Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR)

Hoike o Haleakala
Rain Forest Module


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Rain forest map The Rain Forest module contains five downloadable units about the area found between 600 and 1900 meters (1968 and 6232 feet) on the windward side of Haleakala.

Rainfall in this zone is over 200 cm (80 in) per year. Rain normally falls year-round as a result of the moisture-laden northeast trade winds that predominate for most of the year. Sixty billion gallons of surface water per year from this area provides much of Upcountry and East Maui with drinking water, as well as most of the irrigation water that goes to Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company in central Maui.

The Introduction and Units at a Glance PDF icon will give you an overview of this module and an idea of which unit or activity will work best for you.


Rain Forest PDF icon Entire Ecosystem Module (2.67 Mb)


Unit 1: Why is the rainforest wet?  PDF icon Entire Unit
The relationship between rainfall, intact rain forest, and human water supply

Unit 2: Rain forest relationships PDF icon Entire Unit
Native plant and animal species and relationships and structure of Hawaiian rain forests.


Unit 3: Rain forest birds- a study in adaptation PDF icon Entire Unit
Native birds, adaptive radiation and evolution.


Unit 4: Bogs, Pigs, and Scientists  PDF icon Entire Unit
Feral animal damage, protection, and ecosystem recovery, and field botany skills


Unit 5: Weed Warriors PDF icon Entire Unit
Invasive plants and control measures, values and decision-making


Additional online resources for enrichment activities and further reading. For more help finding and utilizing online web resources read web searching tips PDF icon for teachers.


To find out more about Hoike o Haleakala, to schedule a school visit by a Hoike representative, for help downloading these documents, and/or to order a copy of this curriculum on paper or cd, contact hoike-info@lists.hawaii.edu.


Adobe Acrobat PDF icon Some documents posted on the HEAR website are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If your computer is not already set up to read these files, you can download the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader. You can set up most web browsers to automatically invoke this reader (as a "helper application" or "add-in") upon encountering documents of this type (refer to your browser's documentation for how to do this). [Download Acrobat reader]

Supported in part by: the Strong Foundation, the Cooke Foundation, the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation, the Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation, the Atherton Family Foundation, the Maui Invasive Species Committee, and the Hawai'i Invasive Species Council.
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This page was created on 03 April 2004 by EMS, and was last updated on 5 February 2006 by PN .