This short video is an overview of key features of a rainforest habitat, covering the animals and environmental conditions found there throughout the year.
This video would be best used to complement other content as it is short and just provides a quick introduction to rainforests.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This video has great footage of organisms interacting in a rainforest environment.
The music is engaging and students will not lose interest, as it is very brief.
Additional Prerequisites
This video is a preview of Discovery Education UK's habitat module on rainforests. A login is required to view additional content.
Differentiation
Consider having students choose one species they observe in the video to research further and explain how it is adapted to living in a rainforest habitat.
Younger students could list all of the animals and plants they see in the video or respond to names called out by the teacher with the appropriate animal sound or plant shape.
This would be a good video to use as a hook when discussing the concepts of biodiversity, adaptations, or ecosystem dynamics.
The resource calls attention to the rainforest and the types of plants and animals commonly found in this habitat. It also spotlights how they interrelate with each other and adapt to seasonal changes. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
K-ESS3-1 Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
