An imaginative cross curriculum unit for levels 2-4


Useful Book Resources

Life in the Rainforest … Lucy Baker
Jungle Sounds … Rebecca Emberly
Portraits of the Rain Forest … Adrian Forsyth
Handbook of Amazon Parrots … A.E. Decoteau
Amazon Indians … Paul Henley

Useful Films from the National Film Library

Jungle (C3626) Video
Rainforest Family (B4791) Video
World of the Rainforest (574.5) Filmstrip)
Life of the Rubber Gatherers (918.113) Filmstrip

Useful Internet Sites - all live linked

Brazil at: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/south_america/brazil/environment.htm

Amazon Interactive at: http://www.eduweb.com/amazon.html

Setting the Scene:

Atlas and Study Skills

  1. Have pupils find Port of Spain in Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro
  2. Have pupils find out what country Rio is in. What group of islands does Trinidad belong to?
  3. Using rulers and the scale of the atlas, have pupils find distance in kilometres (as crow flies) from Port of Spain to Rio.
  4. Find the Tranz Amazonian Highway and locate Obidos on the Amazon River.
  5. Using the atlas, have pupils find yearly rainfall of the Amazon Jungle region and the summer and winter temperatures.
  6. What is the height above sea level of Obidos.
  7. Find the latitude and longitude of Rio and Obidos.

Introducing the Scenario

Your class are on a holiday of a lifetime and are flying from Port of Spain to Rio. Suddenly their plane develops engine trouble. The pilot is force to make a crash landing in the jungle about 50 kilometres west of Obidos on the Amazon.

Miraculously the canopy of the Rainforest cushions the fall to allow all the children and the pilot to survive. There are some injuries, but with first aid and care, they will survive.

The unit is about survival, adventure and eventual rescue.

Activity One - Dramatic re-enactment

Have groups plan and then act out a drama of the plane crash. The drama starts when the pilot announces that there is engine trouble and they will have to attempt a crash landing in the jungle.

  1. The drama should include the emergency drill in the plane
  2. It concludes with the children and pilot climbing their way down from the canopy of the jungle to the ground.
• Have groups act out their dramas to the rest of the class.

Activity Two - Final letters and wills

There is a ten to fifteen minute interval between the announcement of the forced landing and the pupils having to assume the crash position.

Have pupils write a last letter to their families and /or friends.
Write a 'quick last will
Click here for the next page of the adventure




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