South America

Home Learning

Hello Year 3,Hope you are well and had a lovely Easter,This pack is full of information, activities and worksheets based on our Term 5 topic, South America.

The idea is to create a project book or folder full off information, creative writing and drawings all about South America. You don’t need to print the booklet unless you want to. Just use any paper, (colour, plain or lined) you have at home to create your own South America project book. You could even create a front page as you first activity! The most important thing is ENJOY exploring this topic and finding out amazing things about this incredible place.

Note for ParentsThe main priority is that the children and you have fun exploring this topic. Let the children choose which activities they do in which order, it is not essential that you work through it in order. There is a mix of activities from answering questions to art and everything in between. This should last the children a couple of weeks so let them take their time. Feel free to do any other activities you think of related to South America and please feel free to email to share the activities you have completed or ask any questions you have.Emails:Elm@northdown-tkat.orgHolly@northdown-tkat.org

Activity 1The map below is a map of South America. South America is one of the 7 continents of the world and is made up of many different countries. Look at the map below and see if you can have a go at answering the questions.

1. Name the 13 countries in South America. . . .2. What is the capital of Brazil? . .3. Name three rivers in Brazil. . .4. Which countries have the Andres Mountains running

through them? .5. Which countries in South America are on the equator? .6. Name the capital city in Ecuador which is on the equator. .7. Which oceans lie either side of South America? .8. Challenge! Create two questions of your own based on the

map and see if you adult can answer them. . . . . . . .

Activity 2South America has some incredible places to explore. Below is some information about some of theses amazing places. Can you create a fact sheet or booklet about one or more of these places? You can lay it out however you would like to, include pictures, facts and bold colours.

Amazon Rainforest.

The Amazon River.

The Atacama Desert

The Andes

Angel Falls

Activity 3

The next few activities will focus on rainforests. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world and is full of incredible creatures. Below are pictures of many of the animals you could find in the Amazon Rainforest. Tree top animals, Hunters and Killers, Disguise and Warning, as well as those in the branches and on the ground.Can you create a picture of the rainforest with at least three of these animals in it? You can draw, paint, collage. If you want create lots of pictures that show the variety of animals in the rainforest.If you want why don’t you label the picture with names and facts about the animals.Tree Top Animals

- Langurs are leaf-eating monkeys that live in the tree tops.

- They also eat fruit, shoots, roots, seeds, flowers and grass.

- As their diet is plants only their intestines are home to different types of bacteria to help them digest the plant material

- Iguanas are leaf-eating lizards that climb up to feed and sunbathe.

- Green Iguanas are excellent swimmers and will dive into the water to avoid predators.

- They can survive a fall of 40-50 feet.

- Toucans along with hornbills and parrots love to eat the wonderful fruits that can be found in the tree tops.

- Toucans have the longest bill of any animal in the world in relation to its body.

- Their bills are very light.

Many of the animals in the tree tops do not come down to the ground otherwise they might not get back up the smooth tree trunks !!Hunters and Killers Predators have to catch and kill other animals to survive they detect their prey before it sees them.

- The Red-kneed Tarantula can live in the rainforest as well as dry rocky places.

- During the day it stay in its silk lined burrow and after dark it emerges to hunt for large insects or small invertebrates.

- It injects prey with poison that causes paralysis.

- The Leopard hunts by leaping on prey from above and killing it with a bite to the neck.

- They will sit in trees to watch their prey ready to leap on them.

- Crocodiles live in the Amazon river that winds through the rainforest.

- Lurking unseen in the water, crocodiles are capable of surprising bursts of speed as they lunge forward to grab an animal that drinks from the river.

- They then drag the animal under the water.

Disguise and Warning.Animals and insects use camouflage in an effort to avoid being eaten. Other animals have bright colours to warn other animals

- Poison arrow frogs use their bright colours to warn animals that they are poisonous.

- They can be found under leaves and logs as well as in trees.

- The striking Okapi is the closest living relative of the giraffe.

-A master of camouflage, it’s striped hindquarters and brown hide helps it ‘disappear’ into the filtered light of the forest

Among the branches and on the ground- The slow-moving sloth, weighing only eight or

nine pounds, lives exclusively in trees, feeding on leaves, twigs and fruit.

-It moves so slowly algae can grow on its fur and it take 1 month to digest a single meal.

- The capybara is the largest rodent on earth weighing more than 100 pounds and standing two feet tall. -It lives in the dense vegetation that surround water and can leap into the water to hide from predators.- It can hold its breath for up to five minutes.

- The green anaconda of the Amazon rainforest is one of the longest and heaviest snake species.

- It spends most of life in or around the water as it is stealthier in the water

- It can reach over 30 feet and weigh over 550 pounds.

Activity 4The climate of a place is the usual or average conditions for a place.

- Rainforests are unique because they have the same climate over the whole year.

- Every month has an average rainfall of at least 6cm- It usually rains every day.- Temperatures are hot all year round- It is very humid all year round also.

Using this information above to help pick one of the information card below about a city in South America. Use this to create a weather report. See if you can watch some weather reports to help you.You can write it for a newspaper, write the script for a TV channel or even perform the weather report to your family. Why not film the weather report like it’s a real TV channel?

Activity 5Deforestation is the process of the forest being cut down. Below is a lot of information about deforestation in South America. Can you use this to create a poster about how we can help or the negatives of deforestation? You could also write a rainforest promise of what you could do to help stop deforestation.

In South America the rainforest is cut down for many reasons;- To create fields for farming or growing crops- To produce timber for furniture or pulp to make paper.- To create space for housing- To plant palm trees for palm oil.

It is really important that we look after the rainforest because it is home to a wide variety of species of animals some of which we probably haven’t discovered yet. A new species of animal or plant is discovered in the rainforest every 3 days!!It contains nearly a third of all tropical rainforests left on earth so if we chop it down we may not discover amazing plants and creatures. Animals may die because their homes are destroyed.The Amazon also helps keep the climate in the world stable, it produces huge amounts of oxygen to help us breathe and also helps with the discovery of some medicines.

So What Can We Do?- Check labels and avoid products that contain palm oil.- Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth to save water.

- Limit the amount of paper you use, reuse pieces of paper or by paper made from recycled materials.

- What else can you think of?

Links to videos about deforestationhttps://www.bbc.com/teach/class-clips-video/how-deforestation-in-madagascar-is-threatening-animal-habitats/zh44d6f

https://www.bbc.com/teach/class-clips-video/science-ks1-ks2-ivys-plant-workshop-the-impact-deforestation-has-on-plants/zd34hbk

Activity 6Below are lots of jobs that rely on the Amazon Rainforest. Some want to stop deforestation and some need deforestation for their jobs.Can you discuss these jobs with your family? Maybe you could have a debate about who is right or write a discursive text discussing the arguments for and against.

Activity 7Look at all these incredible pieces of art inspired by South America. Can you recreate any of them?

Other ActivitiesHere are some ideas of other activities you can do.

- Make a quiz and test your family on their knowledge of South America

- Draw or make your very own rainforest animal, what does it look like? What does it eat? How does it survive in the rainforest?

- Create a 3-D map of south America.- Imagine you have been on holiday to South America, Write

a diary entry or a letter home all about your trip.- Write a story set in the Rainforest, Atacama Desert, Andes

or near Angel Falls.- Create a poster all about South America.- Create a set of instructions about how to survive in the

Amazon Rainforest

REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN