Topic: Rainforests

Supplementary material for use in lessons in the group of natural sciences (nature, biology, chemistry, geography, physics), additional classes, science clubs. It can serve as a resource for expanding knowledge, preparing students for science competitions.

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school (geography).

Core curriculum

Grade V Geography
IV. Landscapes of the world: humid equatorial forest and temperate forest, savannah and steppe, hot and ice desert, taiga and tundra, Mediterranean, high altitude Himalayas; zonation and climatological vegetation in the world. Pupil:
3) presents the main features and compares the known landscapes of the world and recognizes them in descriptions, films and illustrations;

General aim of education

Students characterise the conditions prevailing in the equatorial forest.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• describe the climate of equatorial forests;

• discuss the living conditions prevailing in the equatorial forest.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• large sheets of paper with a continental outline, glue, scissors, crayons;

• stiff paper, protractor, miniature map of the occurrence of equatorial forest on Earth; glue, adhesive tape;

• long ruler;

• envelope with a sheet of paper.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Before the lesson, the teacher asks pupils to look in small magazines and the Internet for small pictures of landscapes characteristic of tropical forests..

Introduction

• The teacher asks the chosen student to indicate and name the continents on the world map and describe the selected climate zone.

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

• The teacher divides the class into groups and explains what the group task will be:

  • Each group receives continental contours, a large sheet of paper, a long line, and an envelope with a page. At the back of a large sheet of paper, students draw the symbol chosen by the group. The same symbol is placed on the envelope inside which there is a card with the names of students forming the group. They give the envelope to the teacher.

  • The task of the group is to determine and draw on the large sheet of paper the equator and tropics and then to draw the contours of the continents in the right place.

  • Students will get acquainted with the content of the abstract, paying special attention to information about the equatorial forest landscape.

  • Using the map from Gallery 1: The map of the occurrence of equatorial forest on Earth, students mark placards of equatorial forest on posters. Posters give to the teacher.

  • Using the knowledge of the lessons about Earth's Climate Zones and the abstract, the students describe the climatic conditions in the area in the notebook, and then compare the records in the group, correcting any errors

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

• The teacher writes on the board and explains five or more new English words related to the subject of the lesson. Then the teacher plays the audio recording of the abstract, asking the students to raise their hands when they hear one of the written on the board words. Lesson participants can also note how many times they have captured a given word.

Summary

• At the end of the class, the teacher asks the students questions:

  • What did you find important and interesting in class?

  • What was easy and what was difficult?

  • How can you use the knowledge and skills you have gained today?

  Willing/selected students summarize the lesson.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Rainforests

Rainforests occur in areas, where the climate provides almost constant, high air temperature and heavy rainfall. Such conditions occur mainly in the vicinity of the equator. Winds from the hot seas and warm sea currents contribute to favorable conditions even at a considerable distance from the equator.
In rainforests, air temperatures during the day and throughout the year do not fall below 20°C and only exceptionally are above 30°C. Rain falls there almost every day. Lush vegetation absorbs and releases so much water into the atmosphere that even on rainless days the air is saturated with moisture. The day and night last for about 12 hours throughout the year.

Living conditions in the rainforest depend on both the climate and the vegetation floor. Seasons do not occur here. Intense rainfall reaches the soil itself through all layers of the forest, so there is no shortage of water. Everywhere is hot and humid. Other natural conditions, however, differ substantially. The highest layers of the trees receive sunlight without any restrictions, but at the same time are exposed to the strongest wind. The lower in the rainforest, the less light, and up to the ground level it reaches several dozen times less than to the treetops. At the same time, the wind force is reduced, which is hardly noticeable near the ground.
The rainforest has a multi‑storey construction.

• The highest layer of the rainforest consists of single, huge trees that reach a height of 60 and even more meters and protrude clearly above the surroundings.

• The canopy of evergreen trees is located at an altitude of 30 - 50 meters and forms an almost impermeable barrier to sunlight.

• Below there is an average layer, in which young trees and other plants with a height from a few to a dozen or so meters are fighting to survive in deep shade.

• The lowest layer of bushes and undergrowth is usually very poor, and in places it hardly occurs at all. This is due to very poor access to light.

In the hard‑to‑reach parts of rainforests, there are still tribes of people who have very little contact with civilization or do not have it at all. The high temperature of the air and the abundance of food that can be obtained in the rainforest provide them with quite good living conditions. Not everywhere, but someplaces leave them the opportunity to live as their ancestors did it. In many countries, the local population is forced to break with the traditional lifestyle.

• In the rainforest zone there is constant high temperature of the air throughout the year, and also heavy rainfall persists.

• Rainforests occur in the equatorial zone and are interrupted only by the Andean chain in South America and the highlands of eastern Africa.

• The existence of rainforests is endangered due to the felling of trees and human activities.