Adventure into the Rainforest:

Culminating Project

Product and Performance:

There are 3 different parts to this culminating project:

1. Development of a brochure
2. Creation of presentation visual aid
3. Informing visitors of the traveling exhibit about their specified area of expertise

Time needed to complete this project:     3-4 weeks

Goal:

• Students will be able to teach and persuade the visitors of the traveling exhibit about the rainforest through their specified area of expertise (i.e. a specific animal, a specific plant, a reason why we should save the rainforest, a reason why the rainforests are declining).

Objective:

• Given the task of creating a brochure, students will develop an informational pamphlet to hand out to visitors of the traveling exhibit with at least a score of 3/4 on the rubric.

• Given the task of creating a presentation visual aid, students will create a visual aid, which will enhance the appeal and information of their topic with at least a score of 3/4 on the rubric.

• Given the task of informing visitors who attend the traveling exhibit about their specified area of expertise, students will be able to tell visitors at least 8-10 facts about their specified area while scoring at least a 3/4 on the rubric.

Task:

I. Development of a Brochure:

• Students will sign up for a specific topic to study (i.e. animal, plant, reason for destruction, why we should save it). This will be early in the unit plan, due to the long length of time needed to complete the project.
• Some topic ideas include:
• Where are the rainforests of the world? What types of rainforests are there?
• Layers of the rainforest
• Reasons for destruction (this can be divided up into a few students)
• Ways to help save the rainforest (this can be divided up into a few students)
• Animals of the rainforest (jaguar, orangutan, toucan, sloth, boa constrictor, etc.)
• Plants of the rainforest (the Kapok Tree, Raflessia, palm, etc.)
• People of the Rainforest 
• Students will be given at least 2 days a week to work on their brochure. That time can be spent doing research or designing their pamphlet in the library and/or the computer lab. One of the days in the computer lab will be dedicated to teaching the students how to create a brochure in Microsoft Word (templates can be downloaded at their website).
• Provide students with a Project Checklist which shows the expectations of the project, as well as a copy of the rubric 
• Students will also be encouraged to work on their brochures if they finish their assignments in class early.
• Students are expected to include the following in their brochure that is written on the checklist
• Provide examples to students:
•  These were found at (http://orchard.sbschools.net/library/tasks/2ndgrade/index.htm)
• Example 1
• Example 2
• Example 3
• Example 4
• Example 5

• Students need to have a partner edit their work using the Editor’s Checklist and Peer Review Checklist to check for correct content, grammar and punctuation. Students are also allowed to submit their work to the teacher for approval.
• Students will submit the final brochure to the teacher 3 days before the traveling exhibit takes place so that there is time to make photocopies to hand out to the visitors

II. Creating a Visual Aid

• Students will need to create a visual aid to put on their table during the traveling exhibit. This should add an appealing effect to their station. They may choose from the following options listed below (the brochure does not count as a visual aid) If a student has a different idea, let them present you with it and determine if it is allowed:
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Dioramma
• Poster
• Tri-fold Poster
• Demonstration
• Handouts
• Pictures

III. Informing visitors of the traveling exhibit about their specified area of expertise

• Students will be able to tell visitors about their topic. Help students prepare for this by having them practice “talking points”. This can be done as an activity in class and should be done with a peer or to the entire class.
• An example of a student’s talking points could be:
• Hello my name is _____________.
• My topic is the layers of the rainforest
• Did you know there are 4 layers to the rainforest?
• The first layer is the forest floor.
• The second layer is the understory.
• The third layer is the canopy.
• A fun fact about the layers of the rainforest is______________________.

• Most students should be ok with having to talk about their topic because after 3-4 weeks they know a great deal of information and want to share that information with others! Other students will be timid to talk in front of other people, but the one-on-one style of the traveling exhibit should help to ease concerns, considering its not being done in front of a huge group of people.

