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!

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!
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!
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.




