Rainforest animals

Early Years Foundation Stage

Understanding the world

Rainforests

﻿Hello everyone, today, we're going to be carrying on learning about different habitats Have a look behind me, do you think you recognise what this habitat might be called If you do, turn and tell your teddy, I think its a hmm habitat Today's habitat is a rainforest And we're going to be learning about the rainforest, and the animals that live inside rainforest So, in today's lesson, we're going to find out a bit more about rainforest. We're going to find out what animals live in the rainforest Then we're going to talk about how those animals move through the rainforest and even pretend to be some of those animals. Finally, we're going to do a rainforest animal challenge! Where we put together, all of the movements that we've thought about and we go for a walk through the rainforest pretending to be those different animals So, in this lesson, you're going to need, your moving bodies, make sure that it moves give your shoulders a little rub back, move your feet a little bit. Did your body move? Good, then you've got what you need for this lesson. Then you're going to need a teddy or a toy, so they can help you with your rainforest animal movements and you can show them to them as you go along So, what is a rainforest? Well, you've seen a picture of one, but we don't really know what they are yet Rainforests are huge forests with lots and lots of very tall trees and leafy plants that are all very close together They're found in very warm parts of the world, but they also get lots and lots of rain. So if you were walking through a rainforest, you might feel very hot. But you might also get a bit wet. Because there is so many trees and plants, that means the rainforest is home to millions of animals. That's a lots of animals. And it's really important, because it gives all of those animals a home and it produces lots of oxygen, which is what humans need to breathe. So it's very important that we keep the rainforests all around the world, alive, and we don't cut them down. Now, let's have a think about some of the animals you might find in a rainforest. The top part of the rainforest, very high up in the tree tops. There are some animals that live up there. What do you think they might be? What types of animals do you think might live way up high in the tree tops of the rainforest Have a think and turn and tell your teddy I think that birds might live up very high in the tree tops in the rainforest Is that what you think as well, have a look. There are bright, beautiful coloured birds that live in the rainforest. Like this bird here, which is called a toucan. It's got a funny, big beak that's green and red, and it's brightly coloured in yellow and black as well. These birds have big beaks so that they can eat different things. There's also another type of bird that lives in the rainforest. Wild amaco, they are bright and beautiful as well look at it Blue and yellow feathers, as it's rising up to the tree tops. You don't get many interesting birds like that here in England, do you? Well, how do you think these birds move through the rainforest? Can you have a think and show your teddy how you think they might move. Good job, I am looking at that amacos' wings and I'm thinking, they've got very big wings that they flap to get up to the top of the tree tops. Can you have a go at moving like a rainforest bird flapping your wings? Well done that was some really good flying. Now, just below the very, very tops of the tree tops, there's another layer where all of the branches of the trees connect and there are vines that you can swing from tree to tree. Can you think of any animals that might like to live here? Just below the top of the tree tops. Turn and tell your teddy if you think you know Below the very tops of the tree tops, there's a layer of the rainforest called the canopy layer, and in this canopy layer, there are shorter trees, but they're still very high up. And so it gets lots of sunlight and rain up there. Lots of different animals like to live here, so if you said, do you think that monkeys or sloths like to live here, then you were right, well done, have a look So there some monkeys up in the tree tops. And there's a funny looking sloth hanging from one of the branches as well. Let's have another look at rainforest monkeys. There are a lots of different types of monkeys that live in the rainforest. And they like to live up high in the canopy layer of the tree tops, where they can find fruit, insects and other food to eat They move through the forest, by swinging from tree to tree with their very long arms. Can you have a go at swinging, like a rainforest monkey Good job, I almost thought you were a rainforest monkey for a minute. Now let's have a think about rainforest sloths. Sloths live in the trees, because they like to eat leaves and twigs and buds. They spend a lot of time sleeping, and they move very slowly from the branches to the other branches Can you move slowly like a sloth? See how slow you can go Were you even slower than me? Now let's have a think about rainforest animals that like to live in the dark, shady parts of the rainforest. This is getting quite far down now, but we're not quite on the ground yet. Below the canopy layer of the rainforest, is the understory layer. So we've got the tree tops, the canopy layer and the understory What's this part of the rainforest called? The understory, well done. It's the layer between the tops of the trees and the ground. It's quite dark because of all the shade from the leaves on the top. So what kind of animals do you think might like to live on the understory layer? Turn and tell your teddy if you think you know Lots of different animals like to live here, some of the animals that like to live on the understory layer, are frogs and bats Look at that brightly coloured frog. Now frogs normally like to live near water like rivers or ponds. But the rainforest is so wet anyway that they can live a bit higher up in the trees So we've got brightly coloured frogs, and we've got little bats as well Rainforest frogs are bright and colourful. They like to sleep in the trees so that they can hide underneath the leaves where other animals can't find them They move around the rainforest by springing off their back legs and to do big jump Can you jump like