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Rain Forest Resources for Teachers
Why teach students about the rain forest?
The rain forests of our planet are in grave danger. Each day, thousands of acres are being destroyed to make room for crops, roads, buildings, and mining. Other trees are cut down for lumber and other products. The problem is that rain forest habitats take centuries to develop, so those that are cut down are lost to our generation forever. Our rain forests are important because they provide oxygen for the earth, homes for animals, and products like medicines and food. When they are destroyed, the area often becomes a desert and soil erosion becomes a problem. Even global weather systems are affected by rain forest destruction!
What can we do to help?
Luckily, there's a way that we can help! The Earth Foundation, an organization that was created almost 20 years ago, coordinates an Adopt an Acre project that gives students a way to make a difference. They provide quality rain forest teaching materials and two educational DVD's for free to teachers who chose to participate in their project. They also send a catalog of items such as T-shirts and tote bags that students can sell to raise money to save the rain forest. The products are attractive, high quality, and almost sell themselves. I have participated in this project for many years, and I recommend it highly!
This is not a fund raiser - all of the money collected goes to the Earth Foundation to support the project. At the end of the year, the Earth Foundation uses the money to purchase a large tract of rain forest land which they turn over to a conservation agency to manage. Every 10 T-shirts sold saves approximately 1 acre of rain forest. Thousands of schools across the US have participated in this project, and the Earth Foundation has been able to donate more than 12 million dollars to the rain forest cause over the last 18 years. In addition, they send one teacher to the rain forest for FREE each year from schools that sell more than 1000 shirts! What better way to learn about the rain forest and inspire your students than to actually visit one yourself!
How can we get started with the Adopt an Acre project?
Getting started is really easy. Just call Kellie at the Earth Foundation (1-800-5MONKEY) and ask for their rain forest project kit. It contains several sample T-shirts, a CD with teaching materials, and 2 wonderful DVD's to teach your students about the rain forest. This year's project is focused on saving the rain forest in Madagascar, and one of the DVD's is a beautiful overview of this fascinating island.
Check out this year's cool T-shirt designs!
How can we run a successful Adopt an Acre campaign?
My school, Stoney Point Elementary in Fayetteville, NC, sold over 1000 shirts last year, and it was the first year that the school participated in the project. One of the teachers who participated in the project was randomly select to take the Earth Foundation's 10-day FREE trip to the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica! You can read about our success on the Earth Foundation website under the 100 School Stories link. Read all the stories to get some great ideas for your own project!
In addition, feel free to check out the letters and order forms below that our school is using this year. I've provided them in PDF format, and below each image is a link to a Microsoft Publisher version if you would like to customize them.
Tips for Success:
MS Publisher Format
Order Form
MS Publisher Format
Presale Letter
MS Publisher Format
Ten Acre Poster
MS Publisher Format
Task Force Letter
MS Publisher Format
- Catalogs - Request one catalog for every student at your school. The Earth Foundation will be happy to send you whatever you need. We printed up a letter and a sheet of order forms for every student in the school. (See sample letter in PDF format and customizable MS Publisher format.)
- T-shirt Presale - Choose a few classes or a grade level to head up the project school-wide. Allow them to order their shirts before the actual campaign so that they can wear the shirts when the campaign starts. We did this at Stoney Point, and we feel it was a major factor in the success of our campaign. Each 4th grader was allowed to order one shirt several weeks before the actual school-wide campaign. When their shirts arrived, everyone wanted one! Our principal supported us by allowing the faculty to wear jeans on Fridays with a rain forest t-shirt. All of these efforts allowed the wonderful designs to be showcased. Instead of buying just one shirt, many people loved the designs so much that they bought several of them. (See presale letter.)
- Incentives - The Earth Foundation has an incentive poster where students can earn prizes for selling shirts. We used those incentives and added some of our own. For example, this year we are having a One Acre Club party where all students who sell 10 shirts and save 1 acre will enjoy pizza and watch Madagascar II.
- Class Goals - Encourage each class to set a classroom goal. Our class set a goal of selling 100 shirts last year, and we ended up selling almost twice that many. I created a chart with 100 squares, and as students turned in their orders, they placed a sticker on each square. Some teachers created wall displays outside their classrooms, and posted a slip of paper for each shirt sold. I've also been at a school that posted a large tree with a numbered scale on the side. Each class created a rain forest animal that would move up the tree as the numbers of shirts sold increased. (See chart.)
- Rain Forest Task Force - Choose a small group of students to serve on a Rain Forest Task Force. They can create posters, visit classrooms to share information about the project, or create news announcements for school broadcasting systems. (See sample letter)
- Tropical Treasure Hunt - When children study about the rain forest before they participate in the campaign, they are likely to work harder because they understand the purpose behind the project. One way they can study about the rain forest is to take part in the Tropical Treasure Hunt activity which is an Internet treasure hunt for information.
