Alexis Mattison

EDUC 385
Thematic Unit - The Rainforest
3rd Grade

Table of Contents
Letter to
Parents
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10

Pg. 1
The Rainforest
Biome
Locate the
Rainforest
Amazon Alphabet
The Five Senses
of the Rainforest
Layers of the
Rainforest

Language
Arts
Geography

Pg. 2-4

Science
Science

Pg. 8-11
Pg. 12-15

ProjectBased
Learning
Science
Math

Pg. 16-19

Camouflage
Graphing
Precipitation
Plant Life in the
Science
Rainforest
Save the Great
Art
Kapok Tree
Tropic Zoo
Web Quest
Performance and
Summative
Assessment

Pg. 5-7

Pg. 20-22
Pg. 23-26
Pg. 27-29
Pg. 30-32
Pg. 33
Pg. 34-35

Dear Parents,
For the next two weeks, our class will be exploring the rainforest! This unit
incorporates the subjects of: art, language arts, math, science, and social studies.
Studying the rainforest is important because it allows students to experience life
and culture outside their typical environment. The classroom will be transformed
into a rainforest atmosphere by constructing different plants and animals to
decorate the walls.
Taking on the roll as explorer, students will have an opportunity to learn
about vegetation, climate, geography, and different animals. They will be using
maps to locate the different rainforests throughout the world. They will be using
their senses to taste a tropical food, hear different animals noises, and touch
different textures of plants. Students will even create their own rainforest focusing
on the different levels, and the plants and animals that are found in each level.
Students will determine how much rainfall the Amazon receives each year, and
compare this number to the amount of rainfall we receive here, in San Diego. They
will also have the opportunity to help the San Diego Zoo come up with ideas for a
Tropical Exhibit at the zoo.
You are always welcome and encouraged to visit our classroom anytime
during our rainforest unit. We love it when parents get to see their children working
hands on in the classroom. If you have any questions please dont hesitate to email me.
Alexis Mattison 3rd Grade Teacher

The Rainforest Biome Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Language Arts

California Standards:
3rd grade Life Science 3.1 - Adaptations in physical structure or behavior
may improve an organisms chance for survival.

A. examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as

oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.

Objectives: The students will learn about the rainforest by reading the short
story The Rainforest Biome.
Assessments:
Informal: Walking around and ask students questions about the material
they are reading to see if they understand what its about.
Formal: After reading the story, the students will take a six question,
multiple choice quiz based on what they read.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Have the students meet on the front carpet. Ask if any of the
students have been to a rainforest before. Let the class know they will be
learning about the rainforests, and their characteristics throughout the
next few weeks.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Start the lesson off by creating a Know, Want to
Know, and Learned (KWL) chart. Have each student write something that
they know and something they want to know about the rainforest on a
sticky note and place it in the Know and Want section. Then, real aloud
some of the students ideas.

 Instruction and Modeling:

Go over the following vocabulary words found in the story. Show a
PowerPoint slide that shows the definition and a picture(s) that represent
each word. For example for the word temperate, the slide will show the
definition and a picture of that climate. All of these words will also be on a
word wall throughout the unit.

Rainforest, biome, earth, trees, temperate, tropical, domain, climates,

rain, plants, animals, conservation

Guided Practice:
The students will read the story The Rainforest Biome individually.
After they finish reading the story each student will answer six questions
about what they read.
Tell the students once they finish reading the story and answering the
questions they can go ahead and color the pages of the story.
Closure:
Ask the students, as a whole, if they have any questions about what they
read?
Then have each student name one animal they might see in the rainforest as
their ticket out.
Independent Practice:
Have students go home and think about what parts of the world rainforests
might be in.
Differentiation Strategies:
Visually Impaired: Provide an audio version of the book and an interactive
quiz that reads the questions to the student. He, or she, would just have to

type a letter to answer. Another option would be to read the story and
questions to the student and allow them to answer verbally.
English Language Learners: Provide definitions on a piece of paper that they
may have while reading the book. That way, if they forget what a word
means they can refer back to their paper.
Instructional Resources and Materials
The Rainforest Biome short story and questions
Word Wall
PowerPoint

Locate the Rainforest Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Geography

