Purpose: To give the student an opportunity to create the foliage density that would be found in the rainforest habitat.
Motivation: Look at the numerous shapes sizes and colors of the plants and leaves found in the rainforest. Discuss how every leaf is in competition for each other for sunlight.
Materials: Have all students collect and save all the circular plastic six pack rings and garbage bag twist ties as they can. Have all the students call an awning company to obtain scraps of fabric in multiple colors. Nylon, cotton, vinyl etc.
- Cut all the fabric scraps into various two sided leaf shapes.
- Loop and tie each cut fabric leaf to the plastic rings. Continue to add leaves until most of the plastic rings cannot be seen.
- When these leaf sections are done, use the twist ties to wire together all the finished sections of plastic rings to each other until anther large section begins to take shape.
- Hang this large section of leaves, now called the “canopy” in a corner of the classroom or over the entrance to a doorway to create the feeling of a foliage canopy hanging overhead.
Extension: Add trees, and other plants to further embellish your forest.
Closure: Discuss how many leaves it took to fill one square of plastic rings. Calculate how many plastic rings there is in a square meter. Calculate then how many meters in a hector. Have the class calculate how many leaves are needed to create a canopy in one hector of rainforest? How about a football field or one square mile?
Special Note: Give administrators and parents an opportunity to see what the students have created together in the classroom. Have the students write an invitation to them to be eco-tourist and visit the classroom forest. Plan the completion of the display to coincide with a back to school night, end of the quarter visits or parent conferences etc.
Resources: Rainforest resource material can be found in the Library or researched on the web and in old National Geographics. Many sites include: Rainforest Action Network, Check Zoos and Museums which has rainforest displays. Check out the rainforest paintings by artists Mary Helsaple at http://helsaple.com. Rent PBS “Living Edens’ Manu Peru’s Hidden Rain” from your library or from video store.
Additional and extended (20pg) rainforest art project & lesson plans available for $8.00 from the Buell Children Museum or mary@helsaple.com
Copyright Mary Helsaple
2002
All reproduction rights reserved
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