Eagles Hawks Vultures 3.3. Reptiles a) Snakes b) Lizards c) Turtles d) Crocodiles 3.4. Amphibians a) Frogs b) Toads c) Salamanders d) Newts 3.5. Insects

a) Over 500,000 different kinds of beetles 4. Deforestation 4.1. Wood for timber and making fires 4.2. Agriculture for farms 4.3. Land 4.4. Grazing for cattle 4.5. Road Construction 4.6. Extraction of minerals and energy. 5. Important that humans protect and conserve the rainforest. Lessons: Lesson One: Graphing Precipitation Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to compare levels of rain in the rainforest with levels of rain in the United States in order to give students an understanding of the difference in climate. Vocabulary: Precipitation Rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to the ground. Climate Weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time. Skills: Graphing, internet research. Objectives: Students will create bar graphs comparing local precipitation levels to precipitation levels in another nation that contains rain forests, such as Costa Rica, Brazil or Ecuador. They will also make comparisons based upon the graph they create. Common Core Learning Standards: Mathematics Measurement and Data 4.MD.4 Represent and interpret data Writing Text Types and Purposes 4.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. Research to Build and Present Knowledge 4.W.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation 4.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Pre-Assessment: Introduce the concept of monthly precipitation and discuss the definition of precipitation and the different types. Students also have had experience creating bar graphs and comparing data. Lesson Presentation: Set-Induction: Hold a grand conversation about whether it rains more where we live or more in the rain forests. Questions should prompt student thinking before beginning research. Procedure: Once the students have developed an idea about what monthly precipitation is, they will begin research to find how much rain falls each month in two different locations. Students will find the rainfall per month for the state of NY and then look up rainfall per month for either Costa Rica, Brazil or Ecuador. They will fill their information in a chart (found at the conclusion of this lesson) to keep their data organized. When they have obtained all the

necessary information they will plug in the numbers to create a double bar graph in order to compare the rainfall. They will also be asked to do a little further research to find similarities and differences between the climate in the two locations they chose. Closure: The graphs will be used to make written comparisons between local precipitation and that in a nation with rain forests. Materials: Encyclopedias, world almanacs showing precipitation, predetermined websites with detailed information about weather around the globe, graph for plotting data. Follow up activity: Students will be asked to record their local precipitation for a month to have a real life example of monthly precipitation. Evaluation: Students' comparisons of the monthly precipitation levels locally and in rain forest countries can be evaluated on how well they were interpreted from their bar graph as well as how accurate they were. Comparisons should reflect the information on the graph. Differentiation: Students who struggle with conducting research will be paired with another student to help them find the information within the sources. They will also be provided additional support in the form of venn-diagrams in order to provide a more structural way to compare the climates. Resources: http://lessonplanspage.com/RainForestUnitA.htm/ Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Rainfall in New York Rainfall in Brazil

Lesson Two: Biodiversity Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the concept of biodiversity to students, and show them how diverse and ecosystem is. Vocabulary: Biodiversity The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem Climate The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period. Habitats The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism. Skills: Observation skills, comparing and contrasting, making connections. Objectives: Students will connect the adaptations of the animals in their neighborhood to the climate and habitats in which they live in. They will also compare and contrast the biodiversity of the rainforest with that of their own. Common Core Learning Standards: Science Unit 1: Animals and Plants in Their Environment. What roles do plants and animals play in their environments? LE 6.1e Identify populations within a community that are in competition with one another for resources. LE 5.2g Describe how the health, growth, and development of organisms are affected by environmental conditions such as availability of food, water, air, space, shelter, heat and sunlight. Reading: Literature Key Ideas and Details RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Writing Text types and Purposes W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. W.4.2b Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. Production and Distribution of Writing W.4.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Research to Build and Present Knowledge W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. Speaking and Listening Comprehension and Collaboration SL.4.1d Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understandings in light of the discussion.

