While sharing her adventures from rainforests around the world, Ms. Amalia will guide learners to become familiar with rainforest ecology, food webs, the water cycle, and the biodiversity of earth's oldest living ecosystems. Students will consistently be introduced to naturalist terms that describe animal behavior (eg: carnivore, nocturnal, arboreal, etc), as well as animal classification terms (eg: invertebrate, amphibian, etc). She will share many of her own photos and facilitate games, crafts, and discussions. 

Learners will become familiar with identifying rainforest animals and understanding their unique characteristics through demonstration and discussion, songs, puppets, and movement games. This is an ongoing class, each class is independent of each other and learners may join at any time. 

Photographs, stories, animal sounds, and natural artifacts will be shared, live animals introduced regularly, a suggested craft or science experiment included, and supplementary learning materials provided. Please see weekly themes listed below. 

The beginning of each class will be an opportunity for introductions, sharing, and guided discussion. Students may bring items to class to share related to environmental science such as natural items, feathers, bones, insects, nature journal entries, books, animal toys or stuffed animals, pictures, artwork, etc. 

Topics may touch on the elements of habitat, rainforest characteristics, endangered animals, deforestation, primatology, herpetology, biology, ethnobotany, entomology, birding, wildlife biology, scientific field work, or volunteer travel, depending on the week. 

Weekly themes are listed below for January through March, 2024: 

Weekly themes for 2024:

THE CENTRAL AMERICAN RAINFOREST
September 19: New World Monkeys
September 26: Sloths, Tapirs, and Anteaters
October 3: Poison Dart Frogs and Venomous Snakes

THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
October 10: Pink River Dolphins and Piranhas
October 17: Colorful Birds and Wild Cats

THE CENTRAL AFRICAN RAINFOREST
October 24: Old World Monkeys and Great Apes
October 31: Elephants, Hippos, and Okapis

MADAGASCAR
November 7:  Lemurs and Fossa 
November 14: Chameleons and Geckos

THE BORNEO RAINFOREST
November 21: Orangutans, Proboscis Monkeys, and Tarsiers
PLEASE NOTE- Class will not be held on November 28
December 4: Clouded Leopards, Sun Bears, and Pygmy Elephants

THE DAINTREE RAINFOREST
December 11: Marsupials and Monotremes
December 18: Reptiles and Giant Birds

Learners may start or stop a subscription to an ongoing class at anytime, and each lesson is independent. 

Classes may run up to five minutes over the scheduled time depending on learner discussion and questions. 

Students will also have the opportunity to listen to animal vocalizations, identify both natural and cultural artifacts, and interact with the Nature Explorers International classroom program animals, including: 
Scaly: the Corn Snake
Slimy: the Tiger Salamander
Jumpy: the Cuban Tree Frog
Lizzie: The Leopard Gecko