California Standards:
3rd Grade Social Studies 3.1 - Students describe the physical and human
geography and use maps, tables, graphs, and charts to organize information
about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
Objectives: The students will learn the locations of the rainforests by analyzing
world maps.
Assessments:
Informal: Walk around the classroom and ask students individually to tell
you where the temperate region is and where the tropical region is. Have
them point this out on their own map.
Formal: The students final product of their individual maps will show if they
understand where temperate and tropical rainforests are.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Use a virtual tour projector on the white board to simulate

walking through the Amazon Rainforest. Let three students, who you
picked from the Popsicle sticks, take turns choosing which direction to
go.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask students where they think the rainforests
are, based on what we learned during the last class.

 Instruction and Modeling:

Pull up a world map, from online, and locate all the continents. Have
students suggest the continents where you would find rainforests.
Introduce the words: Equator, Tropic of Cancer, and Tropic of Capricorn.
Explain to the students that most rain forests are located along the Equator
and are called tropical rainforests. Have the students point out areas on
continents where they think tropical rainforests would be located. Point out
which continents you would find the major tropical rainforests. Explain what
a tropical rainforest is.
Introduce the word temperate. Explain to students that there are very few
temperate rainforests in the world. Have the students point out areas on
continents where they think temperate rainforests would be located. Using
the world map point out the location of some of the temperate rainforests.
Lastly, show students the climate zone map and the rainforest map. Point
out and name all of the rainforests.
Guided Practice:

Students are handed individual maps prior to discussing the rainforest

locations.

After discussing the rainforests, students will label their own personal maps.
Students will label all seven continents.
They then locate the areas where the tropical rainforests are on each
continent and color these areas one color.
Then, they locate the areas where the temperate rainforests are and color
those another color.
The students then make a map key showing the two colors of rainforests.
Closure: Review the difference between a temperate and a tropical rainforest.
Pass out an exit slip. Have students write a sentence explaining where most
rainforests are found.

 Independent Practice: Have students try and memorize where one or two
rainforests are.
Differentiation Strategies:
Mentally Impaired: Provide student a map that is already filled out and
colored. Go over locations one-on-one with student, pointing out that there
are two types of rainforests.
English Language Learners: Refrain from using content based language such
as Equator, Tropic of Cancer, and Tropic of Capricorn. Focus more on the
continents names and the map skills involved with coloring in the locations
of both types of rainforests.
Instructional Resources and Materials
World map
Climate Zone Map:

Rainforest Map:

Amazon Alphabet Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Science

California Standards:
3rd grade Life Science 3.1 - Adaptations in physical structure or behavior
may improve an organisms chance for survival.

A. plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in

growth, survival, and reproduction.

Objectives: Students will learn facts about different animals found in the
Amazon Rainforest by creating masks, research an animal, acting as those
animals, and sharing with others in the class.
Assessments:
Informal: To informally assess the class the teacher can put up a different
question about one of the animals each day. The question should include a
fact specific to one animal and what it looks like based on the mask made
for it. Allow students about five to ten minutes silently to walk around and
read about the different animals and to see how they look. After ten minutes
have all the students come back to their desks and on a white board write
their guess to the question.
Formal: Students will be formally assessed based on their mask and what
information they put on the back. The more information the better, however
look for facts particular to that animal.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Have a mask on when the class comes in for Science. Choose
an animal everyone knows. List facts about this animal and make it fun
for the kids. At the end ask who am I?

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask students to name some animals they think
live in the rainforest.

Instruction and Modeling:

Let the students know that today we will be learning about different animals
found in the Amazon Rainforest.
Tell the students they will be assigned one or two animals from the Amazon
Animal Alphabet list.
Inform the class they are responsible to finding out everything they can
about these animals.
Guided Practice:
Assign student one or two animals from the Amazon Alphabet.
Have students research, using their iPad, what the animals appearance and
learn about the animal's lifestyle.
Ask students to make a mask resembling their animal(s). They should use
paper plates and color them accordingly. Also cut out a place for the eyes.
Tie string around the back to keep on their heads.
Have them label their masks with the animal's name making the first letter
in the name very large.
Have students record interesting facts about their animals on the backs of
their masks.
Also, have the students classify their animal as an amphibian, arachnid,
bird, fish, insect, mammal, reptile, and/or any other class they find, and
write this on the back of their animal mask.
Attach the masks in alphabetical order to a wall in the classroom in a way
that people can flip them over and read about the animals.

