Adventures with Dora and Diego
Exhibition Description
The Adventures with Dora and Diego exhibition
aims to enhance students’ problem solving skills,
encourage emerging cognitive thinking in
language and math and to increase appreciation
and awareness of Latino culture. Various areas
within the exhibit help visitors explore and
develop these goals.
Animal Habitats: Students can explore a cave,
beach and rainforest that house various animals in
need of rescue. The habitats include problem
solving tasks like helping a Blue Morpho
butterfly find its way out of a cave and helping to
clean up a polluted beach so sea turtles can lay
their eggs.
Diego’s Animal Rescue Center: At Diego’s
Animal Rescue Centre, students can climb a set of
stairs and are greeted by Alicia, Diego’s sister and
helper. Students can look through Click, Diego’s
part locator, part telescopic camera friend, and see
images of animals in the rainforest, peer through a
spotting scope, and use the computer station to
view photographs of animals and learn facts about
Latin American animals.
Diego’s Animal Care Center: Students learn how
to feed and care for animals as they use a
“stethoscope” to hear animal heartbeats and a
light table where they can examine the x-rays of
various animals. Additionally, there is a “footprint
rubbing station” where students can use paper and
crayons to create their own rubbings and use them
to identify animal footprints in the exhibition.
Dora’s Fiesta: In this area of the exhibition
students use their problem solving skills while
going on an adventure that requires them to cross
the lake to get to a party at Dora’s house. Along
the way, students must build the walls of the
Rainbow Bridge while also helping Dora’s friends
Boots, Tico, Benny and Isa get to the party.
Dora’s House: Inside Dora’s House, students find
Dora’s friends dressed for a fiesta. Students can
become a part of the festivities and learn different
skills including: how to play musical instrumentsdrums and xylophone; how to cook Latin
American foods, or the words to Spanish songs as
they listen to the radio in Dora’s room.
Pre-visit Activity
Animal Friend Puppets
Ages: pre k-2nd grade
Background Information
Diego can speak animal. This lets him make
friends with a lot of different animals. Baby
Jaguar is an especially good friend of Diego’s who
accompanies him on many of his adventures.
Every animal has special characteristics to help it
live in the environment it does. For example,
monkeys have strong arms that let it swing from
branch to branch and jaguars have spots to help it
blend in with the forest floor.
Objective
To identify different animals and their
characteristics.
Materials
Small paper bags, markers, scissors, glue
Activity
Discuss animal characteristics. Have student’s
brainstorm what animal they want to make. This
can be their favorite animal, a pet, an animal from
Diego, or a rainforest animal.
Have students color and add features to the paper
bag to make it look like their animal.
Animal Puppet Suggestions
The students can add round or pointy ears, a
tongue, whiskers, or fold the bag to make a pointy
nose.
Follow Up Discussion
Have students put on a puppet show with their
animals.
Discuss what students love about their animals
(both real and puppet).
Adventures with Dora and Diego
Pre-visit Activity
Pre-visit Activity
Animal Habitats
Make a Baby Jaguar Name Tag
Ages: pre k-1st grade
Ages: pre k-2nd grade
Background Information
Rainforests are found throughout North, Central
and South America. An abundance of warmth rain
and humidity creates dense forests growing tens of
feet into the air. The height and density of the
trees and foliage creates a canopy. Unusual plants
and animals live from the top of the canopy to the
bottom of the forest floor. This rich and diverse
environmental niche has animals that students may
already be familiar with such as squirrels,
monkeys, frogs and bats, as well as animals that
will be new to students including cheetahs, tapirs
and macaws.
Background information
The character, Baby Jaguar, is one of Diego’s
friends. He accompanies Diego on many
adventures. Have students make a Baby Jaguar
nametag to wear when they visit the museum.
Objective
To introduce the concept of environmental niches,
specifically the different niches present in the
rainforest and the animals that live there.
Activity
Use the image of Baby Jaguar to make a copy for
each student.
Have students write their names in the body of
Baby Jaguar and decorate their nametag.
Cut out the image for students and hole punch a
place to string yarn through.
Cut yarn in two or three foot lengths and then
string the yarn through each nametag.