Pre-Assessment: Students have been developing their knowledge of ecosystems, and species within them. They will create a KWL chart about what they already know about the species living in ecosystems in order to assess what they already know, what they want to know, and what they have learned. Lesson Presentation: Set-Induction: Take the students to the courtyard outside of school to look for signs of life such as insects, birds, animal tracts, different types of trees, etc. Make a list that shows all of the findings and post it within the classroom, organizing the findings into groupings such as insects, plants, mammals etc. Hold a grand conversation about the Web of Life. Draw lines that connect one thing to another. Procedure: Read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry and discuss the different aspects of the rainforest. Then create the Web of Life within the classroom. Have the students stand in a large circle, each student should choose one of the items from the classroom biodiversity list. Use the string to represent the links between each person. One student starts by saying the name they chose, and as a class we decide how they are connected to another organism in the circle and they pass the rope on to that 'organism.' At the end of this lesson, every student will be connected to one another in some way, demonstrating how intricate the web of life is. Closure: Students will demonstrate through writing how all living things interact with their environment in order to survive. They will use the story The Great Kapok Tree and compare their observations with the story. They will write their own stories to explain who depends on what for survival in the environment. They will then share their stories with the class. Materials: Access to an outdoor school yard, pencil, notebook, The Great Kapok Tree by Lynn Cherry, long string or rope. Follow up activity: Students will come up with their own web of life examples by observing an animal or insect in their own backyard or community. They will make observations based on the behavior of that animal or insect and come up with their own web of life example based on the observations made. Students will then make observations that support the idea that all organisms are connected by their behavior, food, habitat, etc. Evaluation: A rubric will be used to assess the students writing.

Differentiation: Students who struggle with grasping the concepts within this lesson will be provided with reinforcement materials, such as flow charts that show the connection between species in a more manageable concrete way. They will also be given prompts to help their writing process such as sentence starters, and a compiled list of facts about certain species so that it is easier for students to make comparisons. Resources: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/curriculum/fifth/lesson1 Lesson 3 Exploring the Rainforests Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to have students take a virtual tour of the rainforest and learn facts about the different species that inhabit it. They will complete venn diagrams to compare and contrast different living things, as well advocate for one organism of their choice and tell why it is important to protect its survival. Vocabulary: Many new vocabulary words and key terms will arise in this lesson depending on what we as a class click on during the virtual tour of the rainforest. These terms will be addressed individually as we come across them. Some examples of new vocabulary words that we may see are: Amphibians A cold-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that comprises the frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders. Deforestation The state of being clear of trees. Ecological Interdependence of living organisms in an environment. Neotropical Tropical terrestrial eco-regions of both Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Skills: Comparing and contrasting, using graphic organizers, developing opinions. Objectives: Students will be able to create a venn diagram that compares and contrasts a few different species to similar animals that they had previously learned about. Students will also create a creative poster promoting the importance of their species of choice. Common Core Learning Standards: Science Unit 1: Animals and Plants in Their Environment. What roles do plants and animals play in their environments? LE 6.1e Identify populations within a community that are in competition with one another for resources. LE 5.2g Describe how the health, growth, and development of organisms are affected by environmental conditions such as availability of food, water, air, space, shelter, heat and sunlight. LE.7.1b,c Identify examples where human activity has had a beneficial or harmful effect on other organism. Writing Text types and Purposes W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. W.4.2b Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. Production and Distribution of Writing W.4.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to

