CULTURAL LESSON
Brazilian Rainforest Carnaval
Artist
Wagner Petrilli
Grade
4
Subject
Science
Topic
Habitats and Communities
Descriptive Sentence
Sing, drum and make your own Brazilian Carnaval while learning about the animal and plant
communities in the Brazilian rainforest and the effects that humans have on them with deforestation.
Curricular Outcome or Expectation
Please see the lesson plan preview for the expectations/outcomes for your province.
Materials
Percussion instruments
Space Requirements
Open space in the classroom
Getting Ready
An overview of Carnaval in Brazil:
Every year in Brazil, there is a huge music competition. It happens all over Brazil, but the biggest one
is in Rio de Janeiro. People spend months getting ready for it. The city of Rio de Janeiro is divided
into many groups and each of these groups has its own samba school. There are thousands of people
in each samba school. In each school there are dancers, singers, composers and lots of drummers!
Every school composes a new song each year with a different theme. They spend months practicing
their songs and making costumes and dances.
In February all of the samba schools come together and have a big competition that lasts for three full
nights. People come from all over the world to watch as each samba school puts on a big parade with
very elaborate floats, costumes, dances, singing and drumming. There are hundreds of drummers in
each samba school so it is very VERY loud! At the end of the three days, they announce the winners
are of the competition and there is a big party to celebrate.
• Practice the tune for “Day-O (Daylight come and me wanna go home)” or some other song
determined by the class.
CULTURAL LESSON
Development
• Divide the class into four groups. One group will be birds, one group will be mammals, one group
will be plants and one will be humans.
• Have each group spend time researching their place in the ecosystem of the Brazilian rainforest
and how deforestation affects each group.
• Birds: Find three very different species of birds that live in the Amazon rainforest and describe
where they live, what they eat and how they sustain their families. Describe what deforestation is
doing to the birds.
• Mammals: Find three very different species of mammals that live in the Amazon rainforest and
describe where they live, what they eat and how they sustain their families. Describe what effects
deforestation has on these mammals.
• Plants: Find three very different species of plants and describe how the birds and mammals use
them. Describe how humans use them. Describe what deforestation is doing to the plants.
• Humans: Research one indigenous tribe that lives in the Amazon rainforest and how they use the
plants and interact with the birds and mammals also found in the rainforest. How does
deforestation affect these people? Now find the methods of deforestation that humans are using to
destroy the rainforest.
• Have each group write lyrics for one verse of “Day-O” (the “come Mr. Tally-man) using information
that they’ve learned about their specific groups. (see below for lyrics to the chorus).
Application
For each samba school, hundreds of people spend months making costumes for the dancers and
drummers. Each group should now come up with a costume to represent the species they have
researched. They could make masks or find items from home or from nature. Costumes don’t have to
be elaborate (they could be as simple as one large feather) but the more bright and colourful, the
more spectacular the carnaval will be! If it is difficult for groups to come up with costumes, they
should choose an item that represents their species (preferably large and colourful) to be their mascot.
One student from each group must be chosen to be the “mestre” and carry the item while leading the
group.
View the video clips of various Brazilian percussion instruments and try to find ones that you have that
are similar to the agogo, surdo, tamborim, etc. Give each group a different type of percussion
instrument.
Move all of the desks to the side of the classroom, or move to the gym or outside.
You are now ready for Carnaval!
The class should start marching slowly in place. The students should start rhythmically (with a very
simple beat) using their percussion instruments. The teacher starts off the song – to the tune of DayO.
“Day-O, me say Day-O
We all live in the rainforest
CULTURAL LESSON
Day-O, me say Day-O
We depend on the rainforest”
Now the class joins in. Each group will “perform” by singing their verse and using their instruments
while parading through the classroom. Only the group that is performing should be using their
percussion instruments. Everyone joins in on the chorus.
Closure
After the Carnaval is over, lead the class in a discussion of the rainforest. Have each group hold up
their costumes and/or mascot and ask the other groups to discuss what they learned about this
species and their dependency on the rainforest including what they eat and where they live. Help the
students make connections on the interdependency of the groups on each other (the animals eat the
birds or the plants; the birds and animals live in the plants and depend of them for safety; humans get
shelter from the plants and food from the animals, etc.). Lead them in a discussion of what happens if
one of these species becomes extinct (if there are no more plants, there is no food. If there are no
more animals (predators) the bird and bug populations grow out of control, etc.)
Follow up
Have the students research why the rainforest is being destroyed and what the products and/or
services are that corporations are providing or making with the rainforest materials. The students
should then find alternate methods of making these products or providing these services.
Keeping the same groups, assign different organizations that are helping to preserve the rainforest.
Have each group research what these organizations are doing to help, where they are based and what
they hope to achieve.
We use products every day. Have the students think about what products they use that might be
coming from the destruction of the rainforest. Lead them in a discussion about what being a
responsible consumer means, and how they can make choices every day that can affect the
environment and the lives of animals and other human beings across the world.