Students explore facts about South America in the four lessons of this unit. Booklets are created from the materials produced as the class delves into the topic.

Students identify locations of rainforests, compare/contrast layers of the rainforest, construct and interpret maps and graphs, recognize relationships between man and the environment, and write about an imaginary walk in the rainforest.

Fifth graders listen to lectures on the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans. They construct a mask base and then decorate it in thirds with symbols meaningful to each of the three cultures being studied.