Role/Purpose:

• The purpose of this project is to help students connect and understand all of the concepts that they have learned in the unit, as well as take the time to learn about a specific area of study. By researching, creating a brochure, and informing people about the facts they have learned, they are learning computer, English, social studies, and communication skills in a fun way! This project adds the element of creativity and decision-making that are important characteristics for students to learn and achieve. By knowing that what they are learning about is real and that they can help to Save the Rainforest by educating others helps to add significance to the “typical” culminating project. It helps students achieve a sense of accomplishment and the feeling that they can help make an impact on the world.

Audience:

• The audience includes a student’s peers, friends, family, and other school personnel. Anyone is invited to visit our traveling exhibit! Knowing that their work will be display for anyone to see adds incentive to produce high quality work. Most students will not want to have their name on a piece of work that isn’t of high quality because they will feel the urge to impress others about what they have learned.

Materials:

• Examples of brochures (look for links above)
• Computers
• Brochure Templates for the word processing program 
• A list of appropriate websites for students to find information
• Reference books
• Editor’s Checklist
• Peer Review Checklist 
• Culminating Project Checklist
• Culminating Project Rubric 

Use of Technology:

• The word-processing program to create the brochure as well as the internet to do research on the topic.

Assessment:

• Students will be graded based on the criteria stated in the rubric

Accommodations:

• Struggling Learners:  An aid, another student, or I will be able to work with them for a longer time before or after school, during classtime (when designated for the project) and during specified lunch times.
• Grade Level Learners: I will be available to work one-on-one with students if they need assistance during class, as well as before school, after school, and during specified lunch times.
• Early Mastery Learners: Students will be able to help other students complete tasks (i.e. designing the brochure) if assistance is needed.

The Traveling Exhibit:

• Set the room up in a u-shape so that visitors may form a line, which will take them past each student’s station. We want to make sure that every child gets a chance to have their work examined by visitors.
• This is an example of a possible setup style:

• You may consider providing refreshments for the visitors that are related to the rainforest. For example, offering slices of pineapple, a little bit of chocolate, bananas, mangos, etc. might be another way of reinforcing the importance of the rainforest.

• Try to decorate the room like a rainforest as much as possible. Here are some pictures of other classrooms that used a rainforest theme!

• Play rainforest music in the background to set the scene for our traveling exhibit.

• Have students dress up as the explorers that they are: tan pants or shorts, a tan or white shirt, a name tag for each student (you can create these easily on the computer in a word document) and boots. This might be a fun way to incorporate the Explorer’s theme that has continued throughout the unit plan! 

Generalizations:

• There are two types of rainforests: temperate and tropical.
• Tropical Rainforests are usually located near the equator and have four main characteristics: lots of rain, humidity, warm temperatures and no seasons.
• There are four layers to the rainforest: forest floor, understory, canopy and emergent layer.
• The largest rainforest in the world is the Amazon Rainforest.
• There is a difference between needs and wants. Needs include things one depends on for survival and wants include things that are “extra” and not needed for survival.
• People of the rainforest have different cultures depending on their location and are either traditional people or Amerindians.
• A Shaman is a medicine doctor.
• People in America depend on the rainforest for many different things including food, medicine, oxygen and shelter.
• People of the rainforest and people of the United States have an interdependence relationship.
• The rainforest supplies products that we use on a regular basis including bananas, mangos, chocolate, and gum.
• The rainforest contains over half of the worlds animals and plants. Some have not even been discovered yet.
• People of the rainforest hold different customs, traditions, beliefs and ways of living than the people of the United States.
• There are 7 continents, 5 oceans, lines of longitude and latitude, an equator, a key, a compass rose and a scale on a world map.
• The rainforest needs to be saved because it provides oxygen, medicine, and goods for humans as well as being a home to half of the worlds plants and animals.
• Rainforests are becoming extinct through logging, mining, oil and gas extraction, cattle ranching, agriculture (cash crops) and the development of land for the government to sell to corporations for production warehouses.
• There are seven ways students can help save the rainforest.