Water Wisdom
Teacher's Guide

Magic carpet ride

 

Objective

Students will ÒexperienceÓ different regions around the world that receive various amounts of rainfall and how see how this affects the plant and animal life that live there.

 

Subjects

Ecology

Geography

Creative Writing

 

Overview

Students take a magic carpet ride to visit different bioregions and then write about their magical journey.

 

Materials

Notebook or paper

Pencil or pen

Physical map of the world that shows verdant and dry areas

 

Presentation

1.     Pointing to the corresponding places on the map, ask students the following questions.  Encourage guessing if they donÕt know:

  • How many inches of rainfall must fall in a year to call a forest a rainforest ?  (minimum of 80 inches a year)
  • What is the average yearly rainfall in the Amazon rainforest?  (200 inches)
  • How much annual rainfall defines a desert?  (maximum 10 inches a year)
  • What is the average yearly rainfall in the Sahara Desert?  (3 inches)
  • What is the average yearly rainfall in the California Mojave Desert ? (6 inches)
  • What is the average yearly rainfall of Brisbane, California?  (17 inches)

2.     Ask students what the different colors on the map represent.  (They represent different bioregions and reflect the amounts of rain that fall there.)

  • Does amount of rainfall affect the kinds of plants and animals that live in these areas?  Why or why not?  (Yes. The greener the area, the more water there is available for plant and animal life and the more yellow the area, the less water is available for plant or animal life.)

 

1.     Tell students you are taking them on a magic carpet ride to get a birds eye view of different places on earth and the kinds of water and plants that are found there.  Ask students to get comfortable in their seats with both feet on the ground.  Have them take in three deep breaths and then slowly ask them to relax their feet, their legs, their knees, their thighs, their tummies, their shoulders, their necks, their head, their face, their arms and their hands.  As they continue to breathe deeply, slowly read the following aloud:

 

Imagine you are in a field walking by a stream.  You feel the sun on your face and hear a babbling brook.  Birds are chirping in the soft breeze.  As you walk along the stream, you find a little cave that is sparkling inside with rainbow colors.  You enter the cave and feel the cool air.  It shimmers with colorful crystals that have been growing there for thousands of years.  After standing there a moment, you notice a staircase that leads down into the cave.  You are curious so you follow the steps down one at a time.  As you get to the bottom step, you see a stone floor covered with a beautiful magic carpet woven with purple, gold and silver threads.  You walk over to the carpet and sit down on it.  A moment later, it gently begins to lift and float out a secret doorway.  This doorway leads up into the clear blue sky and after floating through the air, you suddenly see that you have been transported to the Amazon rainforest thousands of miles away.  As you look below, you see rain falling on big, shiny leaves that send the water dripping down to the forest floor.  The screeching sound of parrots and monkeys fills the air and big bromeliad plants catch the rainwater in their waxy blossoms.  You see a waterfall and a river where pink river dolphins are swimming.  Orchids are blooming.  The air is moist and warm and the forest is bright green and wet from the rain.  The carpet lifts gently and you are now in floating far away over the Sahara desert in Northern Africa.  As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but sand and shifting sand dunes in every direction.  The air is very hot and dry and water is nowhere to be found.  There are no trees or plants.  There is nothing but sand under the burning sun.  The carpet lifts again and flies thousands of miles over the ocean to the Mojave Desert in California.  The air is hot and dry but there are creosote plants below that are evenly spaced on the desert floor like large polka dots.  Jackrabbits dart from bush to bush before going to their den underground.  A roadrunner looks for food before running off and a rattlesnake makes a hissing sound with its rattle.  There are barrel-shaped cactus plants that are blooming with yellow flowers and there is a dried out wash nearby that has large rocks in its bed.  You notice purple sand verbena flowers that lie close to the desert floor and have a soft fragrance. The carpet floats up one last time and flies north to a small mountain near a large bay off the Pacific Coast.   This mountain is covered with tall grasses and shrubs that have tiny flowers.  The air smells fresh and a small Mission Blue butterfly hovers gently over a purple lupine flower.  A red tail hawk flies overhead and a tiny field mouse scurries into the trunk of an old black oak tree.  A little lagoon can be spotted from the top of this small mountain.  Marsh plants and orange California poppies surround this lagoon.  A white heron can be seen dipping its long, graceful neck into the lagoon for a drink of water.  A bank of cool fog is rolling in gently from the ocean. The magic carpet begins to float above the mountain and flies high in the sky until it finds the opening to the sparkling cave near the stream. It enters the cave and softly lands on the stone floor. You realize your magic carpet ride has come to an end.  You see the staircase leading upwards and you climb one stair at a time until you are back amidst the colorful crystals in the cave.  You see the cave opening into sunlight and you climb out into the field by the stream.  You begin walking back along the stream and taking a minute, you gently return your attention to your body sitting in your chair in the classroom.  You open your eyes, and staying seated, you stretch your hands out above your head and pick up your pencil or pen.

4.  When all students have opened their eyes, ask them right away to spend 10-15 minutes freely writing about their experience on the magic carpet ride.  How did it feel to visit each bioregion?  Could they ÒseeÓ it, ÒsmellÓ it, ÒhearÓ it, ÒfeelÓ it?  How did the presence lack of water affect their experience? Did they prefer one region to another?  If so, why? 
5.     After students have finished writing, ask   them to discuss their experiences or read a passage from their writing.  You can do this either as a class or in small groups.
6.     Ask students if they recognized the small mountain and the lagoon in the area near the bay?  Can they name them? (San Bruno Mountain and Brisbane Lagoon)                      
7.     Wrap up lesson by asking students to explain the main reason why each bioregion has such different types of plant and animal life.  (Plant and animal life adapt to the amount of water available to them in each bioregion).

Extensions