Rain Forest, Rain!
Intended for Grade:
Subject:
Third
Science and Math
Description:
This project introduces broader definitions of rainforests
and deserts, including redwood forests and Antarctica respectively. This
project further compares weather patterns of different climates.
Objective:
The student will be able to describe rainforests and deserts.
The students will also be able to compare rainfall, temperature, and humidity
from different regions and climates.
Mississippi Frameworks addressed:
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Science Framework 6b: Collect and graph weather data.
Math Framework 4a: Compare and interpret quantities represented
on different types of graphs (line, bar, circle), and make predictions
based on the information collected.
Math Framework 4b: Compare data represented on charts and tables.
National Standards addressed:
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Content Standard A: Science as Inquiry
Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science
Math Standard: Data Analysis and Probability
Materials:
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Weather Table Handouts
Three sheets of butcher paper, approximately 8 feet long
Crayons or markers
Rulers or measuring tapes
Transparencies of:
o Rainforests
o Deserts
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o Redwood forests
o Antarctica
o Example Bar Graph (Mississippi Average Rainfall)
Rainforest Images PowerPoint (optional, can be used instead of
transparencies)
Humidifier (optional)
Background:
Annual rainfall is the amount of rain which falls on an area in a year,
measured typically in inches or centimeters. Strictly speaking, this includes
only actual rain, but other forms of precipitation—snow, hail, etc.—are often
included in the measurement. Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the
air. Relative humidity is the most common way humidity is expressed, given
as a percentage of the total possible water in the air. At 100 percent
humidity, the dew point is reached; water will condense easily onto surfaces
and fog will form. When the humidity is at 50 percent, the air contains
exactly half as much water as would be required to reach the dew point, and
at 0 percent humidity, no water vapor is in the air. The relative humidity
changes as the temperature changes. i.e. Hot air can hold more water vapor
than cold air before reaching the dew point, because as the temperature
increases, it becomes easier for the water molecules to remain in a gaseous
state. As the temperature decreases, the water molecules come closer
together and it becomes easier for them to condense back into a liquid.
A rainforest is an area which receives heavy annual rainfall and has
abundant plant growth, particularly tree growth. A typical minimum rainfall
for classification as a rainforest is approximately 60 inches. While the term
rainforest typically brings to mind moist, broadleaf forests such as those of
the Amazon River basin, coniferous temperate rainforests also exist. For
example, the redwood forests of California are classified as rainforests.
Common characteristics of rainforests are high humidity, typically greater
than 70% all year, a large diversity of plant life, and warm weather year
round. In the case of tropical rainforests, proximity to the equator
contributes to the warm weather, as does the high humidity. In the case of
temperate rainforests, which only occur near oceans, the ocean currents
bring in warm air and humidity all year, keeping the temperatures warm.
The constant rain in rainforests tends to wash nutrients out of the
soil. Most of the nutrients in the rainforest are contained within the plant
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life itself. If the plants are removed, the soil becomes relatively barren
only a short while later. The plants themselves contribute to the rains as
well. The plants release a great deal of water vapor during photosynthesis
(the conversion of sunlight into food). That water keeps the rainforests
humid and contributes to the formation of the very clouds which provide
rain to the rainforest.
The Redwood National Park is one of the redwood forests in northern
California, and is a temperate rainforest. The Amazon Rain Forest is a
tropical rainforest and is located in South America.
A desert is an area which receives sparse annual precipitation,
typically less than 10 inches. The term desert is commonly applied to places
such as the Sahara. However, it also applies to Antarctica. Antarctica has
virtually no precipitation, making it the largest desert on Earth. Likewise,
the northernmost parts of the world are also classified as a desert, the
Arctic Desert. The Sahara, on the other hand, is the largest hot desert in
the world. In all deserts, plant life is sparse. However, hot deserts exhibit
a surge in plant growth immediately after any rain, in which plants bloom
almost immediately, providing seeds which will in turn bloom during future
rains.
Antarctica is the southernmost continent, almost entirely covered in
an ice sheet miles thick. Antarctica holds (among others) the record for
being the coldest continent on Earth, with the lowest temperature ever
recorded, at -129° Fahrenheit. It’s also the driest, with less than 2 inches
of precipitation every year, and an average humidity of 0.03 percent.
The Sahara Desert is a region in northern Africa which has been a
desert for millennia. It is the largest hot desert in the world, holding the
record highest temperature ever, at 136° Fahrenheit in the shade.
Procedure:
1. Ask the students if they know what a rainforest is.
a. Ask the students if they can describe attributes of
rainforests.
b. Show the rainforest transparencies (or begin the
Rainforest Images PowerPoint).
2. Ask the students if they know where they can find rainforests.
a. Ask if there are any rainforests in the United States.
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3. Ask the students if they know what the redwood forests are.
a. Ask the students if they realize that the redwood
forests are rainforests, too.
b. Show the redwood forest transparencies.
c. Introduce the concept of a temperate rainforest.
4. Ask the students if they know what a desert is.
a. Ask the students to describe a desert.
b. Show the Sahara Desert transparencies.
5. Ask the students if they know where any deserts are.
a. Ask if there are any deserts in the United States. (Yes,
including the famous Mojave Desert containing Death
Valley, located in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.)
b. Ask the students if they think deserts have to be hot.
c. Introduce the concept of a cold desert.
d. Tell the students that Antarctica is the largest desert in
the world.
e. Show the transparencies of Antarctica.