 Closure:
Students act out their animal they researched by wearing their masks and
either telling the whole class or a group of four people about the animal they
researched.
Independent Practice:
Have students go home and tell their family everything they learned about
the animal they researched.
Differentiation Strategies:
Mentally Impaired: Have a mask with interesting facts about an animally
already made for the student. Leave places where the student could color
some of the mask. Have a list of things the student should say or just have
the student stand at the front wearing the mask and read the facts for them.
English Language Learners: Have facts already written out on a piece of
paper. Have student copy these facts to the back of their mask. Be sure to
use language they understand or provide definitions and pictures to words
they might not understand.
Instructional Resources and Materials
iPad
Amazon Animals list
Paper plates
Markers and crayons
Scissors
String

Amazon Animals
A - anteater, armadillo
B - boa constrictor, Birdwing butterfly
C - crocodile, cayman (or caiman), capybara
D - dolphin
E - egret
F - frog (red-eyed), firefly
G - gulls
H - heron
I - ibis (bird)
J - jaguar
K - kinkajou
L - Leaf-cutter ant, lizard
M - Marabou stork, manatee
N - night monkey (or owl monkey)
O - ocelot, otter, ovenbird
P - parrot, piranha
Q - queixada (or peccary)
R - Red Howler monkey
S - sloth
T - tamarin, toucan, tarantula, Tartaruga turtle, tapir
U - umbrella bird
V - vampire bat, vulture
W - weasel, whippoorwill
X - (the challenge animal)
Y - yapock (or water possum)
Z - zorro (or flag-tailed dog fox)

The Five Senses of the Rainforest Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Science

California Standards:
Kindergarten 4.1 Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful
questions and conducting careful investigation. Students will:

A. Observe common objects using the five senses.

Objectives: Students will use their five senses to better understand different
parts of the rainforest.
Assessments:
Informal:

Students will be informally assessed as they participate throughout the

rotations, making sure they are following directions. Also, determine if
students are asking questions and making connections to what they have
learned.

Formal:

Students can be formally assessed through their science journals and the
various descriptive words they use for each sense of the rainforest.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:

Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Play sounds of the rainforest video while students are walking
into the classroom to get them excited about what they are doing today.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask students to raise their hand if they

remember any of the five senses. Have all students point to one of their
five senses eyes, ears, hands, nose, or mouth.

 Instruction and Modeling:

Go over the 5 senses and how they help us observe and understand the
world around us Touch, Sight, Taste, Smell, and Sound.
Inform class they will be using all five of their senses to discover the
rainforest.
Point out where the five stations are already set up in the classroom. Explain
that each station represents one of the five senses. Explain and model what
the students will be doing at each station.
Tell the class that they have to pick four out of the five stations to complete.
However, if they finish early and want to complete a fifth station they can.
Check for allergies before feeding any foods to the class and dont make any
student try anything they dont want. If students dont want to eat anything
have them only do the other four stations.
Guided Practice:
Pass out science journals
Students will have about 5 minutes at each station.
Sound

Have the students listen to rainforest sounds on the interactive white

board. Explain that this is how it sounds in the rainforest. Ask the
students to write a sentence in their science journal about what they hear
and to use three descriptive words.

Taste

The students will sample a piece of banana. Explain that bananas, as well
as many other foods we eat, come from the rainforest. Have students
write down a sentence in their science journal about what they taste and
to use three words descriptive words.

Touch

Spray water mist on students faces or arms. Explain that this is how it
feels in the rainforest. Ask the students to write a sentence about what
they felt and to use three words descriptive words.

Smell

Have the students smell the container with the decomposed logs or
leaves. Explain that this is how it smells in the rainforest. Ask the
students why they think it smells this way and have them write down a
sentence using three descriptive words.

Sight

Have the students watch a short video, about an animal in the rainforest,
on their iPad. Ask the students to write a sentence about what they see
and to use three descriptive words.

