An Invitation to Visit:

THE RAINFORESTWeb Sites:

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/rainforest

http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/rainforest_support.htm

http://www.toucansam.kelloggs.ca/eng/enter.htm

http://asterix.ednet.lsu.edu/~edtech/rainfor/

http://www.rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Information/Sites_for_Kids/

http://www.eduweb.com/amazon.html

http://www.ran.org/kids_action/

What is a Rainforest?

What is a Rainforest? A Rainforest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth and plentiful rain.

The temperature in a Rainforest stays about the same all year.

Rainforests are the wettest areas of land in the world, some get 32 feet of rain in one year!

Rainforests are found near the equator and cover approximately 7% of the Earth’s surface.

There are two types of Rainforests: Tropical and Temperate.

Where are the Rainforests?

They are all over the world!

There are five Rainforests in the world!

Amazon Rainforest African Rainforest Australian Rainforests Central American Rainforests Southern Asian Rainforests

African Rainforest

The African Rainforest is the World’s second largest Rainforest!

Southern Asia

The Southern Asia Rainforest is home to the world’s largest Mangrove forest!

Australia

This rainforest lies in the path of a constantwet wind that blowsfrom the Pacific Ocean.A main attraction to this rainforest is commercial tours.

Central America The Central

American Rainforest is home to thousands of tropical birds, especially parrots!

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon jungle

is the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

It is home to more than 1/5 of the world’s plants and birds and 1/10 of all mammal species.

Who lives in a Rainforest?

ANIMALS

PIRANHA SALT WATER CROCODILE

VAMPIRE BAT

BLUE JEANS FROG

ANACONDA

ENDANGERED ANIMALS

JAGUARAFRICAN ELEPHANT PROBISCIS MONKEY

RUFFED LEMURBLACK RHINO GREVY’S ZEBRA

MORE ANIMALS

TOUCAN

VINE SNAKE

DART FROG

SPIDER MONKEY

QUETZAL

People in the Rainforest Indians live in the rainforest.

Indian tribes in the rainforest include the Pygmies and the Yanomamo, among many others.

Indigenous people are groups of people who live in the tropical rainforest.

Indigenous people get their food, clothing, and housing from the materials of the forest.

People in the Rainforest: The Food They Eat

They are hunters and gatherers.

They grow fruits and vegetables.

They hunt wild pig, tapir, deer, alligator, sloth, and monkey.

People in the Rainforest: The Clothes They Wear

Men and boys wear loin cloths.

Women and girls wear wrap around skirts.

People in the Rainforest: The Houses They Live

In Their houses have one room and no walls.

People in the Rainforest: The Work They Do

Girls:* Baby-sit, cook, fetch water

Boys:* Hunt, fish, farm, weave baskets* They spend a lot of time in the jungle

learning and training to be hunters.* They learn to provide for their family and

the village.

What is a Rainforest? Rainforests have four layers of life.

* emergent trees- small number of trees that grow taller than the canopy

* canopy- top layer* understory- middle* forest floor- bottom

All parts of the Rainforest work together to make sure that the Rainforest thrives.

Rainforests house more that half of the world’s species of plants and animals.

Emergent Layer The uppermost layer are the emergent, the

few trees that stretch around 10 meters above the canopy, acting as a shield against the heat of the sun and drying winds.

Canopy The canopy is where most of the animals

and thrive because of the warm sunlight and abundant supply of food. Some animals never leave the canopy their entire lives.

Understory The rainforest understory is very hot,

very damp, and the air is still. During the hottest part of the day it is very still.

The Rainforests once covered more than 14% of the earth, they now cover less than 6%. Trees in the rainforest are cut down at a rate of 2 football fields per second. Most damage to the Rainforest is permanent.

Destruction of the Rainforest: The Rate

Forest Floor The rainforest floor is the lowest level of

the rainforest, followed by the shrub layer, which are not inhabited by many animals. The forest floor rarely gets any sunlight, so few plants or animals can survive there. But waste that finds its way down from the upper layers is immediately broken down by the decomposers such as fungi and termites.

Destruction of the Rainforest: The Causes

3 major causes Ranching Logging Farming

Techniques Bulldozing Burning Cutting

Destruction of the Rainforest: The Effects

Major climate and other environmental changes

Extinction of animals Landslides and rock falls More carbon dioxide

released cause the green house effect