Lost in the Amazon Unit
Summary
Students work in teams to overcome various obstacles in their quest to
reach the nearest city after their plane crashes deep in the Amazon.
The ideal implementation of this curricular unit is for students to
complete the activities in sequence. However, the activities are
self-contained and can be implemented separately.
In Lost In The Amazon, a team of EnviroTech engineers (aka. the students) returning to the United States from a conference in Brasilia, Brazil crash in the middle of the rainforest, near the city of Manaus. The lessons and activities guide the students through the navigation, exploration and survival of the Amazon rainforest with the goal to reach Manaus as quickly and safely as possible. Working in teams encourages the students to brainstorm.
This teacher's guide is designed in such a way as to provide quick and easy implementation of the Lost in the Amazon curriculum. The student handouts should be provided to each student to complete individually while working in their teams. As in engineering, some questions may have multiple answers, and in general any answer is acceptable as long as it can be adequately justified.
The Lost in the Amazon unit uses a script to guide student teams from lesson to lesson and provide motivation for the activities. Each scene can be read by the teacher to the class or students can take turns reading the scenarios out loud. Students can assume roles and act out the scenes within their groups.
| Lessons | Time Required (min) |
|---|---|
| The Crash Scene | |
| Activity 1: Assessing the Situation | 60 |
| Supplies | |
| Activity 1: What to Bring? | 60 |
| The Need for Shelter | |
| Activity 1: Home, Sweet Home! | 60 |
| Activity 2: Built to Last? | 45 |
| The Growling Stomach | |
| Activity 1: Finding Food in the Amazon | 180 |
| Where's the Water? | |
| Activity 1: Is it Safe to Drink? | 60 |
| Attack of the Raging River | |
| Activity 1: Anchors Away | 60 |
| Activity 2: Taking a Boat to Manaus | 60 |
| The Evening News | |
| Activity 1: Eye Witness Reporting | 60 |
Request a digital copy of the documents or to inquire about purchasing a complete classroom kit.