What has the rainforest got to do with me?

Age: 11-14 Years

Jungle Connections Bag

This activity demonstrates how vital the rainforest is as a resource base i.e. for products and materials, providing a habitat for rare living species, ‘ideas and knowledge’ and as a human habitat.  It can lead on to discussions about what effect we have on the rainforest and how losing such a valuable resource will affect our lives.

Give out bags with the below items inside (give time for unpacking).  Have a look at the items in the bag - discuss and see if you can figure out how they are connected with the Tropical Rainforest. 

Items for the Bag:

• Chocolate - Is an under-story plant that needs to grow under bigger trees.  It is an important food crop.  
• Rubber Gloves - Come from the rubber tree, which is different to the pot plant that we call a rubber plant.
• Cosmetics - Soaps and lip balm contain palm oil.
• Cheap crisps - Are often cooked in palm oil.
• Picture of a beef burger - Talk about how huge areas of the rainforest have been cleared for massive cattle ranches to produce cheap beef.
• Picture of garden furniture - Talk about how a lot of wood for outdoor use is tropical hardwood, important to discuss sustainable FSC products.
• Exotic Holiday Brochures - Lots of rainforest is pulped into paper. Discuss the effects of tourism and people taking holidays in tropical rainforests. Is tourism a good or bad thing?  Discuss eco-tourism and its benefits.
• Coffee - Another under-story plant that needs the protection of taller plants to grow well.  It is an important food crop.
• Empty Medicine Containers - 80% of all medicines originally come from plants.  Many medicinal plants from the rainforest have yet to be discovered.
• A picture of  the water and carbon cycle - Discuss how Rainforests are an essential part of the water and carbon cycle.  Rainforests regulate our climate.

De-brief the items in the bag – ask for one or two explanations about how we are connected to the things in the bag. Can the items be categorised?  What headings can they come up with?  Non- food products, foods/medicine and cosmetics, uses for indigenous people.

Useful Resources:

> Isabelle Morin's Story - how a 3 year-old girl from Tennessee successfully battled Leukaemia thanks to medicines derived from rainforest plants