a rainforest frog? I'm going to give it a go. I haven't got much space here you'll be able to jump a lot better than me. I'm jumping off my back legs to move around the rainforest, like a frog. What about rainforest bats? There were a lots and lots and lots of different bats that live in the rainforest They like to live on the understory layer of the tree tops Where they could eat fruit and insects, and even hang upside down and curl up to go to sleep. Bats fly through the rainforest a bit like the birds. But look, they've got much smaller wings than birds. Can you fly like a bat with your little wings? And maybe even curl yourself up like you're going to sleep like a bat? I'm flying like a little rainforest bat and then I'm giving myself a big hug to go to sleep. You have a go at flying like a rainforest bat. Well done, now we're all the way at the bottom of the rainforest, on the rainforest floor. Can you think of any animals that might live on the rainforest floor? Tell your teddy if you think you can think of any. Again, there are lots of animals that live on the rainforest floor Like insects, spiders, and even some large animals. Like jaguars, I should've known there were jaguars in the rainforest, to be dangerous, isn't it? What do you notice about some of the spiders and the rainforest insects that you might find on the forest floor? Turn and tell your teddy I have noticed that they have lots and lots of legs. A spider has one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight legs and rainforest insects have six legs. So spiders have eight legs and insects have six legs. We don't have that many legs, that might be a bit hard for us to pretend to be a spider or an insect. Maybe we could use our hands, pretend to crawl up our bodies to be the spider or the insect. You can think of your own action for a spider or an insect Have a go at being a spider or an insect on the rainforest floor. Did that tickle a little bit? Now let's have a look at the large rainforest animal. One large animal that lives on the rainforest floor is the jaguar. They like to live low to the ground, where they can hunt for fish and other animals to eat. They are very good at swimming, and they silently creep through the jungle before jumping onto their prey, onto the animals that they want to eat. So, for a jaguar, you could maybe be swimming, or you could be crawling along and jumping on your prey Have a think about how you would move like a jaguar and give it a go now. So, we've had a think about the animals that live right on the tree tops, and in the canopy layer, the understory layer and on the forest floor. There were lots of animals there and I don't know if I can remember how they all move through the rainforest, but now we're going to do our rainforest animal challenge, okay So we're going to pretend that we're walking through the rainforest. And I've got a magic wheel, whatever the magic will lands on, we have to pretend to be that animal, okay? Let's give it a go. So, we're walking through the rainforest We're on a lovely walk through the rainforest, when suddenly we see a bat Quick we have to fly around like a bat. You can do your own action for a bat. Now you're going to give myself a cuddle because I'm going to sleep now on my tree hanging upside down. Okay, back to walking. There's another bat. Quick, quick, quick, quick. Walking again, this time I'm a jaguar I'm creeping, pounce and then creep and pounce Back to walking through the jungle. Oh I'm a sloth this time. Moving very slowly What's next, we're walking, walking, walking Oh, we're a bird, we're flapping our big, big wings. You probably got lots more space than me to flap your wings Going all the way up to the tree tops. Oh, can you flap your wings all the way up to the very tops of the trees. Well done, back to walking through the rainforest. Oh I'm a monkey this time I'm swinging from branch to branch Back to walking through the rainforest I'm a bat again Flap those little wings. Bats have to work hard because they only have little wings. Give yourself a cuddle goodnight, well done Walking through the rainforest. I'm a bat again. Why do we keep getting bats? There so many bats in the rainforest that's why It's hard work being a bat, isn't it? Okay, what else are we going to see on our rainforest walk. Another sloth, you have a bit of a break now cause we can go really slowly, when we're being a sloth What are we going to see on our next walk A bird again! Try to make it all the way up to the tree tops before we see our next animal. What's our next animal going to be Another frog, ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit Oh look finally we get to be a spider or an insect, ready? There's spiders all over me Oh no, spiders, everywhere, it's in my hair Let's do one last one, okay? A sloth again not so nice I'm a slow sloth. I'm exhausted after doing that. That was fun though, wasn't it? I'm impressed that we remembered all of those different actions for the animals. Okay, which rainforest animal, do you think you would like to be? Turn and tell your teddy what you think? I think I would like to be a bird, because I like the idea of flying all the way up to the tree tops and being able to see across the whole of the rainforest Which animal would you like to be? Now, I would love to see your rainforest animal impressions and I really want to know what rainforest animal you would choose to be if you lived in the rainforest Make sure that you share your work with someone in your household, or your teddy or your toy because they would love to know more about rainforests as well You can even ask your parent or your carer, to share your work on twitter, @OakNational with the hashtag, LearnWithOak and hashtag ONAReception. Can you try and tell your teddy what the different layers of the rainforest were and teach them about the rainforest. Let's have a little think. The very top one was the tree tops, and underneath just below the tree tops we had the canopy layer, and under the canopy layer we had the understory, and right at the bottom, we had the forest floor, didn't we? You've learned so much about rainforests today, everyone, well done.

Rainforest animals

Rainforest animals

Slide deck

Lesson details

Key learning points

Licence

Video

Lesson appears in

UnitUnderstanding the world / Rainforests

Understanding the world