Rain
Bird Rain Forest Teaching Curriculum About the Rain Forest
The
tropical rain forest is a wonderful environment to learn about
not only natural history, ecology, and biology, but also physics
and chemistry. So much goes on in the rain forest and so many
plants and animals live there (approximately 50% of the plant
and animal life on the planet) that exclusive existence on
the ground is impossible for the abundance of species. That
is why the rain forest exhibits a layering of habitats, or
canopy. There are many plants and animals, including insects,
which never spend any part of their lives on the ground. These
plants and animals have developed very specialized adaptations
which allow them to compete successfully for all of the resources
they require to thrive.
As we look at our planet, we can observe that the closer
we move to the equator, the greater the abundance of life.
The tropical rain forests, which exist in the narrow band
around our Earth called the equator, are environments which
require all plant and animal species to become very specialized
in their strategies for acquiring food, water, reproduction
opportunities, and all aspects of survival, because the competition
for these resources is so great. This is very different from
other areas of our planet, farther north and south from the
equator, where the concentration of life is less dense. In
those areas, it is more advantages to have very general adaptations
and to be able to utilize many different strategies and resources.
In other words, survival depends on being a generalist. Indeed,
the rain forest can be a study in economics—supply and
demand.
It is interesting to note that many of the species living
in the tropical rain forest have yet to be discovered. Throughout
the Rain Bird Rain Forest Curriculum, we will be making our
own discoveries, as we explore the sciences in the context
of the highly specialized adaptations that all life forms
exhibit in this fascinating environment. At each grade level,
there are activities for students and one in-class demonstration
to be presented by the teacher.
The
tropical rain forest is a wonderful environment to learn about
not only natural history, ecology, and biology, but also physics
and chemistry. So much goes on in the rain forest and so many
plants and animals live there (approximately 50% of the plant
and animal life on the planet) that exclusive existence on
the ground is impossible for the abundance of species. That
is why the rain forest exhibits a layering of habitats, or
canopy. There are many plants and animals, including insects,
which never spend any part of their lives on the ground. These
plants and animals have developed very specialized adaptations
which allow them to compete successfully for all of the resources
they require to thrive.