treefrogtreefrogtreefrogtreefrogtreefrogtreefrog

Rainforest Facts

What is a rainforest? It's a tall, thick jungle. A tropical rainforest grows where it is humid all year long and where it rains a lot. A rainforest in South America can get up to 30 feet of rain in a year. Compare that to Wisconsin where we usually get about 30 inches of rain in a year.
 

There are tropical rain forests in South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. They grow in the warm areas near the equator. The equator is an imaginary line that goes around the middle of the earth. The temperature in the tropical rainforest is about 80 degrees F.

Although the rainforests have more plants and animals than anywhere else in the world, rainforests are only a small part of our planet earth.

The largest rain forest is called the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest is important. Some people call the Amazon Rainforest the "lungs of the world." The trees and other plants give off oxygen. People and animals need oxygen to breath.The rainforest breathes out more than 20 percent of the world's oxygen supply.

 

map

Rainforests are among the most important ecosystems in the world. An ecosystem is a community of plants and animals that depend on each other.

More plants and animals live in the rainforest than anywhere else in the world!  Scientists tell us that half of all the plant and animal species (different kinds of animals) are found in the rainforest.

biodiversity

Inside the rain forest, plants and animals are everywhere. When you first look, it seems like the rainforest is a jumbled mess.

rainforest

However, there are actually four different layers in the forest. They are the emergent, canopy, understory and forest floor layers. Each layer has special animals and plants that live there. If you visited the rainforest, it would be impossible to see all the animals hiding in each layer. 

layers
 

Let's explore the rainforest.
 
     
Gebauer Link