The Jeff Corwin Experience: Panama
Rain Forest Ecosystem
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: K–8
Curriculum Focus: Life Science
Lesson Duration: Two class periods
Program Description
Everyone associates the narrow, unassuming country of Panama with its famous canal. Jeff
Corwin explores the isthmus in search of some of the most bizarre, deadly, and muscular
animals in the world.
Video Index
Segment 1: Welcome to Panama (9 min.)
Description
Travel to Panama and discover the animals living in the rain forest—the boa constrictor with its
deadly squeeze, the rufous-naped tamarin, and the unusual two-toed sloth.
Pre-viewing question
What do you know about Panama?
Answer: Answers will vary, but some students may mention the Panama Canal, the rain forest, or
high temperatures.
Post-viewing question
What is unique about the two-toed sloth?
Answer: It spends most of its life upside down.
Segment 2: The Islands of Panama (21 min.)
Description
Find out how humans and animals, such as anteaters and monkeys, co-exist on Panama’s islands.
Enjoy observing animals from a tree’s canopy.
Pre-viewing question
What do you think happens when wild animals and humans live close to one another?
Answer: Answers will vary, but some students may suggest that they would bother each other;
others may think that they would do well living close together.
Panama: Rain Forest Ecosystem
Teacher’s Guide
2
Post-viewing question
Why are conservation, or animal protection, organizations important in Panama?
Answer: Such groups can rescue animals when they wander away from the forest into people’s
homes. They can also help educate people about the animals.
Segment 3: Into the Darien (12 min.)
Description
Take a plane ride to the Darien, a forested area that has not been settled by humans. Discover the
eyelash viper, unique species of frogs, and the harpy eagle, Panama’s national bird.
Pre-viewing question
Why hasn’t the Darien been settled by humans?
Answer: Answers will vary, but some students may determine that it is too isolated.
Post-viewing question
What are the eyelash viper’s “eyelashes” made of?
Answer: They are made of scales, bony overlapping plates.
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
•
Learn about Panama by watching The Jeff Corwin Experience: Panama: Rain Forest Ecosystem.
•
Write a travel story about life in Panama, with a focus on the animals.
•
Share the travel stories with other members of the class.
Materials
•
The Jeff Corwin Experience: Panama: A Rain Forest Ecosystem video and VCR, DVD
and DVD player
•
Computer(s) with Internet access
•
Pencils and paper
Procedures
1. Begin the lesson by showing students The Jeff Corwin Experience: Panama: Rain Forest Ecosystem.
If time is limited, focus on segments 2 and 3.
2. After watching all or part of the video, tell students to imagine that they are foreign
correspondents based in Panama. Their job is to file one story each day about life in Panama,
with an emphasis on the animals living there. Give students a few moments to think about what
they would like to write about.
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Panama: Rain Forest Ecosystem
Teacher’s Guide
3
3. If students are having trouble coming up with ideas, suggest the following:
• Snakes of Panama, from constrictors to vipers
• How humans and animals interact
• The role of the isthmus is the development of Panama’s biodiversity
• Profile of unique animals, such as the poison dart frog or the eyelash viper
• Spider monkeys and their travels across the Isthmus of Panama
4. Give students time in class to work on their stories. Then ask for volunteers to share their stories
with the class.
5. Conclude the lesson by asking students what they learned about Panama. What do they think it
would be like to live there? How successfully do humans and animals co-exist? Why are parts
of Panama still undeveloped?
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson.
•
3 points: Students were attentive and highly engaged by the video; produced a clear,
accurate, complete story based on the video; participated actively in class discussions.
•
2 points: Students were somewhat attentive and engaged by the video; produced a
satisfactory story based on the video; participated in class discussions.
•
1 point: Students were only marginally attentive to and engaged by the video; did not
complete their story based on the video; participated minimally in class discussions.
Vocabulary
anteater
Definition: An example of a group of mammals called Xenarthrans, which have been moving
across the Isthmus of Panama for millions of years
Context: In the video, an anteater had wandered away from the rain forest into the kitchen of a
person living nearby.
biodiversity
Definition: A wide range of different plants and animals in a given area
Context: Scientists think that Panama’s biodiversity is a result of the fact that animals could
travel between North and South America along the Isthmus of Panama.
eyelash viper
Definition: A highly venomous snake living on a deserted island in Panama called the Darien
Context: What’s unique about the eyelash viper is that it has eyelashes made of scales.
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Panama: Rain Forest Ecosystem
Teacher’s Guide
4
Isthmus of Panama
Definition: A natural land bridge that emerged from the ocean millions of years ago, connecting
North and South America
Context: The formation of the Isthmus of Panama may have led to the development of the Gulf
Stream, which plays a major role in determining global ocean circulation patterns.
spider monkeys
Definition: A kind of monkey that has crossed the Isthmus of Panama over time, resulting in two
different species co-existing on one island
Context: The dark Columbian spider monkey tends to be tougher than the lighter southern
spider monkey, but they live together peacefully on Tigre Island.
Academic Standards
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K–12 to
promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, visit this Web site:
http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/overview.html#content.
Grades K-4
• Life Science: Organisms and environments
Grades 5-8
• Life Science: Populations and ecosystems, Diversity and adaptations of organisms
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL’s Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
•
Language Arts—Viewing: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret
visual media; Writing: Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.