Remember the Rainforest : Plant Stalkers

Title: Plant Stalkers
Author:  Karl von Martius 1817 and Carol Miranda Chor 2017
Grade levels: 5-8
Subject/Topic areas: Plants,Ecology,Natural Science,Earth Science,Earth Day
Standards: Supplemental Resource material 
Short Description:The rainforest explorers launched their expeditions in order to collect plants and animals. They made detailed scientific drawings and classified the plants and animals according to their families and species. These families and species were given strange Latin names to describe them. Here's the challenge : unmask these mysterious strangers. Like, what in the world is a Musa paradisiaca, or a Cucurbita lagenaria ?

Today, you will choose your favorites from fruit, vegetable and ornamental plant lists. Unmask their true identity by searching the online plant guide to find common names, habitat, size, color, etc. Then complete the worksheet.

Remember the Rainforest : Color the Rainforest

Title: Color the Rainforest

Author:  Karl von Martius, 1817 and Carol Miranda Chor, 2017

Grade levels: 5-8

Subject/Topic areas: Ecology,Digital painting,Art class,Computer lab,Earth History,Photoshop,Earth Day

Standards : Supplemental Resource materials 

Short Description: The Martius-Spix expedition was sent to Brazil by the King of Bavaria in 1817. Their mission was to study the wildlife, the language, the culture, and the people. They were instructed to return to Germany with detailed sketches of the diverse regions of Brazil : the Amazon, grasslands, desert, coastal and interior mountains. In those days, black and white etchings were the only way to display the rainforest. Today you can choose an etching and make it come alive with color by using Photoshop on your computer. Or use the etchings for a project in Art class.


Remember the Rainforest : Biodiversity

Title: Biodiversity 5-8

Authors: Karl von Martius 1817 and Carol Miranda Chor 2017

Grade Levels/Ages: 5-8

Subject Areas: Ecology,Environment,Biodiversity,Research,Taxonomy,Animals,Earth Science,Earth Day

Standards: Supplemental Resource material

Short description:

Biodiversity is the key to a healthy Eco system. Study Bird Family images from the Album of Amazonian Birds 1906 and search for extinct and endangered species online.


Space Settlement Contest - Grades 5-8

Age Level Appropriateness:  11- 18 years (Grade 12)
Visit the website:  https://space.nss.org/settlement/nasa/Contest/index.html
Application:  STEAM: Science, Technology, the Arts and Math
Contributor: Al Globus

This annual space settlement design contest for 6-12th grade students has been sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center from 1994-2018, for the last several years in conjunction with the National Space Society. A Space Act Agreement between NASA and NSS is currently being worked on to continue joint sponsorship of the contest. Meanwhile, the 2019 contest is being sponsored by NSS. The single highest scoring team or individual attending ISDC will receive the Herman Rubin Award for $5,000.

The 2020 awards were selected from 2,646 entries involving 14,359 students from 22 countries.



Seeing Double: Twin Biology in Space

3-D Printing

Title: 3-D Printing
Authors: Frances Dellutri and Kevin Fogelson, March 2020
Title of Lesson:  3-D Printing
Subject Areas:: Art, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Experimental Design, Technology
Standards: NGSS: MS Engineering Design:   MS-ETSI-2,3,4 Grade (Age): 5-8  (11-14)
Short Description: Information on types of equipment, supplemental resources and lesson plans for students, and step-by-step for use of design software is included in this lesson.

Remember the Rainforest : Treasure Hunt

Title: Treasure Hunt 5-8

Authors: Karl von Martius 1840 and Carol Miranda Chor, 2017

Grade Levels/Ages: 5-8

Subject Areas: Ecology,Rainforest,Habitats,Earth History,Earth Day,Earth Science

Standards: Supplemental Resource materials

Short Description:  

When the explorers visited the rainforest in 1817, there were no cameras to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.  Searching the Expedition Etchings will raise your Eco awareness. If a picture is worth a thousand words, think what these thousands of images will teach you !

Treasure Hunt is a challenge for students to navigate the Expedition Etchings to search for the jaguar, the giant trees, the giant rivers, the lavender sky, etc. Open the Expedition Etchings section to begin your search.