The Classroom Package: Curriculum Connection

Rain Forest Feast
Part 4 of the poem emphasizes the diversity of the rain forest's bounties. Here is a list of just some of the products which originated in the rain forests of the world:
 

Fruits/Vegetables: avocado, banana, bread fruit, casaba melon, cassava (yuca/manioc), chayote, cucumber,
eggplant, grapefruit, guava, lemon, lime, mango, mung bean, orange, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple, plantain, potato, star anise, sweet potato, tamarind, tangerine, tomato, yam
 

Spices: allspice, annato, black pepper, cardamom, cayenne, chili pepper, cassia, chocolate, cocoa, cinnamon,
cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg, paprika, pepper, turmeric, vanilla
 

Other Foods: Brazil nuts, cashews, chicle, coconut, coffee, cola, macadamia nuts, palm oil, peanuts, rice,
sesame seeds, sugar, tapioca, tea
 

Wood/Plant Products/Houseplants: African violet, aluminum plant, balsa, bamboo, camphor, copal, jute,
kapok, latex, mahogany, patchouli, plywood, rattan, rosewood, rubber, sandalwood, teak
 

Medicines: camphor (from eucalyptus), Quinine, Diosquenin, strophanthus seeds, Ipecacuanha root,

Tubocuranine, Vincristine, Reserpine

 

Some of the above and other rain forest products can be found in the following household items:  adhesives,
antiseptics, balloons, balls, bath oil, cleaners, crepe soled shoes, deodorant, dyes, erasers, floor wax, foam rubber, furniture polish, glues, golf balls, gums, hoses, inks, insecticides, insect repellent, lotions, medicines, mouthwash,  paint, perfumes, rubber bands, rubber gloves, shampoo, shoe soles, soaps, solvents, tanning, tires, varnish, water proofing.


Related Activity: Using this list, have students go around your classroom/school, or
around their homes, on a "rain forest products scavenger hunt."  Have them make lists of their findings. 


Math Connection: Once they have lists, put students together in groups of three or four
and have them make bar or circle graphs of their results.  Display the findings.


If you didn't do 'Fun with Words,' teach students the meanings of these words encountered in Part 3 of the poem so you can complete the activity suggestions below: chicha (Quichua) - a widely used fermented drink made with cassava (cassava is also known as manioc or yuca and  is the stuff that tapioca is made of), sometimes taken as a meal and always served at festivals; minga  (Quichua) - a community work event where all community members work together to complete a job; barco (Spanish) - a hopscotch-like game where children also have to kick the stone from box to box.



Project Idea:  In Quichua tradition, all members of the community pitch in during a minga - even the children.  If a community member fails to attend the minga,  he or she must pay  a fine.  The money from fines is used to buy something that will benefit the whole community, like a canoe - or goes toward the next festival.  Usually, woman make and serve chicha throughout the course of the minga.  After the minga, children play barco.

 

So, why not have your class stage its own minga.  Choose a job that will benefit all. Make a chicha-like drink (made from ingredients that originated in the rain forest), maybe even a snack, to be served during the minga.  Give students an option to pay "a fine" (perhaps food/drink that can be served at a follow up "festival") in place of doing the work. After, the minga, have a barco or hopscotch tournament.  If you're successful in making the minga  lots of fun, you'll have taught your students excellent lessons in cooperation and balancing life with work and play - and you'll have a rallying call for group projects all year long!



You could even pull all of the above ideas together and host a 'rain forest feast' or festival.


Rain Forest Mix
 
Mix together in a large container:
2 cups peanuts
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups cashew nuts
2 cups dried banana chips
2 cups dried papaya
2 cups Brazil and/or macadamia nuts
2 cups coconut flakes
 
Rain Forest Sundaes
 
Add the same ingredients listed in the recipe above, plus fresh tropical fruit, chocolate or pineapple sauce and chocolate sprinkles, to vanilla ice cream.
 
Forest Punch
Mix together in a punch bowl:
2 cups orange juice
2 cups lemon-lime juice
2 cups pineapple juice
(optional: 4 cups ginger ale)

BACK TO INDEX

 

Please choose another page below.
Amazon Rain Forest  
The Galapagos Islands

Latin America Classrom Travel Resources
 

© 2007 OneWorld Classrooms - All rights reserved.