Rainforest Researcher Webquest

Introduction

How would you like to visit a rainforest? Did you know that rainforests are important to the survival of all of the people on earth? Have you ever wondered what is so special about rainforests or what kinds of plants and animals live in the rainforest? The Greenville Zoo would like to expand their rainforest exhibit and they need more information about the plants and animals that live there. The Zoo Keepers need your help. You will act as scientists and conduct research so you can find out all the information you can about the rainforest environment, plants and animals.

Task One

Your group will be scientists from the Greenville Zoo and will go to one of the large rainforests in South America, Africa or Southeast Asia. Pick one bird, mammal, amphibian, reptile

or insect to learn more about. Here is some information to look for:

1. Name of your animal.2. Which rainforests does the animal live in?3. Describe the animal’s habitat.4. Is the animal endangered?5. How does the animal protect itself?6. What does the animal eat?7. List 2 interesting facts about the animal.

Use Kidspiration, Inspiration or Mywebspiration to complete a graphic organizer relating to the information.

Resources

Enchanted LearningUnitedStreamingAnimal Print-Outs and FactsRainforest Online Stories

Literature:

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

Task Two

Write a persuasive letter about how to save the rainforest for the school newspaper and school website.

Resourceshttp://www.rainforest-alliance.org/aar.cfm?id=mainhttp://www.rainforestheroes.com/

Task Three

Create a word cloud using information you’ve learned about the rainforest plants and animals. Use www.wordle.net to create a word cloud of rainforest research information.

Task Four

Make a Glogster poster about your rainforest animal and habitat.

Resources:

www.flickr.netwww.glogster.com

Task Five

Make a virtual field trip using Voicethread by inserting photos of rainforest animals and habitats onto the site.

Resources:

www.voicethread.comwww.flickr.net

Process

You will gather information about the rainforest and present your information to the class by creating Glogster posters, a Voicethread Project, writing a persuasive letter, and creating a graphic organizer. Evaluation

You will type the information you’ve gathered into a Word document and your teacher will print the information in

mirror image. This information will be ironed onto a t-shirt using an iron on transfer paper.

Finally, you will draw a picture of your animal and its habitat onto an iron on transfer paper. It will be ironed onto the front of the T-shirt.

Rubric:Graphic Organizer 20 PointsPicture Drawn 10 PointsFacts Typed 30 PointsVoicethread 10 PointsGlogster 10 PointsPersuasive Letter 20 Points

Conclusion

Complete a survey on Zoomerang about the project. Tell what made learning easy for you and what made it difficult for you. Also tell what your next steps are. Thank you for your time and dedication to this project!