Once everyone has rotated through the four stations, allow five extra
minutes to complete a fifth station or to catch up on their handout.
Closure:
Create a whole-class bubble map describing the way the rainforest sounds,
tastes, feels, smells, and looks.
Have each student contribute one word describing the rainforest in any of
the categories.
Independent Practice:
Have students go home and observe the five senses they use in their own
environment and to be prepared to talk about why it is important.
Differentiation Strategies:
English Language Learners: Allow students to work with the teacher or a
buddy and verbally describe what they are sensing at each station instead of
writing it down.

 Hearing Impaired: If there was a hearing impaired student in the classroom I

wouldnt provide the hearing station, so that this student didnt feel left out
of the assignment.
Instructional Resources and Materials
Science journals
Rainforest sound video
Banana
Spray bottle and mist
Leaves and bark
iPads

Layers of the Rainforest Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Project Based

Learning

California Standards:
Life Science - 3.1 Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve
an organisms chance for survival.

A. plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in

growth, survival, and reproduction.

B. examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as

oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.

Objectives: Students will learn the four layers of the rainforest by watching a
video and creating their own layers of the rainforest in a group.
Assessments:
Informal: Have students answer questions about which animals live in the
different levels using white boards. For example, the teacher would ask
which level do birds typically live in. And the students would write
emergent on their white board and then on the count of three turn it
around to show the teacher. This will allow the teacher to see who
understands and who does not.
Formal: The students would be formally assessed whenever the group
finishes their diorama. The teacher will use a rubric to determine if the
vegetation, animal placement and labeling are all in the correct places.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Start the lesson by watching the Rainforest video at this link:
http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/rainforest.html

Activate Prior Knowledge: Remind students of some of the animals in the

rainforest that we have learned about thus far.

Instruction and Modeling:

After watching the video, pull up the following picture of the different layers
of the rainforest on the white board.
Go over each layer of the rainforest and what you would find in each
Forest Floor, Understory, Canopy, and Emergent.
Prior to the lesson, create or buy magnets of different rainforest animals.
Have students volunteer to come up and place the different animals in the
rainforest layer they think they live.
Inform the class they will be breaking up into groups of four.
Each group will be responsible for making their own diorama of the different
layers of the rainforest.
Provide an example for the class to look at. However, let students know that
their work doesnt have to look identical to the teachers.
Guided Practice:
Students will be provided plenty of material to create their diorama.
Students do not have to use all of the material.
Provide students several days to complete project.
After projects are complete, have each group write individually, in their
science journal, one thing they learned from this assignment and one thing
they like about their groups project.
Students will museum-walk around the room to look at everyone elses
projects.
Closure: Review the four levels of the rainforest. Have each student tell the
teacher one animal and where it lives.

 Independent Practice: Have students take home Layers of Life worksheet to

complete for homework.
Differentiation Strategies:
Behavioral/Emotional Disorders: If a student doesnt work well with other
students, allow him to work with one friend or by himself. Allow students
extra time to finish tasks if working with less people in the group. Also, allow
for frequent breaks during project time so that students dont feel
overwhelmed.
English Language Learners: Help students label the different parts of the
layers. Also, provide a picture of what their final product should look like
with labels. That way, they can follow along and match where each animal
and vegetation should go.
Instructional Resources and Materials:
Layers of life worksheet http://www.theeducationcenter.com/editorial_content/01_cbpri_am03
Animal Magnets
Layers map
30 boxes (3 boxes per group)
Green and blue paint
Paint brushes
70 paper towel cores (7 per group)
10 rolls of tape (1 per group)
Glue
Fake greenery, flowers, and moss
10 package of plastic rainforest animals (1 per group)
Scissors
Pipe cleaners

Camouflage Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Science

California Standards:
3rd Grade Life Science 3.1 - Adaptations in physical structure or behavior
may improve an organisms chance for survival.

A. plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in

growth, survival, and reproduction.

3rd Grade Investigation an Experimentation 5.1 Scientific progress is made

by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigation.

