Rainforest Deforestation and Conservation

I have chosen to include this lesson plan on deforestation and rainforest conservation because it teaches an important concept to students. After they have learned about the living things within the rainforest it has more of an impact on their emotions toward the rainforest. In this lesson the students have the chance to create a realistic solution to a problem and begin to implement it immediately. Along with the lesson, I have included some adjunct material images that you can print out and use in the lesson.





Unit Title: Rainforests
Lesson Title: Deforestation/Rain Forest Conservation
Subject Area: Social Studies
Grade Level: 5

• Purpose/Goal:
  Students will construct an awareness of deforestation and extinction. They will identify a problem and find different solution strategies.
  
• Overview:
  Students will examine the concept of extinction through primary sources and will
  generate solutions to saving the Rainforest’s plants and animals. As a class, the students
  will cultivate rainforest seeds from Costa Rica and learn that it is one attempt made to
  protect the rain forest.
  
• Objectives:
  (5)3.26 investigate an economic issue by asking and answering geographic
  questions about location [NS 4.5.6]
  (5)3.31 describe places in the United States where the physical environment has been altered by technology [NS 5.5.3]
  (5)3.32 explore the impact of human modification of the physical environment on the people who live in that location [NS 5.5.4]
  (5)3.38 describe a geographic issue and the possible impact it could have in the future [NS 6.5.4]
  NCSS Standards:
  (I) d. compare ways in which people from different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions
  (II) d. identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others
  f. use knowledge of facts and concepts drawn from history, along with elements of historical inquiry, to inform decision-making about the action-taking on public issues
  (III) b. interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs
  h. Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected locales and regions
  k. consider existing uses of resources and land in home, school, community, the region, and beyond and how these changes may be connected to one another
  (V) c. identify examples of institutions and describe the interactions of people with institutions
  (VI) f. identify and describe factors that contribute to cooperation and cause disputes within and among groups and nations
  (VII) b. distinguish between needs and wants
  c. identify examples of private and public goods and services
  d. give examples of the various institutions that make up economic systems such as families, workers, banks, albor unions, government agencies, small businesses, and large corporations
  f. describe the influence of incentives, values, traditions, and habits on economic decisions
  h. describe the relationship of price to supply and demand
  i. Use economic concepts such as supply, demand, and price to help explain events in the community and nation
  (VIII) b. identify and describe examples in which science and technology have led to changes in the physical environment, such as the building of dams and levees, offshore oil drilling, medicine from rain forests, and loss of rain forests due to extraction of resources or alternative uses
  c. describe instances in which changes in values, belies, and attitudes have resulted from new scientific and technological knowledge, such as conservation of resources and awareness of chemicals harmful to life and the environment
  d. identify examples of laws and policies that govern scientific and technological applications, such as the Endangered Species Act and environmental protection policies
  (IX) d. explore causes, consequences, and possible solutions to persistent, contemporary, and emerging global issues, such as pollution and endangered species
  e. examine the relationships and tensions between personal wants and needs and various global concerns, such as use of imported oil, land use, and environmental protection
  
• Needed Materials:
  - Video from United Streaming: Protecting the Rainforest
  (Tropical Rainforest Habitat, The. 100% Educational Videos (1998). Retrieved March 5, 2007, from unitedstreaming: http://www.unitedstreaming.com/)
  - Rainforest Seed Collection and Tropical Ecology Kit (purchased from http://www.microscope.org/life_sciences/botany/sb230.htm))
  - Inspiration program and projection screen
  
• Procedure
  Sponge Activity
  Last night I had you think about what would happen if we used the resources of the Rainforest. Watch this video and determine whether your prediction was right. Play video from united streaming.
  Anticipatory Set
  Ask the students:
  What do you think? Was your prediction right?
  Why would groups of people find ways to save the rainforest?
  Announce Outline/Objectives
  Content Delivery
  What is deforestation?
  What is extinction?
  Can someone explain the tie between these two words?
  Create an inspiration concept map of the suggested ways of preserving the rainforest mentioned in the video. Replay video and take responses.
  Activity
  Have students brainstorm at their tables one unique way that our class can contribute to saving the rainforest. I will mention that one way the indigenous peoples make money and protect the rainforest is by selling seeds for others to grow a rainforest ecology. Students will plant the seeds from the collection packages.
  Review
  Students will compare their solution strategies and the class will vote on one that they want to do, and create an action plan for making it occur. Each group will share their action plans with the class. We will review the reasons of deforestation and extinction and re-examine conservation attempts and strategies through oral questioning.
  Closure:
  - Review outline
  - Review objectives
  - Assessment/Homework: The students will finish the story, The Vanishing Rainforest and write a response in their journals.
  - "Teaser" for tomorrow’s lesson: Tomorrow we have our field trip! I want you to recall the things we’ve been studying this week about rainforests and predict what you’ll be able to identify when we’re in the biosphere. If you have a parent coming, share what you’ve learned about the rainforest with him/her so he/she will be prepared.