Hand out the nametags on the day of the trip either
at school or on the bus as students arrive at
CMOM.
Vocabulary
Niche-a place suitable for a person or animal
Habitat-the place where a person or animal is
usually found
Materials
Copies of animal matching sheets
Activity
Discuss what a rainforest is and the different
niches present in a rainforest. Match the animals
pictured with their habitat.
Follow Up Discussion
Compare animals of the rainforest in South
America to those found in Africa or Asia. How
are their habitats the same? Different?
Discuss the animal’s characteristics that allow
them to live in a certain environment.
Discuss what foods animals may eat based on their
habitats
Objective
Prepare and excite students for their upcoming
class trip.
Materials
Baby Jaguar image, scissors, hole punch, yarn, and
markers or crayons
Follow Up Discussion
Discuss with students how they will wear their tag
on the day of the trip.
Use the nametag making activity as an opportunity
to prepare students for the trip.
Adventures with Dora and Diego
Pre-visit Activity
Pre-visit Activity
Rainforest Fruit Salad
Identifying Animal Tracks
Ages pre k-3rd grade
Ages: k-2nd grade
Background Information
The rainforest is home to millions of species of
plants and animals. Many animals, like toucans,
feed primarily on the different types of fruits and
berries found in the rainforest. The plants that
produce fruit also produce oxygen for us and the
animals to breathe. Fruit contains many important
vitamins that help us to stay healthy.
Background Information
Diego often follows animal tracks to find an
animal he believes is injured or in danger. Every
animal has its own unique track or footprint. By
studying animal tracks we can identify what
animal they came from, what the animal was
doing, and where it was going. For instance, if the
tracks lead to water, the animal was most likely
getting a drink or going for a swim. Also, if the
tracks are far apart, the animal was most likely
running.
Objective
To understand the importance fruit plays in the
rainforest and our lives and to learn about different
tropical fruits.
Materials
Cutting board, plastic knifes, large bowl, Dixie
cups, spoon, 3 bananas, 1 pineapple, 2 oranges,
box of strawberries, and 1 mango.
Preparation
Peel the pineapple and mango, and cut off the
stems of the strawberries
Activity
Observe the different textures, shapes, and smells
of the unpeeled fruit. Then have students peel the
fruit, or show them the peeled fruit, and discuss
the differences between the peeled fruit and the
unpeeled fruit. Have an adult supervise the
students cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces and
place into a large bowl. The students may cut the
bananas and strawberries with a dull knife. Mix
the fruit pieces into a bowl and serve into the Dixie
cups.
Follow Up Discussion
Discuss the different flavors and textures of fruits.
What sorts of animals eat fruit?
Objective
To introduce the concept of scale by studying
animal tracks and what they can tell us.
Materials
Copies of animal track sheets, sheets of butcher
paper.
Activity
Have students cut out and glue down the different
animal tracks from smallest to largest on the
butcher paper. Have students trace their own
footprint to compare with the animals.
Follow Up Discussion
What does the footprint size tell us about how
large the animal is?
What can we find out from footprints?
Have students observe each other running,
walking, and tip-toeing and have them measure
how far apart the feet land.
Jaguar
Monkey
Llama
Quetzal
Tree frog
Mouse
Adventures with Dora and Diego
Pre-visit Activity
Family Scrapbook
Pre-visit Activity
Watch it Grow!
Ages: pre k-4th grade
Ages: 1st-4th grade
Background Information
Dora’s family is very important to her. She lives
with her Mami, Papi, and Abuela.
Background Information
The rainforest is made up of millions of different
types of plants and trees, many of which grow to
over 100 feet tall. These trees are very important
to us because they produce oxygen for us to
breathe. A large problem we face today is that
these trees are being cut down to make things like
paper.
Objective
To discuss the importance of family and how
every family is unique.
Materials
Construction paper, markers, pencils, glue, hole
punch, ribbon or yarn, family photographs (or
coppies)
Activity
Discuss the members of the family and what the
children call that family member.
Have students fold a few pieces of paper in half to
make a book. Have students make a page for each
family member. The page may include their name,
age, a drawing or photograph of them, the
student’s favorite thing about them, and what they
do together. The student may also make pages for
their family tree, pets, house, favorite things to do
with their family, or anything else they want to
add.
