A Walk in the Tropical Rainforest Creating and leading a multi-sensory rainforest tour by Glenn Gustafson A fun way to do this is to work with a group of students Grade levels: 4-6 to prepare a multi-sensory Subject areas: science, social Walk in the Tropical Rainfor- studies, arts est that can be offered as a guided tour to other classes Key concepts: tropical ecology, or to the community. In resource conservation, preparing and presenting the ethnobotany walk, students become rain- Skills: critical and creative forest experts, absorbing a thinking, research, wealth of information about communication this ecosystem. The following Location: indoors in gym, suggestions for creating a hallway, or large classroom tropical rainforest walk are Time: several weeks for based on research for an preparation, one day/evening interpretive trail brochure for presentation that I developed as a volun- teer in a park in Costa Rica in 1999. It is a learning adven- tep off the ture that I want to share with boat into the as many people as possible in blue surf and order that places like these wade to shore continue to exist. S under the watchful eyes and noisy calls of a pair of scarlet macaws Learning objectives feeding in an almond tree. The objectives of the rainfor- Watch and listen for signs est walk are that students will: of the deadly fer-de-lance, Glenn Gustafson experience aspects of the the most dangerous snake in rainforest in a multi- Central America. It’s raining, it’s hot, you’re dirty, sensory way and you feel more alive then you’ve ever felt before. You have arrived in the rainforest! understand the global importance of rainforests It’s not easy to convey in the classroom the wealth understand some of the ecological relationships in of sensory impressions that greets visitors to a tropical rainforests rainforest. But as it is unlikely that we can take our learn what they can do to help preserve rainforests students on an adventure to the tropics, we must try other ways of bringing the rainforest to life here at home. With a little ingenuity, a teacher can recreate Introductory activity the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and atmosphere of This activity helps to generate interest in the rainforest this unique ecosystem and, in so doing, help children by raising students’ awareness of the importance of understand its importance and recognize their own rainforest products in their daily lives. connections to it. 81 Teaching Green: The Elementary Years Procedure: pioneer species will germinate and 1. Begin by presenting a variety of grow quickly. For example, Cecropia everyday items and common foods trees, often seen in light gaps, can that originate in tropical rainforests. grow up to 2.4 meters (8 feet) per Do not tell students where they came year; but they live for only about 30 from; instead challenge students to years and are eventually replaced by guess what these items have in com- shade-loving species that can grow mon. Items could include potatoes, beneath the forest canopy. Forests cinnamon, vanilla, brazil nuts, chew- are dynamic, constantly undergoing ing gum, a rubber bicycle tire, a succession in this way. Research tropical plant, chocolate, coffee, and shows that the average square meter bananas. of forest lies within a light gap every 2. When students have guessed the rainforest origin of 100 years. the items, show where they come from by pointing out Materials: heat lamp; several tall potted tropical plants; on a map or globe where tropical rainforests are lo- piece of a decomposing log in an airtight container; cated. tape or CD recording of rainforest sounds; and materi- 3. Ask students how their lives would be affected if they als for making a model of a Cecropia tree: a cardboard did not have any of the items provided by rainforests. carpet tube mounted upright on wooden base, heavy green construction paper, tempera paint, sponge, wire 4. Show a video such as Bosque Eterno De Los Niños or coat hangers, scissors, tape, Cecropia leaf pattern tem- read a book such as Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok plate. Tree (see Resources list, pages 85-86) as a general introduction to rainforests. Discuss the disappearance Procedure: of rainforests and the consequent loss of many useful 1. Have students research to learn about rainforest light and beautiful things. gaps, rainforest succession, and pioneer species such as the Cecropia tree. Preparing the rainforest tour 2. Work with students to create a model of a Cecropia Over several sessions, have students research and de- tree (or other pioneer tree) based on photos or illustra- velop the script, props, and other materials necessary to tions they have found during their research. Create a “produce” several interpretive leaf template that can be traced and cut out of con- stops