6. Tell the students that they are going to compare temperature,
humidity, and rainfall of deserts and rainforests to that of
Mississippi.
a. Ask the students to define rainfall and humidity.
b. Ask the students if they know what humid air feels like,
and what dry air feels like.
c. To explain humidity, ask the students what the air feels
like after a shower. Is the mirror fogged up? Does the
air feel sticky, thick, or wet? These are all things
associated with humidity.
d. Optionally bring a humidifier and let the students feel
the warm, humid air emitted by the humidifier.
e. Explain the concept of relative humidity as 100 percent
humidity being as humid as possible, and zero percent
being as dry as possible.
7. Show the students the example bar graph transparency.
a. Ask the students how to read the bar graph.
b. Focus on the meanings of the units and labels.
8. Pass out a copy of the weather table handout to each student.
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9. Divide the class into three groups.
Tell one group that they will
draw a bar graph comparing rainfall, another that they will
draw a graph comparing humidity, and the last that they will
draw a bar graph comparing temperature.
a. The group drawing temperature will not graph the
temperature of Antarctica, because it’s negative.
10. Show the students, on the board (or on an extra piece of
butcher paper), how they will draw their bar graphs. The bar
graphs will run nearly the full length of the butcher paper.
11. Give each group a piece of butcher paper, stretched out on the
floor so they can easily draw on it.
12. Have the students first label the five regions that they are
graphing for at the bottom of the butcher paper (Sahara
Desert, Mississippi, etc).
13. The students should then label the type of graph at the top
(e.g. rainfall), and the units of measurement (e.g. inches) along
the side of the paper.
14. Then, have the students draw rectangles beginning from the
region labels. The rectangles’ lengths should be based on the
data in the table. For example, the rectangle representing
Mississippi’s average humidity should be 74 inches long, because
the average humidity in Mississippi is 74 degrees.
15. When the bar graphs are complete, have the students discuss
similarities and differences between the regions.
Evaluation:
The students may be evaluated based on the successful completion of the
bar graphing activity, and their participation in the discussion following the
activity.
Extended Activities:
The students may collect local weather data for a period of at least
one week, and then graph the days against each other, to compare the
weather changes. Have the students collect and graph different data
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(e.g. some should graph humidity, others rainfall). Then discuss the
results class, and look for patterns among the graphs. e.g. Does
temperature have any effect on rainfall? To compare longer periods,
it might be useful to graph weekly averages rather than individual
days.
The students could also collect seasonal weather data for a region
(e.g. Antarctica or the Sahara Desert) and create graphs.
Sources:
Amazon Basin Facts [Internet], National Zoo, last accessed January
2006.
<http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Amazonia/Facts/basinfacts.cfm>
Tropical Rainforest [Internet], Blue Planet Biomes, last accessed
January 2006. <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm>
Redwood National Park Weather Page [Internet], Redwood National
Park, last accessed January 2006. <http://www.redwood.nationalpark.com/weather.htm>
Weather in Antarctica [Internet], Antarctic Connection, last accessed
January 2006.
<http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/weather/index.shtml>
Ecosystems in Mississippi [BIO 4990], Lecture 2 [Internet],
Mississippi State University, College of Forest Resources, last
accessed January 2006.
<http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/courses/bio4990d/lec2.htm>
Terrestrial Ecoregions: Sahara desert [Internet], Wild World, last
accessed January 2006.
<http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/pa/pa13
27_full.html>
Sahara Climate [Internet], Infoplease, last accessed January 2006.
<http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0860871.html>
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Mild Winters Make Hattiesburg King [Internet], Hattiesburg Online,
last accessed January 2006. <http://www.hattiesburgms.com/cl.html>
Mississippi Climate and Weather [Internet], wordtravels, last
accessed January 2006.
<http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Provinces/Mississippi/Clima
te/>
All images from Wikimedia Commons, last accessed January 2006.
<http://commons.wikimedia.org>
Prepared by:
Derek Park
NSF NMGK-8
University of Mississippi
February 2006
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Weather Table
Amazon Rain Forest
Antarctica
Mississippi
Redwood National Park
Sahara Desert
Annual
Rainfall
80
2
55
70
inches
inches
inches
inches
1 inch
Average
Humidity
80 percent
0 percent
74 percent
75 percent
25 percent
Average
Temperature
79° Fahrenheit
-56° Fahrenheit
64° Fahrenheit
55° Fahrenheit
86° Fahrenheit
Weather Table
Amazon Rain Forest
Antarctica
Mississippi
Redwood National Park
Sahara Desert
Annual
Rainfall
80
2
55
70
inches
inches
inches
inches
1 inch
Average
Humidity
80 percent
0 percent
74 percent
75 percent
25 percent
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Average
Temperature
79° Fahrenheit
-56° Fahrenheit
64° Fahrenheit
55° Fahrenheit
86° Fahrenheit
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Bar Graph Example
Average Rainfall in Mississippi
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5.6
5.1
Inches of rainfall
4
3.9
3.9
2
0
Spring
Summer
Autumn
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Winter
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Tropical Rain Forest
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Tropical Rain Forest
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Redwood Forest
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Redwood Forest
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Sahara Desert
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Sahara Desert
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Antarctica
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Antarctica
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