In an ecosystem, all organisms are connected and mutually interdependent. The more diverse an ecosystem, the more interdependent the species within it. As species disappear or become extinct, the vital links between species within ecosystems become even more apparent. The following activity is intended to demonstrate the intricate web of life.

Take your class out into the school grounds and look for signs of life. Search for insects, birds, animal tracks, scat, feathers, nests, trees, grasses, soils, etc. Make a class list that shows all findings in the schoolyard and post it in the classroom. Make headings to organize groupings: insects, plants, mammals, birds, etc.

Explain how the web of life works by drawing lines that connect one organism to another. Link a nest to a bird to worms to soil to trees and so on.

Have students stand in a large circle. Each chooses a different item from the classroom biodiversity list. A string or rope represents the connections between the organisms. One person begins by holding the rope and saying aloud the name of the organism he or she represents. Together, the class decides how each organism is connected to others in the circle. After each student's turn, the rope is passed to the next organism. The goal is to finish with a web in which everyone is linked. Read The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry, and replicate the activity with the species featured in the story.

Discuss with your students how everything in a particular ecosystem is connected, from ecosystems as small and close by as their backyards to those as vast and distant as rainforests.

Learn more about biodiversity and the web of life that connects species in the rainforest.

Did you eat a healthy, nutritious breakfast this morning? Just the way that food provides us with the energy and essential vitamins to get through the day, plants and animals depend on one other for their survival.

For example, leaf-cutter ants consume more vegetation than any other animal group. Inhabiting the forest floor, they construct underground chambers where they "farm" and harvest fungus, their staple food. The ants create underground fungus "gardens" by clipping and gathering fresh vegetation and injecting each piece with a fungal secretion that makes for easier digestion.

Insects are the favorite food of the nine-banded armadillo. Its special tongue allows an armadillo to consume up to 40,000 ants in one meal! Armadillos also enjoy feeding on small animals, bird eggs, roots, fruits and even rotting animal flesh (called carrion).

As you might imagine, jaguars are at the top of the food chain. They are nocturnal hunters and use their sharp vision and teeth to ambush prey and crush their skulls. Jaguars are known to eat more that 85 species of prey, including armadillos, peccaries, capybara, tapir, deer, squirrels, birds and even snails. Not confined to hunting on land, jaguars are adept at snatching fish, turtles and young caiman from the water. They are even able to hunt monkeys and other tree-dwellers who occasionally wander to low hanging branches.

Using the information provided on the species profiles page, have your students identify other food webs in the rainforest.

Download beautiful coloring pages to help illustrate your web of life.

The expression "you are what you eat" also applies to animals. One way that scientists categorize animals is by analyzing their diets. Herbivores feed only on plants, carnivores on other animals and omnivores on both plants and animals. Did you know that some well-known rainforest animals are strictly vegetarians?

Amazonian tapirs are considered browsing herbivores, feeding on herbaceous vegetation and fruits (with particular affinity for bananas. Because they are able to swim well and can walk on pond bottoms, they also feed on aquatic plants.

While searching for food at night, Honduran white bats are not looking to suck your blood; they only eat fruit or other vegetation.

Black howler monkeys may be the largest primates in the Neotropics, but they are vegetarians, consuming only flowers, fruits and leaves.

Slow moving sloths are also herbivores, enjoying a low-energy diet of leaves, twigs and fruit. Because of their slow movement and metabolism, it can take up to a month for a sloth to digest a single meal.

The West Indian manatee is the only marine mammal that is strictly herbivorous, eating a wide variety of plants. Manatees prefer mostly sea-grass leaves and stay away from bitter tasting plants. They have even been known to dig with their flippers to get at roots.

Find out what other foods rainforest animals love to eat.

Scholastic Inc., the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, has teamed up with the Rainforest Alliance to continue to improve their paper procurement practices. Scholastic announced last month that its goal is to use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified papers and the company reinforced its commitment to using post-consumer waste fiber.

"As the world's leading FSC certifier, the Rainforest Alliance is delighted to be working with Scholastic to help the company purchase increasing amounts of responsibly produced paper," said Liza Murphy, senior marketing manager at the Rainforest Alliance. Over the last 20 years, Scholastic's criteria for selecting suppliers has included the evaluation of their forestry and manufacturing practices.

Read more about Scholastic's commitment to sustainability.

Download the SmartGuide to Paper and Print Sources to find out how your school can make a difference by purchasing FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certified paper.

To celebrate National Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Day, the National Education Association (NEA) Foundation is awarding 100 grants of $500 each to public schools for the purchase of literature that will captivate readers of all ages. Applicants to the DEAR Bookshelf Awards must currently be preK through 12^th grade teachers, school librarians, or education support professionals in a United States public school. Applications are due by March 12, 2007 and must be submitted electronically.

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) is sponsoring a national competition for United States students in grades 9 through 12. The Thacher Scholars Award recognizes students who have designed and conducted the best projects using satellite remote sensing of the Earth. Cash awards will be given to the top three projects and the teacher or coach of one of the winning students will also receive an award. Projects will be judged on scientific/technical accuracy, creativity/originality, quality of presentation, thoroughness of research/methods/procedures, quality of conclusions, and demonstration of acquired knowledge. Entries must be postmarked by April 2, 2007.

The National Association for Biology Teachers (NABT) in collaboration with Vernier Software and Technology are sponsoring an Ecology/Environmental Science Teaching Award to recognize a secondary school teacher who has demonstrated an innovative approach to teaching ecology/environmental science. The recipient is awarded $1,000 to participate in the national conference, $500 for classroom equipment and a one-year membership to the NABT. Deadline for application submission is March 15, 2007.

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