School rain forest project

[MDPalm]

Hi,

My son's 6th grade glass is making a rain forest in their classroom and he has to make a couple palm trees and a banana plant.  I figured I would ask here if anyone had any suggestions on accomplishing this.  So far we started on a coconut and have a  7 foot by 4" fabric tube that we covered in scrunched up paper for a trunk and I found this video on making leaves.  But after I started I saw where you could use pool noodles to make curved trunks, which might be an idea.

Just wondering if anyone had made any fake palm trees and how they went about doing it.  He wants to make a rainbow tree, but we haven't gotten that far yet.

Also I was curious if anyone knew where I might be able to purchase a bunch of bananas still attached to the stalk with the flower.  I thought that might be a neat thing for them to see.  Shipping might be an issue with that though.  Or if there was a place to buy green palm fronds, if they are still green would they last a couple weeks after being cut, possibly spraying them with clear acrylic or something to preserve them for a little while.

Thanks! 

 

 

 

[Kim]

What a fun project for the classroom.  I have never made any fake palm trees, preferring to grow the real thing, .  My neighbor had a Christmas light feature that was in the shape of a palm tree that looked pretty cool, maybe you can create something similar.

Is there a ban on using real plant material?  Some big box stores sell palms and bananas that could augment the crafted material.  It would be tough to find bananas in the northern hemisphere that are fruiting right now, but you never know.  Yeah, shipping plants inter-state is a sticky issue, plus bananas are heavy.  Maybe improvise with some imitation fruit and make a flower from crepe paper.

I would probably check a site like Pinterest for more crafty suggestions.

I hope your son's class has fun with the project and more importantly, they learn a lot about how endangered the world's rain forests are and what can be done to reduce their destruction.  Please take some photos of the completed project and post them here, we'd love to see them!

[MDPalm]

I don't think there is any ban on real materials but I think the idea was to build as much as they can.  But you reminded me that I saw some majesty palms in the store the other day.  My thought was if I could get some palm fronds, the whole thing, then we could put a bunch down the tube that we have for the trunk, making a palm tree.  I was looking for somewhere that much just sell freshly cut fronds off a tree still in tact, but I doubt there is much of a market for that.

[realarch]

I've see fake Palm trunks made from bamboo culms. They look good too and you can cut them to any length.

Hopefully you can find some good sized cut bamboo where you are.

TIM

[DoomsDave]

Keep in mind that palms vary in appearance in the trunks; some are relatively smooth, others are rougher; some are dark others are pale. Some are really thick, others quite slender.

I say that because you can have different looks for different palms, and perhaps gain a few points for elegant variation.

Do please show us what you do and what kind of grade your son gets!

Realarch's idea is excellent; a lot of palms look a lot like bamboo, since both are related to grasses. Green, pale brown, blackish colors will all work well.