The rainforest is the natural habitat of orangutans and is also the most important ecosystem on Earth, playing a key role in climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. A rainforest is an area where at least 2,000 mm of annual rainfall falls as rain and the average temperature is 25-27 degrees Celsius.
Rainforests are home to a wide variety of plant and animal species that are inseparable from each other. Orangutans, like many other species, depend on the abundance of the rainforest for food and shelter. The rainforest also hosts many processes, such as photosynthesis, water filtration, oxygen production and carbon storage, which affect the entire Earth’s ecosystem.
Unfortunately, rainforests around the world are threatened by human activities, including deforestation, agriculture, natural resource extraction and climate change. The destruction of rainforests leads to loss of biodiversity, increased greenhouse gas emissions and worsening living conditions for humans and animals, including orangutans. This is why protecting the rainforest is so important for the survival of not only orangutans, but also the entire ecosystem and humanity.
To consolidate the knowledge about the natural habitat of orangutans, we propose to make an artwork – a decorative panel – with the children.
Time: 30 minutes
Goal: to consolidate knowledge about the habitat of orangutans, to practice manual skills.
Materials
- 2 sheets of A4 paper (black or dark green)
- Markers/crayons
- Scissors Glue Printed sheets with leaves and animals (attachment available for download on the left side)
Course of the task
Before starting the activity, you should print the leaves and animals from attachment 2.1. It’s a good idea to print multiple sets of leaf cards for each child. Then, the children can color and cut out the animals and leaves. The more colorful and creative their work, the better! Next, you’ll need to attach the A4 sheets together so that they touch along their shorter sides. Children can then glue the leaves and animals onto the created panel. This can be done as a group activity or individually.
The post was created as part of a project co-financed by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt in cooperation with Naturschutzzentrum Oberlausitzer Bergland.