on a tropical rainforest struction paper. Use a carpet walk. Each stop should present a tube for the trunk of the tree theme or illustrate an important (you might paint it a mottled aspect of the ecology of the brown/green using a sponge) rainforest (see suggestions in and attach the leaves to it with discussion below). Set up the coat hangers inserted into holes walk in a large area such as a punched in the tube. school gym, hallway, or class- 3. To set up the tour stop, create room, and invite other classes a forest clearing by surrounding and/or community members to Glenn Gustafson Cecropia tree. an area with tropical plants. Set be guest “explorers.” Set the the Cecropia tree in the clearing, mood by dimming the lights, playing a recording of shine the heat lamp down from above, and dim all rainforest sounds, running a humidifier, and, if possi- other lights in the room. ble, turning up the heat. To add drama and keep 4. During the tour, lead small groups of guest explorers groups together during the walk, link the stops with a to the “light gap” while they are blindfolded and hold- guide rope and have the guest explorers wear blindfolds ing onto the rope. Ask the explorers to describe what as they follow the rope from stop to stop. Encourage they feel (heat from the sun lamp), what they hear the student guides to dress for the jungle in long (rainforest sounds from the recording), and what they sleeves, long pants, rubber boots, and sun hats. smell and touch (pass around the container of decom- posing wood). Then have them remove their blindfolds Stop 1: Light gaps and pioneers while the guides explain how a light gap forms, the An undisturbed primary rainforest has very sparse concept of succession, and interesting things they have growth near the ground because very little light pen- learned about Cecropia trees and other pioneer species. etrates the canopy. When a tree falls, causing what is called a “light gap,” the seeds of many light-loving or 82 Plants and Animals Stop 2: Things are looking up include some creatures whose camouflage enables them A rainforest has diverse and abundant vegetation that to blend almost invisibly into the background. provides many places for jungle creatures to live. From 4. During the tour, have the guides use flashlights to the top of the tallest trees down to the forest floor, illuminate different features of the diorama as they these habitats are stratified into several identifiable explain the various layers and habitats of the forest. layers: Challenge the visitors to find camouflaged creatures Emergent Layer: The tallest trees form the emergent in the scene, or invite them to return to discover these layer, which receives the most light, heat, and rain. creatures after the flashlight tour is over. Canopy: Beneath the giant trees of the emergent layer is a second, more uniform layer of tall trees called the Stop 3: Water, water everywhere canopy. Because of the wet conditions, canopy trees Rainforests receive as much as 3,000 millimeters (118 support an abundance of plant growth such as mosses, inches) of rainfall per year. This high level of precipita- orchids, and bromeliads. These plants are called epi- tion, in combination with typically nutrient-poor, high- phytes, or air plants, as they clay soils, means that when- obtain nutrients and moisture ever forest cover is removed from the air and rain, not serious soil erosion occurs. from the trees. Under normal conditions, as rain falls in the forest some of Understory: Under the canopy the moisture is used by epi- trees are a variety of smaller or phytic plants, but much of it younger trees, as well as many gently percolates through the vines, lianas, and the infamous canopy to the forest floor, strangler fig (Ficus spp.). The where it is absorbed. Even in strangler fig begins life as an times of high rainfall, rainfor- epiphyte, but grows down- est streams tend to be rela- wards from the canopy to take tively gently flowing streams root in the ground, eventually Glenn Gustafson of clean, clear water. If the strangling the host tree with Where dense canopies of rain forest vegetation intercept the force of rainfall, soils are protected from erosion and tree cover is removed, how- its interconnecting tendrils. streams are clear and gently flowing. ever, stream flow increases Forest Floor: Whenever light is dramatically and red soil available, an abundance of ferns, palms, and tropical washes away in the water, looking almost like a stream plants cover the ground of the rainforest. of blood. Materials: Rolls of craft paper, scissors, tempera paints, Materials: Two clear shallow basins, sand, garden brushes, flashlights, reference books that show rainfor- tools, tropical plants, sticks and twigs, two spray mis- est levels and a variety of rainforest plants and animals ters.