A. Repeat observations to improve accuracy

Objectives: Students will learn the importance of camouflage, to animals in the

rainforest, by experimenting with different colors and backgrounds.
Assessments:
Informal: The informal assessment happens during the experiment. Listen to
the observations students make about the different distances. Look to see if
they notice the difference between the colored sides verses the white side in
regard to visibility.
Formal: Use the students science journal formally assess what they
observed during the experiment. See what details they may have added in
their writing that you didnt hear verbally during the experiment.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Show students pictures of different animals and reptiles

camouflaged in the rainforest. Ask students if they see anything in the
picture.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask students if they know of any animals that
can hide from their predators by blending into their backgrounds.

Instruction and Modeling:

Explain what camouflage means and reasons why animals use it.
Make emphasis on the fact that being able to blend into ones surroundings
can help animals escape their prey.
Explain what the students will be doing during todays experiment.
Guided Practice:
Distribute materials.
Ask the children to draw a picture of an animal they might see in the woods
or on the playground.
Have them color or paint the pictures and cut them out so that no white
paper is shown anymore.
Take the pictures outside and prop them up on trees or rocks.
Walk back 20 feet. Can they see them? Record observations in a table in
their science journal.
Walk back 40 feet. Can they see them now? Record observation again.
Keep moving back from the pictures until they can no longer be seen.
Turn the pictures over so they are white and prop them up.
Walk back 20 feet. Can they see them? Record observations.
Walk back 40 feet. Can they see them better when they are white? Record
Observations
Closure:
Have students meet back on the carpet and ask the students how animals'
colors camouflage and protect them?
Have each student talk with a partner about which colors are best for
animals to blend into their surrounds in the rainforest.

 Independent Practice:
Have students go home and look for insects in their own backyard that
blend into their surrounds and take a picture of them.
Differentiation Strategies:
Visually Impaired: Have a student or teacher explain what is happening
during the process. Another way to explain camouflage to someone who is
visually impaired would be to verbally read them a book about camouflage.
The book needs to have plenty of detail so that the student can image what
camouflage is like.
English Language Learners: Provide a word bank of descriptive words that
they can use when writing about their observations. Also, provide students
graphic organizer to help with organization of different colors and distances.
Instructional Resources and Materials:
Science Journals
White paper
Crayons
Paint
Scissors

Graphing Precipitation Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Math

California Standards:
2nd Grade Investigation and Experimentation 4.1 Scientific progress is
made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations.

E. Construct bar graphs to record data using an appropriately labeled

axis.

Objectives: Students will create a bar graph comparing local precipitation levels
to precipitation levels of the Amazon, by researching the internet on an iPad.
Assessments:
Informal: While students are filling in their bar graphs ask students which
location has the most precipitation. Students responses will help point out
which students understand the material and which need some extra help.
Formal: The completed graph can be used as a formal assessment.
Students comparisons of the monthly precipitation levels in the three
locations can be evaluated on how well they were interpreted from their bar
graph as well as how accurate they were. The graph itself can be graded
based on its accuracy.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Ask students whether it rains more where they live, in San
Diego, or in the Amazon rainforest. Using local precipitation will make
this investigation more interesting and personal to the students.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Reference the water cycle and see if any
student mentions the word precipitation. Also, remind students that

rainforests are closer to the equator. Tell them this makes a difference
with regard to weather. Ask if anyone knows why.
Instruction and Modeling:
Begin the lesson by introducing the concept of monthly precipitation.
Once the students have a good idea of what monthly precipitation is, go
over where to research monthly precipitation on their iPads. Tell students
that they have to research San Diego and the Amazon, and they have the
option to research one other place in the world of their choosing. Provide
these two websites.

San Diego - http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/sandiego/california/united-states/usca0982

Amazon - http://www.brazil-travel-guide.com/Brazil-Map-Weather.html

Tell students that they need to be accurate with their research because they
will be making bar graphs afterwards. Show students how to chart data on a
table. They can round up to the nearest one inch of rainfall. Show students
how to make a bar graph using colored pencils. Students will be provided a
table template and graph template to fill in with their data and glue into their
science note books. Project sample graph so students can see the different
parts of the graph:

12
10
8
6

San Diego
Amazon

London

2
0

Guided Practice:
Distribute iPads and have students do research to find out how much rain
falls each month in San Diego, the Amazon, and one other place.
Student will research and record their findings in a table provided to them.
Then they should begin work on their bar graphs.
Have students create their graphs using the information they gained through
their research.
Each location should be colored different and match their key.
These graphs should then be used by the students to write a few sentence
explanations, stating which location has the most rainfall, which has the
second most rainfall, and which has the least rainfall, and why they think
this is so.
After students finish completing their worksheet, have them glue their
worksheet into their science note book.

