RAINFORESTS Created by: Kira Bulva ED 218

RAINFOREST FACTS Rainforests have evolved over millions of years! Tropical rainforests are the Earth's oldest living ECOSYSTEMS! They are described as TALL, DENSE JUNGLES! The climate of a rain forest is VERY HOT and HUMID! There are high amounts of RAINFAILL every year!

RAINFOREST LOCATIONS Rainforests only COVER 6% of the Earth’s SURFACE The AMAZON jungle is the world’s largest tropical rainforest

RAINFOREST LAYERS

EMERGENT LAYER: TALLEST trees (200 Feet!) Much SUNLIGHT! CANOPY LAYER: PRIMARY Layer! Many ANIMALS! Very DENSE! UNDERSTORY LAYER: LITTLE Sunlight! Animals devise UNIQUE ways to SURVIVE Many ANIMALS and INSECTS! FOREST FLOOR: Very DARK! NO PLANTS! DECOMPOSING material

RAINFOREST ANIMALS/PLANTS Rainforests are HOME to more than ½ the world’s plants and animal species! (Including INSECTS!) That means as many as 30 MILLION species LIVE here!

RAINFOREST IMPORTANCE Plants in the forests turn Carbon Dioxide into CLEAN AIR, which helps us fight POLLUTION! We get many MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, and FOOD from the Rainforests! Many VALUABLE MEDICINES are found in the rainforests!

PEOPLE of the RAINFOREST Many INDIGENOUS people live in the rainforest! They use the forest for their EVERYDAY lives! Yanomamo, Pygmies, and Huli Wigmen are examples of TRIBES that have lived in the rainforests for THOUSANDS of years!

SAVING the RAINFORESTS The world’s rainforests are being DESTROYED at a rate of 6000 acres every HOUR! (That is about 4000 FOOTBALL FIELDS an hour!) Rainforest made up 14% of the earth’s surface, but make up only 6% TODAY! Most rainforest are destroyed for the LUMBER and the rich farming LAND!

WHAT YOU CAN DO! USE LESS PAPER! USE LESS GAS, PLASTIC, and OIL! WRITE LETTERS! RECYCLE/RE-USE! EDUCATE YOURSELF and OTHERS!

WHAT REASONS WOULD YOU GIVE THEM FOR SAVING THE RAINFORESTS? SPEAK OUT!!! WHAT MIGHT YOU SAY IN A LETTER TO A COMPANY THAT DESTROYS THE RAINFORESTS? WHAT REASONS WOULD YOU GIVE THEM FOR SAVING THE RAINFORESTS?