Can you discover three rainforest animals
you've never heard of before? Write a short report on one
of them, telling what it looks like, where it lives in the
forest, what it eats, and what—if anything—eats it. Hints: jaguarundi, margay, tapir, peccary, hicatee, iguana,
gibnut (also called "paca"), coati, kinkajou, jabiru, capybara
What rainforest animal or plant do you
think is most interesting? Write a report and then, at the
end, sum up the most important things, as if you were writing
"stats" for a trading card. Hints: howler monkey, margay, red-eyed tree frog, bromeliad,
strangler fig
What does the rainforest look like, sound
like, smell like, feel like to someone walking through it?
Write a story or a report on what you experienced the last
time you spent an afternoon in an imaginary rainforest. Hints: Did you see animals? Did you hear them? Did you
stop for a moment to smell the flowers? What did the trees
and other plants look like? Was it hot? Could you see the
sun? Did you meet any people?
Discover three useful things that come
from the rainforest. How do they grow? How are they harvested?
How do they get to the United States? Hints: latex (rubber), turpentine, bananas, Brazil nuts,
rattan, cinnamon, chili pepper, peanut, quinine
Make a list of "Weird Facts from the
Rainforest." Be sure to give a complete, graphic description
of each "fact." Hints: check out strangler figs, the biggest flower in
the world, bromeliads, and liverworts. And, hey, what's so
slothful about a sloth?
Creative Homework Ideas
Write a fictional account of your last walk through
the rainforest. What did you see, smell, hear? Who did you
meet? What scared the heck out of you? What beautiful thing
would you not have missed for a million dollars?
Report on five important products that originate
in rainforests. How do they grow? How are they harvested?
How are they imported to the United States?
What is life like for people who live in rainforests?
Describe and then compare indigenous peoples in two different
rainforests (for example, a forest in Belize and one in Africa
or New Guinea).
Write a series of poems on rainforest themes. Try
to communicate the strong sensory impressions you would have
if you were walking through a rainforest now. How do these
sensations affect your emotions? Do they stimulate your intellect?
Why is experiencing the rainforest important?
Create a portfolio of animals and/or plants that
you saw on a (fictional) walk through a rainforest. Stay true
to the forest you've chosen (for example, a forest in Belize
or one in Africa or New Guinea). Write a caption for each
drawing or painting.
Create a series of trading cards based on rainforest
animals, plants, peoples, and general facts. Create several
series, each specific to a particular rainforest. Choose clear
illustration and "statistics" formats for each "type" (animal,
plant, people, fact)—and stick to them.
Document in pictures and writing the wildlife dependent
on a single variety of bromeliad or the plants and animals
(including micro-organisms) living in/on/beneath a single
rainforest tree.
How are people in the United States dependent on
rainforests? What are we doing to preserve them? Write a report
highlighting the rainforest resources that you think are most
important to your community.
Write a press release for your local newspaper
or radio station describing destruction of rainforests today.
What are we losing? How? Why? Who is responsible? What can
we do about it?
Write an editorial or a letter to the editor of
your local newspaper. Express as succinctly as you can the
importance of rainforests, the dangers they face, and what
we might do to preserve them. If your letter sounds good to
you, try getting it printed.
Write an article on rainforests for your school
paper.
Make a list of "Weird Facts from the Rainforest"—the
weirder the better. Hint: check out rainforest fauna in New
Guinea, the biggest flower in the world, strangler figs, bromeliads,
and liverworts.
Develop a bibliography or resource list for a rainforest
topic or rainforests in general—include books, articles,
websites, videos, organizations, and anything else you find.
Can you sum up what you know about rainforests
in one well-written paragraph? What is really most important?
How can you best convey the essence of rainforest in a few
words? Is this possible? If not, why not? Would another kind
of writing make more sense?
Create a website on the rainforest. Include both
general information and whatever you can learn about rainforest
destruction. What kinds of things can people do to save rainforests?
Why should they be interested? What kinds of graphic elements
should you include? What will attract browsers to your site?
Include links to the best rainforest sites you can find.
If you were filming a movie or video about the
rainforest, what would you include? Create a story board and
scout your location (over the Internet or at the library).
Write your documentary narrative or screenplay. Create some
sample footage (at the zoo, for example, or in a museum—but
get permission from institution administrators, first). What
would you have to do to get your film funded?