 Closure:
Ask students what other locations they chose to research. Have students tell
a partner which location they found to have the most rainfall. Pull up a map
so the students can see the world. Talk about how San Diego is not as close
to the equator as the Amazon is and that this is why there is more rainfall in
the Amazon. Have other students come to the front and use a pointer to
point out the location they chose and have them explain how much rainfall
that place average and talk about the comparison to the equator.
Independent Practice:
Have students think about what kind of gear they would have to bring with
them if they were to visit the rainforest, based on the weather there.
Differentiation Strategies:
Learning Disability: Provide data table already filled in. Also, on the bar
graph, have one or two months already completed for them so that they can
see what they are supposed to do.
English Language Learners: Instead of having the student write out their
explanation, allow them to verbally explain their findings.
Instructional Resources and Materials
iPads
Science Journals
Table and Graph worksheet

Plant Life in the Rainforest Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Science

California Standards: 3rd Grade Life Science 3.1 - Adaptations in physical

structure or behavior may improve an organisms chance for survival.

A. plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in

growth, survival, and reproduction.

Objectives: The students will learn about the similarities and differences
between the rainforest's plants and other plants, by labeling the parts of a
plant.
Assessments:
Informal: While students are working on their plant, ask students to point to
the: stem, roots, and leaves.
Formal: Formally assess the students when they turn in their labeled plant.
Check to make sure they labeled correctly, and added reasons why they put
their plant in the particular layer of the rainforest.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Show class the teachers made up plant. Have exciting facts
about the plant to get the class interested in making their own.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask students if they know any plants that live
in the rainforest. Write any answer on paper at the front of the
classroom. Ask students if they know any plants with funny names. Write
those names down in a different list.

 Instruction and Modeling:

Tell class that the rainforest plants have the same parts as normal plants roots, stems, and leaves but also have unique adaptations that allow them
survive in a wet, dim, and nutrient-poor environment
Go over the parts of the plants and show a diagram of these parts labeled
on a the plants
Show pictures of different plants in the rainforest.
Tell class they will be making their own plant today. Tell the class to get silly
and creative with the name, and to make it unique!
Guided Practice:
Each student is going to create a new plant. They are to name the plant then
draw a diagram of this plant, label its parts and place it in its own layer of
the rainforest. This is to be done on a piece of drawing paper.
Have the students glue their picture in their science journal.
On the page next to their picture have the students write a paragraph
describing their new plant and why they choose to have their plant live in
the layer it does.
Closure:
As their ticket out have each student share with a group of four people their
plant idea.
Have students say why they chose the name they did and say one interesting
fact about their plant.
Independent Practice:
Have students share their plant idea with their family.
Have students look for a plant in their yard and practice by labeling the parts
of that plant.

 Differentiation Strategies:
English Language Learners: Provide students with a word bank of plant
characteristics that they could potentially use for the name of their plant.
Visually Impaired: Provide an audio tape that describes the plant and its
parts. Allow student to describe their plant to a teacher instead of drawing
one if they choose to do so.
Instructional Resources and Materials
Pictures of rainforest plants
Diagram of a plant
Paper
Color pencils

Save the Great Kapok Tree Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Art

California Standards:
3rd Grade Life Science - 3.1 Adaptations in physical structure or behavior
may improve an organisms chance for survival.

A. plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in

growth, survival, and reproduction.

Objectives: Students will learn the importance of saving the rainforest by

listening to the story Save the Great Kapok Tree, and creating an animal from
the story.
Assessments:
Informal: Walk around, while students are creating their art projects, and ask
the student what animal they chose and what that animals reason was to
save the rainforest.
Formal: Have each student write, on a piece of paper, four reasons why we
should save the rainforest. Some reasons to look for are oxygen, beauty,
animals homes, food, and soil preservation.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
Anticipatory Set:

Motivation: Read the book The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynn Cherry, to the
class to start the lesson.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Talk with the class about the different animals
you would find in the rainforest. Ask students what they think would
happen if the rainforest was cut down.

