The amazing Amazon!!! By: Erin H. Block 5
INTR ODUCTION You might think of the Amazon rainforest being just a forest, but actually a rainforest is a tall, dense jungle that gets A LOT of rainfall and has many producers or something that produces energy. In this book you will learn about plants in the rainforest and animals in the rainforest. You will also learn about the weather and about two tribes in the rainforest. The rainforest is located in South America in the North West and South West hemispheres. The latitude of the rainforest is -0째
-15째 south. The longitude is -95째 -75째 west. Most people get around in the rainforest in canoes!
CLIMATE OF THE AMAZON The Amazon rainforest has a tropical climate which means it is very humid and moist. The average temperature is 79째 F. The average rainfall of the Amazon rainforest is 108 inches every year! CLIMATE MAP
LAND MAP
The layers Emergent layer The emergent layer of the rainforest has the tallest trees; they are 200 feet above the ground!! Most of these trees are evergreens. Most of the sunlight is in this layer. The animals in this layer are eagles, monkeys, bats and butterflies. Canopy layer The canopy layer has the most foliage; or leaves in the 4 layers. There are many animals there becausethere is a lot of food there; these animals are the tree frog, snake and the toucan. There are many “air plants” in this layer like bromeliads and orchids. The roots of these plants don’t reach the ground or grow in the soil they stay alive by absorbing moisture and nutrients through an aerial root system by attaching themselves to a host. The understory layer The understory layer of the rainforest is very dark and provides camouflage or what animals use to make them invisible to their predator or what eats them. Most of the animals there are nocturnal. The animals in this layer are tree frogs, bat owls, lots of insects, monkeys, sloths, jaguars and leopards. Forest floor The forest floor is the lowest layer of the rainforest; that’s why it’s called the forest floor becauseit’s the ground. The forest floor is even darker than the understory layer. There is very poor soil there becausethere is no sunlight. The only plants there are moss and ferns, once again becausethere is no sunlight so not a lot of plants can grow here.
ANIMALSOFTHERAINFOREST
Animal 1: Toucan
The toucan is a very colorful bird in the rainforest. The toucan’s habitat or where it lives is in the canopy layer. They are surrounded by many, many leaves. Its predator is an eagle. Its prey or what it eats is fruit, berries, small birds, lizards, seeds and insects. The toucan’s adaptations or what it has to get used to in the rainforest is living in the canopy and flying from tree to tree to get away from its predator. It also has to adapt to having a lot of sunlight. The toucan is an omnivore which means it eats both plants and animals.
Animal 2: Spider monkey
The spider monkey lives in the canopy. It is big and can come in black or brown. Its predators are jaguars and its preys are fruits, seeds, plants, nuts and eggs. The spider monkey has to adapt to jumping from tree to tree to run away
from its predators. The spider monkey is an omnivore too but most of its diet is plants and only 10% of its diet consists of insects. Some of the animals in this food web are carnivores which are organisms that eat only meat. An organism is a living thing. Some of the other animals are herbivores which are animals that only eat plants.
Plants of the rainforest Plant 1: The kapok tree The kapok tree is very, very tall. It can grow up to 150feet tall. It can be found in the emergent layer. Nothing eats this tree, probably becauseit’s so big! This tree treats many sicknesseslike fevers, asthma, kidney diseases,and dysentery. This tree is also used to make plywood; but each year there is more deforestation or the cutting down of trees becauseof that.
Plant 2: The water lily The water lily is another big plant in the rainforest but yet it is very light in weight. They can be found on the forest floor. Its predators are snails and these water lily’s provide fruit for people in the rainforest. This flower is the biggest flower in the world!
People of the rainforest The Yanomami Tribe: The Yanomami tribe is a tribe in the Amazon rainforest. Their life is centered around yano and their village is set up to strengthen their relationships with families. They hunt and fish for food. The Yanomami tribe doesn’t wear a lot of clothes and they believe that all fate and all fate of all people is inescapably linked to fate of the environment. The traditions of this tribe are hunting, fishing, and eating fish. They have many cultures or a way of life of a grup of people who share the same beliefs and customs.
The Tikuna Tribe: The Tikuna tribe is another tribe in the Amazon rainforest they mostly live in tree houses, there are a lot of them. They hold meetings in the town house called the moloka. When a child turns 13 they get all their hair ripped out.
They have many schools in the village and they eat roots from the forest. They also cut down trees to make land for farming. They want to detain money for clothes, school supplies, and food. They do not move from place to place, therefore they are not nomadic. Ta’e is what gives them there soul.
