RIC-20969 Early years Places - The Rainforest

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The rainforest – 1 Mathematics • Students place a given number of plastic animals (or pictures) in boxes which represent specifi c habitat locations; for example, 3 chicks in the nest, 2 cubs in the den, 4 fi sh in the river. (Number and Algebra) • Using plastic ants, butterfl ies, frogs, monkeys, tigers, snakes and birds, place collections of animals in their correct section on a poster of the rainforest. Count the collections and match a numeral to each. Use the same animals to make rainforest animal patterns—snake, monkey, snake, monkey etc. Complete other patterns orally with clapping. (Number and Algebra) • The children thread a given number (between 1 and 20) of cut sections of plastic straws onto two different pieces of wool or string to create two snakes of different lengths— one long and one short. (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, Statistics and Probability) • Use coloured pattern blocks to create a snake; for example, triangle, triangle, square, square, triangle, triangle, square, square. (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry) • Provide shapes in appropriately-coloured paper (patterned or plain) to construct a monkey or a tall tree. Refer to blackline on Page 73. (Measurement and Geometry) • The children paint and pile four green boxes (or blocks covered in green paper) on top of each other to represent the four layers of the rainforest (see page 68). Encourage the use of positional language—on the bottom, on top of, underneath etc. as well as ordinal language—fi rst, next, after, last etc. Place pictures of animals from each layer inside each appropriate box or tape them to the blocks. (Measurement and Geometry) Emergent • Demonstrate the layers of the rainforest by attaching or gluing four different strips of Canopy tissue paper of various shades of green underneath each other on the board or large sheet of Understorey paper, overlapping them a little. Count the layers. Say them in Forest floor order from fi rst to fourth. Name their positions—top, next, second from the bottom and bottom. Ask the children to identify the layers using words such as tallest, lowest, highest, middle etc. (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry) • Sort rainforest animals by ‘skin’ type—stripes, spots, solid colour, fur, feathers, scales etc. Line up the collections into columns and count each. (Measurement and Geometry, Statistics and Probability) • Use a large, bright, clear picture of a rainforest scene to play ‘How many can you see?’ in which children count the numbers of animals and/or their body parts. For example, ‘How many monkeys?’ ‘How many tails?’ ‘How many trunks?’ ‘How many eyes?’ Develop the game by asking ‘How many more/less than ... ?’ (Number and Algebra) • Write the numerals 1–5 or 1–10 on sloth, monkey, frog or parrot shapes on a sheet for each child. Place a pile of numeral cards for the children to select from. The children use animal stamps to mark off each number on their sheet as it is selected. Refer to blackline on page 72. (Number and Algebra) • The children fold large sheets of green painted or printed paper in halves and cut out or trace symmetrical leaf shapes. Use the same technique and bright blue paper to create blue morpho butterfl ies. Provide templates and other colours to create frogs to sit on the leaves. (Measurement and Geometry) • Divide the class into two groups to play ‘Predator-prey’ or ‘Hunter-dinner’; for example, monkeys and leopards. Designate safe areas for homes in the rainforest (outdoor area). Call out a number between 1 and 5. The leopards must run to tap that number of monkeys. Monkeys are only allowed to stay in a home while they count to 10 and then run around at least to the count of 10. The monkeys tapped sit out the remainder of the game. Count the number left. Continue until all monkeys are gone. Swap positions. Repeat with other animals. (Number and Algebra) • Play commercial games such as ‘Barrel of monkeys’ to connect up to 12 monkeys without dropping them. Or play ‘Ants in the pants’ to see who can get the most ants in the pants. (Number and Algebra) R.I.C. Publications ® – www.ricpublications.com.au Early years themes—Places—The rainforest 63 ISBN 978-1-74126-966-6
Cross-curricular activities Science • Read the book Red-eyed tree frog by Joy Cowley (or similar). When discussing the book, emphasise how tree frogs have a sticky substance on their feet that help them stick to trees and leaves. Give each child, or have them make, a paper red-eyed tree frog. Fold the legs, place a sticky substance such as jam or honey on the feet and attach to windows. The jam or honey can be easily removed using window cleaner after the frogs are taken down. If preferred, use something like Blu-Tack. Refer to blackline on Page 70. • Make rainforest terrariums. Ask adult helpers to cut the top and bottom from a 2-litre soft drink bottle and discard the middle. Mix some gravel with charcoal and place it in the bottom section of each bottle. Cover with a layer of potting mix and water. Add small plants, stones, moss or leaves and a plastic rainforest animal. Use thick paint to decorate the outside of the terrarium with climbing vines. Place the top section of each bottle on as a cover. Water every two or three weeks. (Take care when using potting mix. Wear gloves and wash hands thoroughly afterwards.) • Explain what a pitcher is and view the colours of real-life pitcher plants. Use water-resistant paint to decorate both sides of plastic disposable cake decorating bags to make pitcher plants. Punch holes on both sides of the top edge and hang from trees overnight or when a light shower is expected to demonstrate how pitcher plants collect water and nutrients. • Place pot plants of varying heights (including one large enough for a child to sit under) in a corner on a large, old plastic sandpit (such as the familiar clam shape) or plastic sheet to create a rainforest microclimate for the children to experience. Spread dead leaves and grass around the bottom. Water using a watering can to demonstrate rain falling. Use a tall reading lamp to demonstrate how the sunlight reaches some layers and not others. Have the children take turns sitting under it to experience the darkness in the lower layers. • Discuss different characteristics of rainforest animals; for example, physical features (what they look like), habitat (where they live), diet (what they eat), how they move, hunt, look after their young. Play describing games to promote recognition of each animal’s characteristics. For example: ‘I am black. I am strong. I hunt at night. I carry my prey up a tree. What am I?’ Answer: a black panther. • Use paper plates painted and cut, or folded in half, to create a deadly Venus fl y trap. Attach ‘spiky’ fringing made from cardboard for ‘teeth’. Ask the children to hold their Venus fl y trap and pretend to catch a plastic or child-made ant or insect in the centre. • Place examples of pot plants such as bromeliads, Venus fl y traps, ferns, vines such as Devil’s Ivy and broadleaf plants such as large philodendrons in the science corner. Look at, discuss and care for them for the duration of the theme. • Show individual pictures of different rainforest plants and animals. As a class, arrange the pictures to create food chains and webs. Retell the story ‘This is the house that Jack built ...’ in the following way: ‘This is the ant in the rainforest. This is the sloth who eats the ant in the rainforest. This is the jaguar that eats the sloth who eats the ant in the rainforest.’ Repeat with other plants and animals. • View pictures, or read books about, two different rainforest animals such as the toucan and the parrot, or the gorilla and the spider monkey. Identify similar and different features. Encourage the use of complete sentences such as ‘The toucan is bright and colourful and so is the parrot’; ‘The gorilla is big but the spider monkey is small’. • Introduce the words for groups of animals—‘mammal’, ‘reptile’, ‘amphibian’, ‘birds’ and ‘fi sh’. Young children love to learn words which are hard to say or different from their normal vocabulary. Show, or tell them, which rainforest animals belong to each group. They may be able to guess some themselves. • View and match pictures of baby and adult rainforest animals. Repeat with seeds to reinforce the concept that plants begin life as a ‘baby’ plant and have a lifecycle as well as animals. • Mimic and describe the ways different animals move— climb, scurry, fl y etc. If possible, view their motion fi rst before imitating. 64 Early years themes—Places—The rainforest www.ricpublications.com.au – R.I.C. Publications ® ISBN 978-1-74126-966-6
Page 1 and 2: EARLY YEARS THEMES Places The rainf
Page 3: Cross-curricular activities English
Page 7 and 8: Cross-curricular activities Visual
Page 9 and 10: Teacher background information NOTE
Page 11 and 12: Red-eyed tree frog 70 Early years t
Page 13 and 14: Sloth game 1 2 3 72 Early years the
Page 15 and 16: Tiger mask Instructions: Copy onto
Page 17 and 18: Recipes Mango milkshake Ingredients
Page 19 and 20: Display ideas Rainforest layers •
Page 21: Literature resources - 2 Songs, act

RIC-20969 Early years Places - The Rainforest

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