We will learn and use new vocabulary words
We will read, listen to and write: concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences or events precisely.
We will talk with a partner and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
We are about to go on a field trip to the Rio Negro in the Amazon Rainforest. While we travel, keep in mind our learning targets listed below:
And… we will have fun learning about and exploring a new place!
Photo by Marc Dohan
Grab a friend and come join us on a boat ride up the Rio Negro through the Amazon Rainforest!
Get ready to see exotic plants and animals,
swim with brilliantly colored ornamental fish,
And join the people of Barcelos, Brazil as they celebrate the fish you have seen.
As we travel we will hear from Anna:
I’m a 15 year old New England Aquarium volunteer. These are notes from the journal I wrote on the trip. Here I am holding a baby caiman.
Photo by Marc Dohan
We will also hear from Sy Montgomery, author of Amazon Adventure, How Tiny Fish are Saving the World’s Largest Rainforest.
“We’ve come to see the natural, wild environment that many of us kept in our aquariums as kids… We hope to learn from (the piabieros*) this kind of fishery might help protect other watery environments on continents around the world. (Montgomery, p. 6)
*piabieros are the fish farmers here in Brazil.
And we want to hear from you!
Whenever you see this blue post-it note, that means it’s time for you to either talk with your partner, do some writing, or do some drawing.
Pristine - Not changed by people, clean.
Acidic - Containing acid. Sour. Things that are acidic are lemon juice or vinegar.
Tannins - a reddish acid or chemical that comes from plants.
Ornamental Fish - Fish that are beautiful and kept in tanks in the U.S. and around the world. Many of those fish come from the the Rio Negro, a tributary that feeds into the Amazon River.
During the trip we will hear and read these important vocabulary words. Watch for them and be sure to clarify their meaning with your partner when you hear and read them.
Our trip will include seeing plants and animals and searching for ornamental fish in the pristine and acidic water of the Rio Negro in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. We will travel from Manaus to Barcelos. In Barcelos we will participate in the ornamental fish festival!
Watch the video and share with your partner what you look forward to seeing the most.
Write: What do you and your partner want to see?
We will be traveling from Waltham, MA USA to Manaus, Brazil
Walk the streets of Manaus to find food for the trip.
Photo by Jen Reynolds
What else do you think you might need on the boat?
Talk with your partner about what you might need.
Photos by Jen Reynolds
What food do you think we should bring? What food will we be able to get on the boat? Write what your answer.
Once we get to Manaus, we will get on a boat and head up to Barcelos. We will make some stops along the way. We will start in Manaus, where the Amazon river meets the Rio Negro. Notice the color difference of the two rivers!
Click on the link to find our map.
Drag the orange boat to Manaus Brazil where we will start.
We will take a boat to Barcelos. Drag the green flag there.
Now it’s time to climb aboard the boat!
Photo by Marc Dohan
Anna: “We met the captain and some of the crew, and threw a bunch of stuff on our bunks. From then on we spent a lot of time sitting on deck.”
Photo by Marc Dohan
“The dinner was superb: some kind of soup, some kind of rice, some forms of manioc, and some kind of hot sauce. I use vague descriptions because I really don’t know what any of these things were. Manioc is a yucca root, which can be made into pretty much everything.”
By Amada44 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
First stop: visiting pink dolphins!
Sy Montgomery tells us about the magical powers of the pink dolphin.
“The local people say they are magic. They call them Encantados...and say that they can transform into people, get out of the water, and dance! They say the dolphin people are so talented and beautiful, you will fall in love if you meet them.” (Montgomery p. 1).
What do you think an Encantado might look like as a person?
Take a moment to sketch what you think.
Anna: “It was time to go see the pink dolphins. We had seen them by the boat earlier, so I was excited. This particular pod of dolphins is used to humans, after one of them befriended a young teenage girl. The entire family grew to like the dolphin, and before long the whole village was in on it. Now, things are more regulated. You pay twelve reals (about eight dollars) to be in the area where the dolphins always are and pet them as they are fed by hand. Dolphins felt sort of like stingrays and they have long beaks with black teeth.”
Photo by Marc Dohan
Jen Reynolds Photos
Choose 1 picture and write 2 or 3 sentences using concrete and sensory details. Focus on what you see and hear.
As we travel, we stop for a hike. Notice all the plants! Can you find the buttress roots? The twisted vines? The sun sparkling through the canopy?