task, purpose, and audience. Research to Build and Present Knowledge W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. Speaking and Listening Comprehension and Collaboration SL.4.1d Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understandings in light of the discussion. Pre-Assessment: Students have learned about adaptations in an environment and the importance of survival. We will create an Anticipation Guide before the lesson, answering true/false questions to see how much they already know about the topics that we will learn in this lesson. Lesson Presentation Set-Induction: Upon entering the classroom for this lesson, students will be presented with name tags and invited to join me on a journey through the rainforest. Instruct them that as explorers we need to take notes, and they will need a notebook and pencil in order to start their journey. Procedure: I will pull up the virtual tour of the rainforest on the smart board, and as a class we will go through and explore different species by clicking on the pictures. Each picture is accompanied by facts and information about that specific species or animal. Students will be instructed to jot down notes on the animals and their importance to the Rainforest. After completing the tour, the students will receive venn diagrams and be instructed to fill them out by comparing animals that they learned about to animals that they already know. After students have completed and turned in their venn diagrams they will now create posters promoting an animal of their choice that they feel is important to keep protected in the rainforest. The poster must list the importance of their animal to the rainforest as well as its importance to other animals in the rainforest. The poster should also include a picture of the animal they chose. Closure: Students will share with the class their animal or species of choice, and explain why they chose it and why they feel it is important that it is protected. Materials: Notebook, pencil, virtual tour of rainforest link: https://www.msu.edu/user/urquhart/rainforest/index.html, Venn diagram worksheets, poster board, markers, link for additional support: http://rainforestheroes.com/ Follow up activity: Students are to write down at least five new facts that they learned about the rainforest from todays lesson. Evaluation: A rubric will be used to assess their posters on how much information they learned about new rainforest animals/species, as well as if they understood the concept of animal importance.

3 The information is true and factual There are three or more new facts presented. Student work was clear, organized and neat.

2 Information is solely opinion based There are only two facts presented Student work was organized

1 Information is unrelated There is one or no facts presented Student work was unorganized and messy.

Student work expressed in detail Student work gave an animal in Student work does not address the importance of their animals the rainforest but did not express the topic of animal importance or survival. its importance protection. Differentiation: Students who struggle with this concept will be directed to a more user kid-friendly website in which facts are presented more concretely. This website can be located at: http://rainforestheroes.com/. They will also be paired with another student in order to share ideas and get assistance when necessary from a peer. Resources: http://rainforestheroes.com/, https://www.msu.edu/user/urquhart/rainforest/index.html Additional activities and support materials for students: Informational website for kids: http://kids.mongabay.com/ Webquest: http://webquests.rcoe.appstate.edu/messner_f01/Rainforest/lesson-template1.htm Unit Materials and Resources: Access to an outdoor school yard Notebook and Pencil The Great Kapok Tree by Lynn Cherry Long string or rope Encyclopedias World almanacs showing precipitation Predetermined websites with detailed information about weather around the globe Graph for plotting data Virtual tour of rainforest link: https://www.msu.edu/user/urquhart/rainforest/index.html Venn diagram worksheets Poster board Markers Link for additional support: http://rainforestheroes.com/

Unit Assessment/Evaluation: Students will show that they met the objectives presented in this unit by taking a walk through the rainforest. The class will write a story about a walk through the rainforest. They will take on the role of either an adventurer, a scientist, or an animal. In their responses they should write about what they would smell, feel, hear and see. The should use detail to explain particular animals, plants, the climate, etc. When the assignment is completed we will have a writing celebration in which our class pairs up with a younger elementary grade such as first grade or second, and each student will pair off with another to share their stories! The following rubric will be used to assess this culminating activity. 4 Relevance and detail Student has 8 detailed facts that are relevant to the rainforest. Facts are accurate. Spelling is all correct with proper punctuation and no grammatical errors. Work is organized and thought process is easy to follow. 3 Student has 5-6 detailed facts that are relevant to the rainforest. Facts are accurate. 2 Student has 3-4 facts that are relevant to the rainforest. Lacking accuracy. 1 Student has 2 or less facts that are relevant to the rainforest. Facts are inaccurate. Student spells many words incorrectly as well as uses incorrect grammar. Work is unorganized and lacks uniformity.

Mechanics

Spelling and Assignment has punctuation is some spelling and correct with few grammatical errors. grammatical errors. Work is organized with few parts that are confusion to follow. Work is slightly unorganized and thought process is difficult to follow.

Neatness