CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Lesson Plan
"THE RAINFORESTS:
WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?"
Objectives:
students will:
do exercises focused on the importance of trees and rain.
develop their vocabulary in the areas: places, plants and animals, natural processes.
be able to write or speak on the topic of why the rainforests are important.
Time Allotment:
1 class period plus homework.
Resources Needed:
Visual Aids: A World Map, Pictures of a Rainforest, A Scheme “Tree Rings”; students` illustrated “Poems from the Rainforest”.
Handouts: cards As and Bs for dividing into 2 groups, 2 lists of places of the world, cards “What’s the key word?”.
Recording: sounds from a rainforest, a song “Mother Forest”, traditional South American music.
Procedures:
A. Dividing into 2 teams.
Group work “Say 3 good things about belonging to your group”.
B. What’s a rainforest?
Giving definitions of a rainforest from different dictionaries, including the students’ own based on the text.
C. Where are the rainforests?
Every team will get a list of different places of the world. Choose only those that are suitable for the questions. Be ready to show the places on the world map.
Group A South America |
Group B Africa |
D. Guess the word.
Every card has a group of words or phrases. What’s a keyword for every group? Choose a card. Read the list aloud. Select a card with a keyword.
1. |
woodland |
tropical |
2. |
dense |
forest |
3. |
high |
rainfall |
4. |
tall |
trees |
5. |
to chop down |
trees |
6. |
to live in rainforest home |
animals |
7. |
to shine |
sun |
8. |
to fall from the clouds |
rain |
.E. Finish the sentences:
1. The biggest rainforests are in South _______.
2. Rain falls from _______.
3. Clouds are made from _______ _______.
4. The oldest living things on Earth are _______.
5. Rainforests cover 6 per cent of the world’s _______.
6. Rainforests help to control _______ _______.
7. Trees catch the rain in their _______.
8. The trees started growing when all the continents were part of one big _______.
F. Answer the questions:
1. Where are the oldest trees?
2. What are they called?
3. How old are they?
4. How do they grow?
G. Think of some true/false sentences for the other group.
H. Discussion:
I’d like to give you one more sentence. Decide if it is true or false: “Trees can tell us a lot of things”.
I. Singing a song:
So we see trees are very important for us. They can tell us what the
climate was many years ago.
Let’s sing the song “Mother Forest”.
The forest is strong with a perfume so sweet
Such a perfect place to dream.
She feeds from the earth, from the water and air,
Mother nature, pure and green.
A humming bird sings high above,
Her feathers shine in the sun,
While deep in the jungle it’s cool and it’s dark,
And a tiger is feeding her young.
Chorus
Save our trees!
Don’t cut them down.
Save our trees!
Don’t cut them all down.
They shelter the flowers
from the sun and the wind,
Helping them bloom and grow.
They care for the creatures that hide in the leaves,
Every colour of a rainbow.
But men with machines want to cut her down,
So how can we make people see,
That our forest is rich with the beauty of life?
So sing out a warning with me . . .
Repeat chorus.
J. Discussion:
The song is a warning. Why? Why are rainforests in danger? What will you do to help rainforests when you grow up?
K.
Even now when you are children you can bring other people’s attention
to the rainforests, their beauty and let them know we need rainforests.
It’s time to open our poetic exhibition. You are welcome with poems of your own.
Possible examples:
I’m walking in the forest.
It is hot and dark and wet.
I can see tall trees, big flowers.
I can hear many sounds.
Here are tigers, snakes and monkeys.
Parrots are flying.
I can hear sounds of water.
There is a river near me.
There are crocodiles and frogs.
The sun is shining on the forest and birds are singing beautiful songs.
Danger! Danger!
I am a rainforest. It is hot and
dark in me. Many beautiful animals,
pretty birds and interesting insects
and reptiles lived here. Now they
are dead. Many people chopped
my trees down because they
wanted to grow rice and rubber
trees. I am in danger.
The Rainforest Speaking
I’m a rainforest
I give you medicines,
Rubber and fruits,
There are thousands,
Of different animals,
In me.
Please, don’t cut me all down!!!
L. Evaluation.
Give homework: write on your own an article “The Importance of Rainforests”.
Vladimir, Secondary School No. 17
(based on Cambridge English for Schools II)
Key:
E. 1. America; 2. Clouds; 3. Water vapor; 4. Trees; 5. Surface;
6. The weather; 7. Leaves; 8. Continent.
F. 1. California; 2. the Bristlecone Pines; 3. 4000 years old; 4. slowly.