Giant Lily Pads!
Anna: “The bottom of the lily is covered in huge thorns, as is the stem. The lilies have edges where they fold, so a ring of spikes surrounded each one.
Some of them were big enough for me to curl up on. (It would’ve sunk, but they are sturdy enough to support a large baby)!”
Photo by Marc Dohan
The lily pads have long, thorny, yellow stems, and evil-smelling flowers meant to track and attract scarab beetles. The night after a beetle is trapped, the flower turns from white to pink. They do not open during the day. When a new lily pad is forming, it unfurls. We saw some in this stage- nothing but spikes. Not even the boat chopped them up.
Photo: JohnSka/Wikimedia Commons
Notice how murky the water is. This is because of the tannins from the leaves that make it acidic. It is not “dirty.”
Work with your partner to see how many fish you can see. Can you see more than one kind of fish? Write what you see.
And, the most important part of the trip is the fish! The Rio Negro is known for the beautiful fish because the water is more acidic than other parts of the Amazon. Many of the fish are sold for fish tanks here in the U.S. and around the world.
Photos by Jen Reynolds.
Here are some different fish we find in the Rio Negro.
“The river water here is stained dark from tannins- natural chemicals that come from plants whose leaves fall into those pure waters. The tannins make the water acidic. The waters are pristine… Adaptation to the difficult conditions here has sculpted beautiful and bizarre fish such as cardinal tetras, who glow in the dark with neon stripes of electric red and hyacinth blue. “ (Montgomery p. 5)
Can you find the Cardinal Tetras based on Sy’ Montgomery’s description?
Talk about this excerpt from Amazon Adventure with your partner. Based on this, why do you think the Cardinal Tetras are only found here and one other place in the world?
Write your answer.
Discus Fish
Baby Piranhas
Choose one of the fish and write two or three sentences using concrete and sensory details. Again, focus on what you see, but include something about the way it moves. Add a simile to your writing.
When you see fish in the Amazon - be careful of the Piranha!
Anna went fishing to “catch and release”.
As she was trying to get the hook out and send the Piranha she caught back into the river, something went wrong.
“Just as soon as I got the hook loose, he bit down and didn’t let go. I was screaming and swearing as my blood spurted onto the deck. Quickly, I got him back in the water. When I washed the blood the cut was small, but incredibly deep.”
Photo by Marc Dohan
Maybe it’s better to just watch them swim! But it is probably not such a good idea to swim with them. Or is it? Do you want to try?
Here is a video from someone who did!
Finally we arrive in Barcelos for the Ornamental Fish Festival.
The fishing community is celebrating the fish that bring them their livelihood.
Let Scott Dowd, senior aquarist of the New England Aquarium, describe this project and celebration. Click on the link to hear him.
Photo by Jen Reynolds
The Fish Festival is a contest between 2 of the important ornamental fish this region of the Amazon exports. Will you support Team Cardinal Tetra or Team Discus?
Watch their performances. Talk with your partner, which team did you like the best?
What did the dancers do to help you understand ornamental fishing? Write your answers.
The people of Barcelos are able to avoid cutting down the rainforest. They are motivated to keep the water of the Rio Negro pristine. Now that you have learned about some of the wonders that are in the Amazon, you can be more aware of how to help the rainforest. One way to help is to add Rio Negro fish to your home aquarium. Click on this link to see the video in English. Or try watching it in Portuguese below!
Talk with your partner and then write below: How can buying a fish from the Rio Negro help the rainforest?
Send a postcard from your trip!
Choose your favorite part of the trip and on the next slide make a postcard for someone.
Be sure to:
____Describe your favorite part using sensory and concrete language.
____Use new vocabulary words we learned!
____Include a simile.
____Add an interesting detail about what you did!
____ Include a picture from the trip or a new one you find about the trip, or draw your own.
Make your postcard on the next slide.
Thank you for traveling with us! Thank you also to:
Sy Montgomery author of Amazon Adventure, How Tiny Fish are Saving the World’s Largest Rainforest. 2017 Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing.
Jen Reynolds, Aquarist, Vancouver Aquarium.
Scott Dowd, Senior Freshwater aquarist, New England Aquarium, Project Piaba director.
Deb Joyce, Project Piaba board member.
And thanks for Anna, for sharing memories and inspiration.
Marc Dohan