When the student is done with their book, punch
holes on the folded side and thread ribbon through
the holes to bind the book together.
Follow Up Discussion
Have students present their scrapbooks to the class
Talk about different family traditions the children
may have
Objective
To introduce students to the lifecycle of plants and
discuss their importance to the ecosystem.
Materials
Xeroxed images of plant parts, clear zip-lock bags,
paper towels, Dixie cups, soil, seeds (lima beans),
water, growth chart, ruler.
Activity
Discuss what plants require to grow, the growing
process, and the parts of a bean plant and their
function.
Have students wet a paper towel, place the seed in
the paper towel, then place it in the plastic bag and
place by the window. Have the students continue
to add a little water the plant daily and measure the
height of the plant (from the bottom of the roots to
the top of the branches) every day and record this
information on a growth log with the date and how
tall the plant is. For older students you can have
each plant in a different environment (by the
window or in the dark, a little water or a lot of
water) and see how it affects the growth of the
plant. Record this information on the growth log.
Optional: after the bean plant has grown a few
inches the students may place the bean plant in a
Dixie cup with soil in it.
Follow-up Discussion
Discuss how the plant has grown and why.
Hypothesize how long it takes a tree to reach 100
feet based on the student’s observations of their
plants
Discuss what animals rely on trees and why.
Discuss why rainforests are being destroyed in
parts of the world.
Discuss what students can do to help protect
rainforests.
Adventures with Dora and Diego
Pre-visit Activity
Start a Mariachi Band
Ages: pre k-2nd grade
Background Information
Mariachi is a type of music that originated in
Mexico. The music has its roots in folk songs of
the area. Mariachi bands typically celebrate great
moments in a person’s life. The fiesta trio appears
when Dora and her friend Boots have successfully
completed a part of their quest to congratulate
them. Visit http://www.mariachi.org/history.html
for more information on mariachi music.
Objective
For students to explore the importance of mariachi
music and experiment with different types of
mariachi instruments.
Materials
Sample instruments if possible, shoe boxes, rubber
bands, rulers, assorted containers with caps or lids
(eg: coffee cans, water bottles, etc), rice or dried
beans, paper plates, bells, paper towel rolls, wax
paper, pencils, stapler, glue, markers, crayons
Activity
Demonstrate what sounds different instruments
make. Have the students decide what type of
instrument they would like to make. Have each
student make an instrument then decorate with
crayons or markers. Encourage them to be
creative, see if they can think of their own unique
instrument or combine a few existing instruments.
Instrument Ideas
Guitar
Have students string 4 rubber bands across a shoe
box with the lid taken off. Attach a ruler to the
back of the box.
Maracas
Have students fill a container with rice or beans
then place the lid on top.
Tambourine
Have students glue or staple together 2 paper
plates facing each other. Punch holes around the
outside and string bells through.
Horn
Have students place wax paper around one end of
an empty paper towel roll, securing with a rubber
band, then poke a few holes through the wax paper
with a pen or pencil. Have students sing into the
open end of the tube.
Follow Up Discussion
Have students play a song together with their
instruments. Have them play slow, fast, loud, and
soft. Have students their favorite music and songs
and why they like them. What did you notice about
each instrument? Discuss how each instrument
produces the sound it makes.
Adventures with Dora and Diego
Resources
Dora the Explorer: Meet Diego by Leslie Valdez
(adaptor) and Susan Hall (illustrator)
Published by Simon & Schuster
A Humpback Whale Tale (Go Diego Go! Series
#2) by Justin Spelvin and Ron Zalme (illustrator)
Published by Simon & Schuster
Diego’s Animal Friends (Go Diego Go!) by Laura
Driscoll and Alex Maher (Illustrator)
Published by Simon and Schuster
Destination: Rainforest by Jonathan Grupper
Published by Random House
The Forest by Clair A. Nivola
Published by Frances Foster Books
Red Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
Published by Scholastic Books
In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming
Published by Holt
Baby Animals (Dora the Explorer) by Phoebe
Beinstein, Robert Roper
Published by Simon & Schuster
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon
Rainforest by Lynne Cherry.
Published by Harcourt Brace and Company