Just like northern trees, many trees in the tropics change with the seasons. While northern climates experience four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall, tropical climates experience only two seasons: rainy and dry.

What happens during the dry season? This is the time when many trees flower because the pollinating insects on which they depend are at their most active. Some trees lose their leaves altogether, budding new ones when the rains return.

During the rainy season -- also referred to as the wet or green season -- it generally rains every day, often quite heavily. The seeds of plants that were pollinated during the dry season germinate at this time of year. The season's first rains bring tree sprouts, which serve as a food source for a number of tropical animal species.

The kapok tree, which can grow up to 200 feet tall, is deciduous, shedding all of its leaves during the dry season. Its white and pink flowers emit a foul odor that attracts pollinating bats. The fecund kapok tree spreads its seeds prodigiously, producing anywhere from 500 to 4,000 fruits at one time, with each fruit containing 200 seeds.

The study of the kapok tree gives second graders a good foundation for understanding the relationship between various plant and animal species. For example, after learning about the diversity of tropical ecosystems, students study three different animals that depend on the kapok tree and list which parts of the tree each animal needs to survive. Ask your students to imagine what would happen if a particular food or water source disappeared. How important is the kapok tree to these animals?

Explore other activities related to the kapok tree in our second grade unit.

Tropical forests provide shade, shelter and nutrients to more than half of the world's plant and animal species. In fact, some of our favorite foods such as bananas and the cocoa we use to make chocolate come from tropical forests. Tropical forests also help stabilize the Earth's climate by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.

Want to know more about why we should be thankful for trees? Learn about biodiversity, the importance of trees found in tropical forests as well as in our own backyards and how deforestation affects us all in our fifth grade unit. After studying the benefits of trees, fifth graders use their understanding of the forest to predict the impacts of deforestation. Students can then create a story about what would happen if all the trees were cut down in their neighborhood.

Are you using our curriculum? Let us know! Send comments and anecdotes about how you have used Rainforest Alliance Learning Site lessons, stories and other materials in your classroom to education@ra.org.

Read what others are saying about the Learning Site.

The following poem was submitted to us by Charlotte Carrabotta of Berlin Brothers Valley Elementary School in Pennsylvania after completing a rainforest unit with Mrs. Freeman's fourth grade class.

Come Sit With Me Children

Come sit with me children
I've a story to share
About the topical rainforests
And why we should care.

I see the beauty of the animals
Who live wild and free
And with wonder watch the plant life
Which grows abundantly.

We sell our natural resources
For what we think is fair.
But destruction of the rainforests
Strips the land and leaves it bare.

We destroy the homes of jungle tribes,
Pollute the waterways
And endanger many species
At a rapid rate each day.

SO -- What to do?
I think it's up to YOU!

Be careful what you use
Recycle what you can.
Keep reading information
'Cause there's magic in rainforest land.

Set a good example
Make good choices every day.
Manage well the things around you
And you will lead the way.

Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation, International Paper and National Geographic Explorer have teamed up to create a classroom grant program that provides schools with the resources to bring outdoor, hands-on science education to K-12th grade students. Grants for building or enhancing an existing outdoor classroom will be awarded to at least 100 schools.

Elementary, middle, and high school educators and administrators are eligible to apply for the Earthwatch Educator Fellowship Awards. Adventuresome and innovative educators who are selected for the fellowship will participate in an Earthwatch expedition.

Box Tops for Education is sponsoring a Kids' Caucus Essay Contest that asks students in grades 5 - 8 to write a 250 - 500 word essay describing what they would do to increase parental involvement in their school if they were made principal for a day. Fifty finalists (one from each state) will receive a $1,000 grant for their school and 10 grand prize winners will travel to Washington, DC to share their ideas with members of Congress. The deadline for essay submissions is December 1, 2005.

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© 2005 Rainforest Alliance