KS2 Rainforest Activities
KS2 Rainforest Activities Rainforest plants activity This activity should be completed at Marwell Zoo’s Tropical World. Th...
KS2 Rainforest Activities Rainforest plants activity This activity should be completed at Marwell Zoo’s Tropical World. The aim of this activity is to encourage the children to look out for and identify the different plants that grow in the rainforest, and then recognise the variety of different products that can be made from them. The children can find the answers to the questions on information boards throughout Tropical World and the rest can be answered through observation or own experience. An answer sheet has been provided for you to prompt and guide the children.
Rainforest animals activity On your walk around the zoo looking for rainforest animals, the pupils can think about which layer of the rainforest the animals would be best at living in. They draw, or write the names of, the rainforest animals next to the layer of the rainforest where they think they might live. One example has been done as a guide.
Marwell map of rainforest animals The last page helps you find the rainforest species in Marwell Zoo.
Curriculum Links SCIENCE Year 4 Living things and their habitats recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things
Year 6 Evolution and inheritance identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution
GEOGRAPHY Human and physical geography
Rainforest Plants On your journey around Tropical World look out for the plants below and use the information on the signs to create a fact file for each. One example has been done for you.
Name of plant: Banana plant It comes from: the Canary Isles Did you know? Bananas don’t grow on trees! They don’t have a proper woody trunk, so are just a type of large plant.
Paw-paw grows on the ............................. tree. It comes from: ...............................
What does a papaya leaf look like? Draw one here.
It can be used for ............................................... ................................................... ..................................................
Name of plant: ............................. It comes from: ........................................................
What colour are the vanilla flowers? .................................... ....................................
Pure vanilla extract is expensive because........................................ Which part of the ginger plant do we use for food? Circle the correct answer.
Roots Flowers Leaves
Ginger It comes from: .................................................. It can be used for.............................................. .............................................................................
Custard Apple It comes from: ...................................................................... The fruit tastes ............................................. The seeds and leaves can be used to make ...........................................................
This is the peel of a ........................................ It would feel .......................................................... It comes from: ...................................................... It takes 2-3 years to fruit, and .................. months to ripen. The fibre from the leaves can be used to make:
What other plants can you think of that we eat or use to make other products?
Rainforest Plants Answer sheet Paw-Paw grows on the papaya tree. It comes from Central America. It can be used for food, making chewing gum and toothpaste, tenderising meat and treating indigestion.
Name of plant: vanilla orchid. It comes from Mexico. Pure vanilla extract is expensive because the plants have to be pollinated by hand, and the pods take a long time to mature.
Which part of the ginger plant do we use for food? Circle the correct answer.
Roots Flowers Leaves
What colour are the vanilla flowers? Green/greenishyellow
Ginger It comes from Pacific Islands. It can be used for cooking or treating indigestion.
Custard Apple It comes from the Caribbean Islands. The fruit tastes sugary/sweet. The seeds and leaves can be used to make soap and perfume.
This is the peel of a pineapple. It would feel prickly, bumpy, spiky etc. It comes from Brazil. It takes 2-3 years to fruit, and 5 months to ripen. The fibre from the leaves can be used to make pina, which is a fine cloth material.
What other plants can you think of that we eat or use to make other products?
Rainforest Animals On your walk around the zoo looking for rainforest animals, think about which layer of the rainforest they would be best at living in. Draw or write the names of the rainforest animals you see in the layer of the rainforest you think they might live in. One example has been done for you.
Clue: Wings or other adaptations for flying or gliding, or very agile climbers.
Clue: Long arms for swinging, claws or other adaptations for climbing.
Clue: Mainly animals who try to hide away from predators in the flowers and plants (need to be able to climb).
The okapi lives on the forest floor
Clue: Camouflaged in the soil and tree trunks. Not very good at climbing.
Rainforest animals Answer sheet Rainforest Floor
Understorey
Madagascar tree boa Beaded lizard
Tokay gecko
Canopy Black and white ruffed lemur Tamarins
Ring-tailed coati (Forages on the ground, but also climbs trees to look for fruit)
Bongo
Green and black poison dart frog
Sulawesi crested macaque (also forages on the rainforest floor during the day)
