AMAZING RAINFOREST
BY BRENNA
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WHAT IS A
RAINFOREST?
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Russel. Russel. Sqeuak! Chirp!
Chirp! Shooo! There is a place where leopards leap from
branch to branch, army ants slip through the leaves looking for
lunch, and Oclats prowl the land. Monkeys swing from vine to
vine, and birds soar and butterfly’s flutter. Frogs zoom from tree
to tree. It can rain up to 30 feet a year. What is this place? A
rainforest! The rainforest’s of this world only takes up 6% of the
world but contains half of the worlds food and animals.
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LAYERS OF THE
RAINFOREST.
There are 4 layers of the rainforest. The first is like the king of
the rainforest, it is the tallest layer, it’s called the Emergent layer.
Next down is the canopy than the understory than the forest
floor. On the forest floor it’s very dark. The dirt is rich and wet.
There are not many plants. Dead leaves scatter the ground
while army ants (which eat meat) stomp in long lines. A snake
slithers by, not making a sound. Small and big cats sneak in the
shadows waiting and watching. Above in the understory, a small
beaded eyed monkey swings on a dark
green vine chattering happily. He swung
and swung until he climbed up one of the
vines and reached the canopy. The canopy
is full of food and life. Birds fly and sloths
sleep.The monkey reaches and grabs a banana then slips off. A Toucan fly’s up and
leaves the canopy. There are only a few
trees taller than the canopy up hear. This is
the Emergent layer. Only animals that can
climb or fly can get up hear. Butterfly’s scatter enjoying the soft breeze and the warm
sun. They don’t get much sun because it is
usually raining. Birds that are flying make
rainbows with their elegant feathers. These
are the four amazing layers of the amazing
rainforest.
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RAINFOREST
PLANTS
The rainforest is truly an amazing place. Plants are
anything but scarce. There are big and small, long and
short and pink and red plants scattering the forest. Did
you know some plants eat bugs? Did you know that the
giant Rafflesia is very big and heavy and that it smells
like rotten meat? My favorite plant is the Sausage Tree.
No! The Sausage Tree does not really grow sausages.
But it does look like it! At night the Sausage Tree grows
beautiful and delicate red flowers hanging
off of long vines. They are there so it is
easy for bats and butterfly’s to get to so
they can pollinate the plants. When a bat or
a butterfly pollinates a flower from the tree
it makes it so in the morning when the
flower dies (the flowers live for one night)
the seeds live. When the seeds fall off, a
Sausage Tree will grow in it’s place.
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4 ANIMALS OF THE RAINFOREST
There are many animals in the rainforest. Today I’m writing about my favorite one. Colorful and smart. This
amazing animal lives far up in the canopy. Using it’s
strong beak as scissors to cut fruit off trees. This animal is the exicting and graceful Toucan! Toucans not
only live in the canopy but also live far up in the tall and
wide branches of the Emergent layer! Toucans have
many hungry predators that are always right on their
tails. That means they are prey. Some of
the predators are the Forest Eagles, the
hawks, and the owls. These next animals
that don’t go after the Toucan but instead
go after the Toucans nests. The boas, the
jaguars, and margay. Get ready to be
amazed! There are 40 different kinds of toucans in the world! Another cool thing about
these birds is that they can croak like frogs!
Toucans really are amazing animals!
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PEOPLE OF THE
RAINFOREST
The rainforest may be filled with many types of plants and animals, some that are still unknown. There is one important animal I have not talked about. That animal has two legs, two feet,
two arms, and two hands.They are the human tribes that live in
many of Earth’s rain forests! These tribes have lived in the rainforest for a very long time so they know how to survive and live
happily. The Mbuti people live deep in the Ituri rainforest of
Congo Region of Africa. They are hunter-gathers. That means
they get most of there food from hunting and from finding
plants. To hunt, the Mbuti use spears, and bows and arrows. They will
also build nets out of vines to trap the animals. They will usually hunt
things like antelopes, forest hogs, buffalo, elephants, monkeys, and
many other animals. The Mbuti almost waste nothing of their kill. They will
use the meat for food, the skin and fur for clothes, and the bones as
tools. A long time ago, the Mbuti would only kill and find what they
needed in there tribe but recently they have started to also trade with
people who live at the edge of the rainforest. Another tribe is the Yanomami. They are hunter-gardeners. They tend small gardens in the great
Amazon rainforest. They usually plant things such as bananas, yams,
and sweet potatoes. They will also grow plantains which are kind of like
hard and large bananas. To cook the plantains they roast them on coals
or boil them in big pots. If they’re not in the mood to grow their crops they
will find and eat nuts, mushrooms, and honey. They will also hunt birds
and catch frogs and collect slimy and crunchy bugs to eat. For shelter
the Yanomami live in huge houses made out of tree branches and palm
leaves. These houses are built in a large circle. In the evening families
and friends come together and tell story’s about jaguars the most feared
animal in the rainforest. For many long centuries, the Yanomami people
lived as their ancestors had lived. They had very little contact with people
from the outside world. But sadly very recently all that changed. In the
1980’s gold was discovered along the border between Brazil and Venezuela. This is the area where the Yanomami have lived all this time. With
thousands of people from the outside world rushing in for the gold it
really has been hard for all the Yanomami people. The gold miners have
made life hard for the Yanomami by cutting down lots of trees and by
bringing in lots of noisy tools which are scaring away all the animals.
Sadly they have also introduced new diseases such as malaria, flu, and
measles. Governments of South American countries are happily trying to
Many people make their homes
in the rainforest.
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protect the Yanomami people and all their land. Just like the Mbuti people
the Yanomami have been in peace with the rainforest for a long time. They
believe that nature creates everything, and that people should respect and
love the forest. Rainforest people like the Yanomami and the Mbuti have
many things to teach people outside the forest. They could share their
knowledge about which kinds of things are good to eat and which are poisonous, and which are good for medicine. But most importantly the people
who live in the rainforest would really be kind if they told us how to get all
are resources without destroying anything. Would you like to live in the
rainforest?
The people of the rainforest are
very decorative.
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