Activity 1 - What Makes Up a Rainforest?

Focus
If a visitor to Tropical North Queensland asked me why the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area is considered so important and unique, what would
I tell them?

Background
The outcome of this activity is to gather the students’ prior knowledge of the structure, function and appearance and associated physical and biological environments of rainforest.

Pedagogy/teaching strategies
This activity is designed to gather students’ prior knowledge. Use of the 1-2-4 Strategy will enable the students’ responses to be efficiently recorded. One reporter from each group will provide a summary from their group. The responses may be grouped under topics such as rainforest structure; food webs; relationships between plants and animals, biodiversity, evolutionary history, rare species and aesthetics.

Activity sequence
1. Pose the questions: “If a tourist to tropical North Queensland asked me why the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area is considered so important and unique, what would I tell them?”
2. The students’ responses are then recorded using the 1-2-4 Strategy (or modify to 1-3-6 depending on student numbers). Every student needs to contribute. Select a group reporter to share a summary of the group’s responses.
3. Make a classification framework using the subtitles suggested above. As group reporters give responses, list words/concepts under the appropriate headings.
4. Sketch/label a diagram on a chart or whiteboard showing the children’s responses. Refer to the Rainforest Structure Diagram.

Assessment opportunities
Students make a learning journal entry which provides the teacher with an idea of the conceptual framework that the children have about the rainforest. This can be compared to a journal entry at the end of the unit to highlight the differences in knowledge, understandings and attitudes.