 Instruction and Modeling:

Read the book to the class. After, create a chart that has all the animals in
the book and next to it a place to write what the animals said. Ask the
students to help you remember what each animal said was the reason why
man shouldnt cut down the tree.
Tell students to choose an animal from the story. (There will be duplicates)
Show class examples of each animal premade and the dialogue boxes.
Guided Practice:
Pass out supplies.
Each person will create their animal using materials provided.
After they create, color, and cut out their animal, each student will make a
dialogue box for the animal.
The dialogue box will resemble what the animal said in the story about why
the man shouldnt cut down the tree. They should glue the dialogue box to
their animal.
Students will arrange their animals on the branches of a big Kapok Tree on
one of the walls in the classroom. The wall will be titled Save the Great
Kapok Tree.
Closure:
Ask students what ways they could help save the rainforest from here in San
Diego. Talk about writing letters to man in the book. Ask the students to talk
with a partner about what they would write to him.
Independent Practice:
Talk with their family about saving the rainforest. Ask parents what
suggestions they have and write one down to share with the class.
Differentiation Strategies:

 English Language Learners: Allow this student to read the book silently to
him or herself. Then aloud with the teacher to go over words they may not
know. Talk through the book with the student to clarify any
misunderstandings.
Hearing impaired: Provide a copy of the book to this student so that they
can follow along while the teacher is reading aloud.
Instructional Resources and Materials
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
Chart paper and markers
Construction paper
Color pencils
Crayons
Scissors
White paper

Tropic Zoo Lesson Plan

Alexis Mattison

Grade: 3

Subject: Web quest

http://questgarden.com/64/01/2/080410072717/index.htm
I chose this web quest because it provides student with an opportunity to go
over most material about the rainforest including vegetation, climate, geography,
and animals. This web quest is also fun because most students have been to the
zoo and can relate. It would motivate students to get more involved by relating the
project to the San Diego Zoo. The teacher could even plan a field trip to the zoo
around this assignment. Students get to participate in multiple types of learning
through researching on the internet, recording information, and by creating a
diorama, mobile, collage, or poster about an animal. Students will have to work as
a team to come up with an animal, determine most important facts about the
animal, and decide how to present the information. Have students present their
final ideas to a zoo employee (if possible) or have a group of teachers dressed as
zoo employees to make it feel official. Lastly, this web quest is awesome because
each student can take home a certificate identifying them as an expert researcher
at the end of the process.

 Conclusion:
At the end of the unit have the students meet on the front carpet. Have each
students write one or two sticky notes about something they learned during
this unit and place it in the learned section on the KWL chart. Read some of
the students answers aloud to the class. Review some of the things the
students learned in the last two weeks: the biome rainforest, where you can
find rainforests in the world, different Amazon animals, the layers of the
rainforest, what it smells, tastes, feels, looks, and sounds like, what plants
exist in the rainforest, why camouflage helps animals, and why we should
save the rainforest. Tell the class they did an excellent job becoming
researchers and explorers of the rainforest.
Performance or Portfolio Summative Assessment:

The class will have two options for the summative assessment.

The first option is to act out what they learned through a skit in a
group of three to four students.

The second option is to present everything they learned on a poster,

individually or in pairs.

All groups have to include information on at least 2 topics for every

person in the group.

The two types of rainforests (tropical or temperate)

1 Amazon Animal per person in the group

5 senses of the Rainforest

Layers of the Rainforest

Camouflage

Rainfall in the Amazon

Plant Life in the Rainforest

Why we should save the rainforest.

Groups will be graded on the follow rubric.

Above standard:

 Had more topics than required

Had more information on each topic than required (more than 3
facts for each topic)
Exceeded the standard for creativity and use of art and color.
More than prepared for presentation

At Standard:
Had the exact amount of topics required
Had the perfect about of information for each topic (about 3 facts
for each topic)
Met the standard for creativity and use of art and color
Was prepared for presentation

Below Standard:
Had less topics than required
Had less information on each topic than required (less than 3 facts
for each topic)
Lacked creativity and use of art and color
Was not prepared for presentation