A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO INCLUDE THEIR STUDENTS IN EFFORTS TO SAVE THE RAINFORESTS

Teachers, you can help us in many ways! First, you can tell children about our website (www.kidssavingtherainforest.org) so they can learn about the rainforest, how it is being destroyed and information about how they can help to save it! 

You and your class can visit the Support Us section of our website and adopt a tree, sponsor a monkey bridge or simply make a donation.  KSTR is in dire need of support from teachers and students around the world. It is the hope of our organization that teachers who have learned about the Kids Saving the Rainforest and its pledge will make efforts to educate their students about the rainforests of Manuel Antonio and to then help raise money to assist us in protecting our local rainforests.

You can also help by ordering environmental and artistic objects from our online catalog.  If you are a student reading this page, please take this information to your teacher to see if you school can get involved.

EDUCATIONAL LINKS:

With the information that is provided on the following web pages, teachers will be able to teach more about the rainforest ecosystem, including what trees, plants, and animals are found within the rainforests of Manuel Antonio.

KSTR Rainforest Fact Sheet

Animals of the Costa Rican Rainforest around KSTR, HQ

http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/rainforest_what.htm

http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/serve_home.html

http://www.microsoft.com/kids/freestuff/free13.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/kids/freestuff/free14.htm

The following web sites contain great ideas for educational and classroom activities.

http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
The goal of the activities that follow is to educate students about the rainforests and its endangered state and to also empower them so that they may be active participants in saving the rainforests.

A word about the objectives of these activities:
Because the needs and ideas that arise from different classrooms and teachers are so diverse, the objectives serve as more of a general guide with allowance for flexibility and expansion.

OBJECTIVES:
• Students will learn about the plants, trees, and animals found within the rainforests of Manuel Antonio.
• Children will present their knowledge of the rainforests through a variety of works. (Students could create artwork, poems, essays, songs, maps, collages, etc.)
• Students will raise money for the rainforests of Manuel Antonio by incorporating their acquired knowledge and their works.
Options for carrying out the objectives:

#1. Students will compile their work and create a calendar, featuring all that they have learned.
Calendars will then be sold to people in the community to raise money for the rainforests.
The benefits of this option arise from the many possibilities that it presents. Students will have a chance to feature their work and hopefully, they themselves may be featured as well. Calendars are very practical and useful, everyone needs one!!! Calendars also allow for a very flexible budget, you may wish to make them in your classroom or work on the finishing touches with the help of a professional. With the access to technology that many schools now have, your calendars may even be created with the help of a color copier or scanner. Selling the calendars could be done within the school, in the community, or at a local business that would be interested in cooperating.

# 2. Students will gather artwork to sell at an art gallery that will then be sold to raise money for saving the rainforests.
Hosting an art gallery allows students to show off their work and to sell their work for the purpose of profiting the rainforests. The gallery itself draws positive attention to the students, the teachers, and the schools that are partaking in a good cause. An art gallery can be hosted in the school, shopping mall, grocery store, at a church, or at any place that draws in a lot of people.

#3. Students will write to local businesses, asking them to make a donation to sponsor a particular plant or tree, found within the rainforests of Manuel Antonio.
When students interact with local businesses, they will learn the value of interacting with Society as a whole. It is our hope that through this interaction, students will realize the impact that one voice can have.

#4. Students will contact local media (newspapers, radio stations, television stations, etc.) so that through publicity, the community may be made aware of their efforts in raising money for the rainforests of Manuel Antonio.
Involving the media brings increased awareness and support from your community. Your classrooms involvement and efforts will be amplified, drawing respect and appreciation for all that your students have done.

The founders of the Kids Saving the Rainforest are excited about interacting with schools from around the world. With the help of teachers and students like you who have discovered our mission, we can save the rainforests of Manuel Antonio. We see this as an opportunity for the rainforests and for the school children that are involved. The activities, which we suggest, provide an opportunity for students to not only learn, but to make a real difference!