Saving the rainforest! Deforestation
is when people cut down trees for other needs like making canoes, cattle ranching. This affects the rainforest becausewe need the tress for oxygen. 20%of the world’s oxygen is from the rainforest so if we continue to cut down trees then we will lose more and more oxygen. Conservation is when we save things. To help
the rainforest we need to start saving more paper becausethe more paper that gets thrown away the more tress get cut down and the more oxygen we lose. So start saving paper!!
Ecotourism is when tourist go somewhere
without damaging the place. Make sure that you ever go to the amazon rainforest that you don’t damage any part of
if
it!!
CONCLUSION Every year more and more trees have been cut down to make more paper even though all
you have to do is start saving more paper. 20% of the worlds oxygen comes from the rainforest, if we don’t start saving more paper sooner or later the rainforest will be gone and we will lose 20%of our oxygen. So
go and work to save more paper!! Recourses for science http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/wha t.html http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/amazon-rainforestanimals.html http://christiananswers.net/kids/rainforest/transportation.html http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=6 http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/layers-rainforest.cfm http://www.amersol.edu.pe/ms/7th/7block/jungle_research/new_cards/40/re port40aa.html http://www.greenwing.org/teachersguide/fall_98_folder/omnivores/More_Ab out/more_about.html http://www.buzzle.com/articles/amazon-rainforest-plants.html http://www.squidoo.com/Amazonwaterlily
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.alaska-inpictures.com/data/media/1/perching-baldeagle_6593.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/perching-baldeagle-homer-alaska-6593pictures.htm&usg=__PtFcdd8ozAscYpNJz4ffmVCgI6U=&h=312&w=468&sz=21&h l=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=FCeEp7gr4C5kM:&tbnh=146&tbnw=192&ei=B6yLTcGjKMSftwfuh8GEDg&prev=/i mages%3Fq%3Deagle%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DX%26biw %3D1003%26bih%3D434%26tbs%3Disch:1%26prmd %3Divns&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=272&oei=B6yLTcGjKMSftwfuh8GEDg&page=1&n dsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=120&ty=99 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lXuaihmOIU/SfnNVgAvuqI/AAAAAAAAAyM/CgB76Xqv0sQ/s200/tucan1.png&imgrefurl =http://cmsandweb.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html&usg=__SNbQ_hu XSztCedM59YmMS8ybXr0=&h=199&w=199&sz=12&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbn id=ZB_DXxNIC5GmM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=149&ei=kq2LTfOpGsqCtgf1qdj2DQ&prev=/images%3Fq %3Dtucan%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D434%26tbs %3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=232&oei=kq2LTfOpGsqCtgf1qdj2DQ&page=1&n dsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0&tx=7&ty=41 http://www.google.com/imgres? imgurl=http://images.nbii.gov/RFemmer/D_high-res/14%2520Four%2520spp %2520wading%2520birds%2520%2520reflected.JPG&imgrefurl=http://images.nbii.gov/details.php%3Fid %3D75192%26cat %3DParks&usg=__RGC9gF8EG8ay1tJC8SBTWctVSUU=&h=2400&w=3600&sz=395 1&hl=en&start=42&zoom=1&tbnid=kFoAkuhigXz41M:&tbnh=125&tbnw=210&ei= tK6LTe7kKaSV0QGrzPTiDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwaterbirds%26hl%3Den %26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D434%26tbs
%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=224&oei=o66LTcsnhLe3BvZub0O&page=5&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:42&tx=135&ty=36 http://pelotes.jea.com/AnimalFact/Birds/baldeagl.htm http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/12/12/firethorn-pyracantha-berries/ http://www.picsearch.com/pictures/home%20living/gardening/fruit %20seeds.html http://www.zooschool.ecsd.net/spider%20monkey.htm http://www.freeclipartpictures.com/clipart/pages/00pics.shtml?food143.jpg http://inquiryunlimited.org/science/rainforest.html http://birdsasart.us/eating.shtml http://www.interestinganimals.net/what_do_ants_eat/what_do_ants_eat.htm l http://www.amazon-indians.org/Uncontacted-Amazon-Tribe.html
Recourses for social studies http://www.everyculture.com/SouthAmerica/Ticuna-Marriage-and-Family.html http://www.everyculture.com/SouthAmerica/Ticuna-Religion-and-ExpressiveCulture.html
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm? guidAssetId=71D20384-AF43-47C7-AFB9366FFB2C0D62&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US #