A Rain Forest Food Chain
A WHO-EATS-WHAT Adventure in South America
Author: Rebecca Hogue Wojahn and Donald Wojahn
Illustrator: (See section mark Illustration)
Date Published: 2009
About the book: This interactive series shows animals in their habitats while illuminating curriculum concepts related to food webs and biomes. The game-like format allows readers to choose a starting animal, then follow a food chain by selecting among options of what each animal could eat.
Summary: As children navigate through the book, they learn about plants, animals, food chain and the South America rain forest.
Genre: The genre of this book is non-fiction. "Non-fiction books are informational sources that explains a subject." (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.18) The book teaches children about animals, the rain forest and the food chain in South America. The format of this book is picturebook. Picturebooks are a format of literature with a unique combination of text and art. (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.12) This book has a lot of pictures of animals and plants.
Illustration: The form of illustration of this book is photographs. These photographs were not taken deliberately for this book but the authors obtained permission to use the photos in their book from the photographers. These photographs are from a collection of about 20+ photographers from the National Geographic, Getty Images, The Image Bank, Minden Pictures, and Visual Unlimited- just to name a few.
Motivational Activity: Science
Activity 1:
Activity 2:
Activity 1:
- Teacher and students will have a general discussion about the book. Some questions that will be asked and addressed are;
- What is a food chain?
- Where is the rain forest located?
- Define and list consumers.
- What are the different levels of the food chain?
- What are some animals and plants that call the rain forest home?
Activity 2:
- After reading the book, students will create their own food chain using information stated in the book.
Personal Opinion: I love this book because it is very colorful and informative. "Children are naturally curious about the world they inhabit. They observe and explore, question and hypothesize about how this world works." (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.18) I feel this book answers all the possible questions a child might have on this topic. The book is also interactive. Children choose an animal/consumer and follow that animal and its food chain. There are several text features in this book such as pictures and captions, maps, titles and subtitles, bold words, glossary, and index. These all help children to better navigate through the book and learn more. I would definitely recommend this book.
Other books by the Author:
- Dr. Kate
- A Coral Reef Food Chain.
- A Desert Food Chain.
- An Australian Outback Food Chain
References:
Wojahn, R. H., & Wojahn, D. (2009). A rain forest food chain: A who-eats-what adventure in South America. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications.
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
I loved the food chain idea another suggested activity would be a study of the variety of birds found in the rain forest. Letting children research the facts, food choices, and types of habitats they build would allow them to improve their research skills. A motivational art activity would be allow children to put their most interesting facts on construction paper and create a model of their bird. Here is a link of a parrot made out of cupcake liners, that would be easy to adapt to different ages and abilities.
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