Introduction Levels of Life: Interrelationships in the Rainforest Broom Forest: A Tall Trees Simulation Soil in the Amazon The Rainforest, Raw Materials, and You Chico Mendes of Brazil World Trade Protests: Why All the Fuss? Be an Amazon Activist

The classroom resources you see here are designed to help you use this Web site, other material on the Internet, and the "Journey Into Amazonia" videos for a study of the Amazon rainforest. These materials are designed for upper elementary, middle, or high school students (grades 5-10) although extension suggestions may help you modify them for younger or older students.

Each lesson plan provides objectives, standards correlations, background information, Web links, procedures, extension suggestions, and assessment recommendations. Each incorporates video clips from the "Journey Into Amazonia" documentary, though the lessons also function as stand-alone activities. The "Be An Amazon Activist" sheet offers suggestions for students, families, or classes who want to get more involved in Amazon rainforest conservation.

Please take some time to explore the classroom resources and the rest of the content on the "Journey Into Amazonia" Web site. You may also be interested in a previous PBS site called "Science in the Rainforest" which launched during the 1995-1996 school year and introduces students to the rainforests of Costa Rica.

The lesson plans below can be conducted individually, or done in sequence to create an interdisciplinary unit for science and social studies classes. A suggested sequence is listed here.

Levels of Life: Interrelationships in the Rainforest
Learn about the animals and plants in different layers of the Amazon rainforest, and create a mural illustrating the interdependence of rainforest organisms.

Broom Forest: A Tall Trees Simulation
How do tall trees survive in the shallow, nutrient-poor soil of the Amazon? A simulation with everyday materials provides answers.

Soil in the Amazon
The Amazon's rich plant life is remarkable when you consider the quality of the soil there. Students create Amazon soil and chart seedling growth.

The Rainforest, Raw Materials, and You
Identify products from the rainforest and learn about sustainable agriculture.

Chico Mendes of Brazil
Meet the rubber tappers in the Amazon rainforest and learn about one activist's fight to save the people and plants there.

World Trade Protests: Why All the Fuss ?
Conduct a mock court hearing between the U'wa tribe, the Colombian government, and Occidental Petroleum over land rights in the Amazon.

Be An Amazon Activist
Suggestions for students, families, and schools.

About the Authors:

• Terra Fretwell teaches at the Petersen Academic Group in Reston, Virginia.

  She received her Master's in Teaching for secondary Social Studies and French language from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. As a Peace Corps volunteer (Philippines '96-98,) she became interested and gained experience in environmental issues and education. Terra enjoys skiing, live music, and going on adventures!

• Robert Frostick, is a science teacher at John Adams Junior High School in Charleston, West Virginia.

  During his last 19 years of teaching, Mr. Frostick has received a Christa McAuliffe Fellowship in 1993; the Technology & Learning Teacher of the Year, U.S. Northeast Region, 1997; Presidential Conservation Education Awards, 1982 & 1983: a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching, state level, 1992; Geological Society of America Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching, 1993; and was the Jay Cee's Outstanding Young Educator in W.V. in 1994.