KS2 Rainforest Activities

KS2 Rainforest Activities
KS2 Rainforest Activities
Rainforest plants activity
This activity should be completed at Marwell Zoo’s Tropical World.
The aim of this activity is to encourage the children to look out for and identify
the different plants that grow in the rainforest, and then recognise the variety
of different products that can be made from them. The children can find the
answers to the questions on information boards throughout Tropical World
and the rest can be answered through observation or own experience. An
answer sheet has been provided for you to prompt and guide the children.
Rainforest animals activity
On your walk around the zoo looking for rainforest animals, the pupils can
think about which layer of the rainforest the animals would be best at living in.
They draw, or write the names of, the rainforest animals next to the layer of
the rainforest where they think they might live. One example has been done
as a guide.
Marwell map of rainforest animals
The last page helps you find the rainforest species in Marwell Zoo.
Curriculum Links
SCIENCE
Year 4 Living things and their habitats
 recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose
dangers to living things
Year 6 Evolution and inheritance
 identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in
different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution
GEOGRAPHY
Human and physical geography
Rainforest Plants
On your journey around Tropical World look out for the plants below and use the
information on the signs to create a fact file for each. One example has been done
for you.
Name of plant: Banana plant
It comes from: the Canary Isles
Did you know? Bananas don’t grow on trees! They
don’t have a proper woody trunk, so are just a type of
large plant.
Paw-paw grows on the ............................. tree.
It comes from: ...............................
What does a papaya
leaf look like? Draw
one here.
It can be used for ...............................................
...................................................
..................................................
Name of plant: .............................
It comes from:
........................................................
What colour are the
vanilla flowers?
....................................
....................................
Pure vanilla extract is expensive
because........................................
Which part of the ginger
plant do we use for food?
Circle the correct answer.
Roots
Flowers
Leaves
Ginger
It comes from: ..................................................
It can be used for..............................................
.............................................................................
Custard Apple
It comes from:
......................................................................
The fruit tastes .............................................
The seeds and leaves can be used to
make ...........................................................
This is the peel of a ........................................
It would feel ..........................................................
It comes from: ......................................................
It takes 2-3 years to fruit, and ..................
months to ripen.
The fibre from the
leaves can be used
to make:
What other plants can you
think of that we eat or use
to make other products?
Rainforest Plants
Answer sheet
Paw-Paw grows on the papaya tree.
It comes from Central America.
It can be used for food, making chewing gum and toothpaste,
tenderising meat and treating indigestion.
Name of plant: vanilla orchid.
It comes from Mexico.
Pure vanilla extract is expensive because the
plants have to be pollinated by hand, and the
pods take a long time to mature.
Which part of the ginger
plant do we use for food?
Circle the correct answer.
Roots
Flowers
Leaves
What colour are the
vanilla flowers?
Green/greenishyellow
Ginger
It comes from Pacific Islands.
It can be used for cooking or treating
indigestion.
Custard Apple
It comes from the Caribbean Islands.
The fruit tastes sugary/sweet.
The seeds and leaves can be used to make soap and perfume.
This is the peel of a pineapple.
It would feel prickly, bumpy, spiky etc.
It comes from Brazil. It takes 2-3 years to fruit, and 5 months to
ripen.
The fibre from the
leaves can be used to
make pina, which is a
fine cloth material.
What other plants can you
think of that we eat or use
to make other products?
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

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Coconut tree
Avocado plant
Cocoa beans (for chocolate!)
Sugar cane
Coffee beans
Rainforest Animals
On your walk around the zoo looking for rainforest animals, think about which layer of the
rainforest they would be best at living in.
Draw or write the names of the rainforest animals you see in the layer of the rainforest you
think they might live in. One example has been done for you.
Clue: Wings or other adaptations for
flying or gliding, or very agile climbers.
Clue: Long arms for swinging, claws
or other adaptations for climbing.
Clue: Mainly animals who try to hide away from
predators in the flowers and plants (need to be
able to climb).
The okapi
lives on the
forest floor
Clue: Camouflaged in the soil and tree
trunks. Not very good at climbing.
Rainforest animals
Answer sheet
Rainforest Floor
Understorey
Madagascar tree boa
Beaded lizard
Tokay gecko
Canopy
Black and white ruffed
lemur
Tamarins
Ring-tailed coati (Forages on the ground, but also climbs trees to look for fruit)
Bongo
Green and black poison
dart frog
Sulawesi crested macaque
(also forages on the
rainforest floor during the
day)
Ocelot (climbs trees)
Okapi
Siamang gibbon
Giant anteater
Western black and white
colobus monkey
Collared peccary
Pygmy hippo
Lowland anoa
Brazilian tapir
Forest buffalo
Marwell map of rainforest animals
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5
7
3
8
4
9
3
10
11
13
12
1
14
2
1. Colobus monkey
2. Forest buffalo and bongo
3. Okapi
4. Ocelot
5. Ring-tailed coati
6. Madagascar tree boa and
beaded lizard
7. Sulawesi crested macaque
8. Lowland anoa and siamang
9. Tamarins
10. Black and white ruffed lemur
11. Pygmy hippo
12. Brazilian tapir
13. Collared peccary
14. Giant anteater
Tropical World