Tropics Biome:  Learning Extra



WORDS FOR THE TROPICS

Create an image of the mysterious tropics using metaphors





DESCRIPTION

Students will list films, songs, books, and poems with a tropical theme.  Then they will create lists of words related to the tropics.  Using the words, students write short statements; the sentences are then connected.  A metaphor list is also developed.  Poems are written using the word lists.  The words will give the students a clearer image of the mysterious tropical forest.  They will be able to better describe this unique biome.





OUTCOME

The student will be able to describe the tropics biome using vivid details as a result of clustering and creating metaphors.





ACTIVITY

1.  Brainstorm, either in small groups or individually, a list of films, songs, books and poems that refer to tropical forests. Post the list somewhere in the room so it can be added to as students continue their tropics study. Bring in some examples of work to share.



2. Have the students think of words that come to mind when you say the word tropics.  Be receptive. Do not censor. Think of anything related to tropics.   Have the students write down the words clustering them on the page.  Connect each word to another word by drawing lines.  The page will be a cluster of associations.  



3.  Students can begin writing short  statements giving meaning to some of the words.  



4. Create a list of verbs, nouns and adjectives that refer to the tropics from the list of words brainstormed by the students.  Some ideas include:

	Nouns: claws, plumage, sunlight, camouflage, extinction, feathers, orchids, 	disguise, thunder, mists, shade, ferns, defense, banyan, nectar, butterfly, fruit, 	coloration, macaw, humidity, mosses, buttresses, gap, roost, echolocation, foliage



	Verbs:  soaring, preen, leaping, forage, grasping, stalking, gliding, swinging, 	clinging, dripping, constricting, climb, creep, scurry, fly, shrieking,	chattering, warning, hum, whistle, scream, peering



	Adjectives:  spectacular, iridescent, sheen, agile, brilliant, dense, dappled, gaudy, 	dazzling, rare, glittering, incredible, secretive, vivid, fragile, moist, vulnerable, 	endangered, venomous, lush, giant, damp, enormous, solitary, slow



5. Have the students construct short statements using a selection of the words listed above.  They do not have to be related to the tropics.  i.e. As you step into the lush tropical forest, you hear birds calling and insects humming. Dappled sunlight camouflages a pheasant foraging on the forest floor. As an iridescent butterfly flutters through a shaft of sunlight, its wings flash and gleam. A venomous snake slithers along a moss-laden tree branch. A parrot, perched in a banyan tree, shrieks an alarm.  Before taking flight, a brilliantly colored bird peers at you. Agile monkeys scream as they swing through the tree tops. For a moment, the forest seems quiet and empty.  You feel like an intruder in this strange and incredible place.



6.  Connect the sentences, relating it to something that occurred in the tropics. 



7.  Discuss the meaning of the term metaphor.  A metaphor is  an image connected to something it  literally cannot be.  What is a night in the tropics like?  What are the sounds of the tropics like?  Create a metaphor list.



8.  Using the word lists construct poems.





EXTENSIONS

Create a descriptive word-picture collage.





GRADING CRITERIA

*Be able to use metaphors in a poem.

*Identify a variety of verbs, nouns and adjectives that describe the tropics.

*Final edits should include detail using appropriate vocabulary and correct spelling.