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INTERACTIVE

RAINFOREST


The Four Layers of a Rainforest

*First, watch a movie about the layers of the Rainforest.

*Then, click on a layer at the right to see more!

Emergent Layer

Canopy

Understory

Forest Floor

Play Movie

*When you’re done exploring, test your skills Here!


The Emergent LayerThe Emergent Layer

Emergent trees are spaced very widely apart and are 100 to 240 feet tall. They have umbrella shaped canopies that grow above all the other trees. These tall trees have straight, smooth trunks with few branches.

Click on the animals to learn more!


The canopy has 60 to 130 foot trees. So, light is easily available at the top of this layer. Most of the rainforest's animals live here. Many of these animals

don’t have to go down to the floor because they can find their food here. Monkeys, sloths, toucans, snakes, lizards, and many other animals live here.

The CanopyThe Canopy


The UnderstoryThe Understory

This layer is made up of the trunks of canopy trees, shrubs, and plants. There is little air movement down here because it is crowded with plants!

Animals in the understory are insects, snakes, lizards, and small mammals. Some larger animals, like jaguars, spend a lot of time on branches here

looking for prey. The cocoa tree can be found in this layer!


The Forest FloorThe Forest Floor

Less than 2% of sunlight reaches the forest floor. A lot of litter falls to the floor and is quickly broken down by decomposers like termites,

earthworms and fungi. The largest animals in the rainforest generally live here, including gorillas, jaguars and anteaters.


Scarlet MacawScarlet Macaw

Emergent Layer

Scarlet Macaws lives both in the emergent layer and canopy. They eat seeds, nuts, flowers, and even unripe fruit that other animals avoid. They can fly up to 35mph and usually travel in pairs or small groups. This bird is an endangered species because rainforests are being destroyed, and because people have captured them for pets.


Spotted CuscusSpotted CuscusThese guys eat fruits and small lizards. