This week in our 10 Weeks of Summer Reading series, we have a FREE Unit Study about the Amazon Rainforest. You will learn about the animals and plants that live there, the dangers rainforests are facing, some of the geography and history of South America, and more!
Grab one, two, or all of the books, sign-up to receive the FREE printable unit study and then explore the other resources below!
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The Books
This unit study is based upon The Mystery in the Amazon Rainforest, Where is the Amazon?, and/or Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon. You may read one, both, or all of these books.
The fictional Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon is one of the early Magic Tree House books making it a good choice for younger readers. Jack and Annie take you on an adventure through the Amazon, meeting many animals along the way.
The fictional Mystery in the Amazon Rainforest is a Carole Marsh Mystery and takes the reader on a fun adventure through the Amazon River Basin where the main characters are searching for lost treasure. This book is great if you want to learn more about South America while learning about rainforests.
Where is the Amazon?, is a non-fiction book that gives a lot of the historical background of the Amazon River Basin as well as the facts about the layers of the forest and the plants and animals that live there.
The Rainforest FREE Printable Unit Study
The unit study includes the following:
Notebooking pages about Rainforests and the History of the Amazon.
A mapping activity to learn about the geography of South America and how the Amazon flows through it.
A hands on listening activity to help children learn more about this biome while improving their listening skills.
Research Other Rainforests pages to learn more.
Writing Prompts with a graphic organizer to encourage children to write persuasive essays to convince people to take actions to save the rainforests and/or to learn about their favorite animal from the rainforest.
“Discover a New Plant” notetaking sheet to take notes on a plant just like scientific explorers did in the Amazon.
Watch These Videos
This video will make it feel like you are in the forest! (4 minutes)
Take a virtual field trip to the Amazon with this 9 minute video.
This is an interesting video about the fluctuation of deforestation of the Amazon over the last couple decades.
Check out what you can do to help save the Amazon.
Make Your Own Rainforest
Making your own biome can be a fun hands on project. It allows you to see how the water stays within the ‘rainforest’, keeping the plants constantly hydrated. Here is how to do it yourself: How To Make a Rainforest Terrarium with Kids
If you have your own glass container with a top, then you could just buy this kit to go with it:
I received this whole kit a few years ago as a gift and it is still kicking and really needs to be trimmed back!
Learn about Rainbows
We learned about rainbows in our Niagara Falls and Great Lakes Unit Study. In case, you missed it there, now is a great time to study them because one can often see rainbows in the rainforest. Here is why that happens:
You may want to use one or two prisms on your own to experiment with refracting light.
Learn More About Animals
If your children enjoyed learning about the different animals in the Amazon, check out Learning Animals with Magic Tree House, which includes a free set of notebooking pages.
Learn the Samba
Here is a video set against the backdrop of Rio de Janeiro that gets you started doing the samba!
Learn More About Machu Picchu
Check out this video to get a better idea of what Machu Picchu looks like and we it was an engineering feat!
Related Books:
There are many non-fiction books you can find about the rainforest, if you want to learn more. This is one is particularly great for younger children.
Or about the History of the region:
Related Resources:
Related Resources:
