Rainforests! http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/rainfwld.htm

What is a Rainforest? Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet forests, havens for millions of plants and animals that exist nowhere else on earth. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/ http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests/Rainforests/

Why are rainforests important? The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.

Rainforests and the Ecosystem Tropical rainforests cover about 7% of the Earth's surface and are VERY important to the Earth's ecosystem. The rainforests recycle and clean water. They also remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their roots, stems, leaves, and branches, deterring the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is an increase in the temperature of a planet as heat energy from sunlight is trapped by the gaseous atmosphere. Excess carbon dioxide and water vapor increase this global warming effect.

Strata of the rainforest What are the tallest trees in the rainforest called? EMERGENTS! They are giant trees that grow to 240 feet tall with umbrella-shaped canopies that tower above the forest. They house many birds and insects.

Strata of the Rainforest CANOPY: The upper parts of the trees. This leafy environment is full of life in a tropical rainforest, housing insects, birds, reptiles, mammals, and more!

Strata of the Rainforest UNDERSTORY: This layer is made up of tree trunks, shrubs, vines and small trees. There is little air movement, and the humidity is high. This level is in constant shade.

Strata of the Rainforest FOREST FLOOR: Most areas of the forest floor receive so little light that few plants can grow there but is teeming with animal life, especially insects. The largest animals in the rainforest generally live here.

Two Types of Rainforest Do you know what the two types of rainforests are? Temperate And Tropical

Types of Rainforest Temperate rainforests are much younger than their tropical relatives, less than 10,000 years old, compared to tropical rainforests that may be millions of years old!

Temperate Rainforests Temperate rainforests are much more scarce than tropical rainforests. They are found on the western edge of North and South America, where moist air from the Pacific Ocean drops up to 200 inches of rain a year.

Where are Tropical Rainforests Located? Tropical rainforests are found in a belt around the equator of the Earth. There are tropical rainforests across South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Rainfall It is almost always raining in a rainforest. The Amazon rainforests gets about 2 inches of rain each week! How much is that a year? That’s NINE feet of rain a year!

Rainfall The rain is more even throughout the year in a tropical rainforest. In a temperate rainforest, there are wet and dry seasons. During the "dry" season, coastal fog brings moisture to the forest.

Temperature The temperature in a tropical rainforest never freezes and never gets very hot, ranging between 75° F and 80° F. Temperate rainforests have variation, with summer temperatures rising to about 80° F and winter temperatures near freezing.

Rainforest Soil The soil of a tropical rainforest is only about 3-4 inches (7.8-10 cm) thick and is ancient. Thick clay lies underneath the soil. Temperate rainforests have soil that is richer in nutrients, relatively young and less prone to damage.

Tropical Rainforest Soil Only 20 percent of the nutrients of the rainforest are in the soil; 80 percent of the nutrients remain in the trees and plants. The soil of the rainforests is only suitable for being rainforest soil, as crops do not grow well in it. When forests are cut down, the soil erodes quickly and soon only a dry desert remains.

Food from the Rainforest What foods originated in the rainforest? Pineapple? Coconuts? Peanuts? All of these are correct! And many more, including Macadamia nuts, bananas, cucumber, cocoa, coffee, tea, avocados, papaya, mango, yams, sweet potato, cinnamon, ginger, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and sugar cane!

People of the Rainforest There are many groups of people who live in the tropical rainforests. Most have lived in scattered villages in the rainforests for hundreds or thousands of years, obtaining all of their materials from the forest. Many medicines we have today come from medicine men who utilize plants from the rainforest.

Indigenous People Forest people are mostly hunter-gatherers and have small gardens in cleared areas of the forest. Since the soil in the rainforest is so poor, the garden areas must be moved after just a few years. Most indigenous populations are declining, mostly because of diseases and governmental land seizure.

Animals Millions of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals call the rainforest home. Tropical rainforests have a greater diversity of plants and animals than any other place.

Animals However, many species of rainforest animals are endangered and many others have gone extinct as their habitat is being destroyed.

Interesting Animals What bird lives in the rainforest and has a HUGE beak? A TOUCAN! Unlike Toucan Sam, real Toucans don’t eat Fruit Loops for breakfast but chow down on whole fruit, bird eggs and tree frogs!

Interesting Animals What snake is the largest in the world? The Green ANACONDA! It can grow up to 40 feet long, and has been known to eat jaguars and alligators!

Interesting Animals Bonobos- also known as pygmy chimpanzees, live only on the left bank of the Congo River. They are the rarest of all great apes!

Interesting Animals Jaguars are graceful but fierce predators that have such strong jaws they can kill their prey with a single swift bite. They also grow to be six feet long, making them the true king of the jungle!

Interesting Animals What animal is the loudest land animal? Why, the HOWLER MONKEY of course! Its howl can be heard up to 3.4 miles away!!!

Interesting Animals The Morpho butterfly is an iridescent blue butterfly that lives in rainforests of South America. It has eyespots on its backside to scare away predators!

Interesting Animals What is the name of these primates with big brown eyes? These are tarsiers! They spend their entire life in trees. On the ground, they can only hop!

Interesting Animals The three-toed sloth is the slowest-moving mammal in the world, spending all its life hanging upside down from trees, even giving birth upside down! Green algae often grows on their back, giving them camouflage in the trees!

Endangered Forests Because the number of people living on the planet increases every year, the number of forest products needed also increases, forcing temperate and tropical rainforests to be cut down.

Destruction of the Rainforest Farmers clear rainforest land to grow their crops, but cannot reuse the same land year after year. Ranchers clear the rainforest because the land is cheap, so they can sell cattle at low prices. Loggers cut trees for building houses and making furniture and paper. Rainforest that was chopped down can grow back over time, but they will never have the same variety of plants and animals they once did.

Disappearing Forest "The rainforests of the world are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute, day and night… …major climatic and other environmental changes will occur if this continues."

The Disappearance of the Rainforest “Tropical rainforests once covered more than 15 percent of the Earth’s land area… they now amount to less than 7 percent”. (Tropical Rainforest Coalition, 1996)

Saving the Rainforests What do you think we must do to save the rainforests? Destruction prevention: Use less paper, and always remember to recycle! Write a letter to presidents of companies that are destroying the rainforest. Worldwide boycotts are effective ways of stopping rainforest destruction. Boycotting fast food restaurants that serve hamburgers that came from cattle raised on rainforest land could help prevent matters from getting worse. One could help prevent destruction by not buying furniture products made from rosewood, mahogany, ebony, and teakwood, because they most likely came from the rainforests. Tourism also aids in protecting the rainforest. In order for their long-term existence, the local people who are used to burning and cultivating, logging, and hunting must learn the alternatives to the traditional, destructive occupations.

Virtual Tour For an exciting tour of the rainforest, click here! Additional Virtual Tours: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/rainforest/index_flash.html http://www.pbs.org/journeyintoamazonia/explorer.html http://www.msu.edu/~carusosa/rainforest.htm http://www.bgreen.com.au/rainforest01.html# http://www.arborday.org/programs/rainforest/tour/tour.cfm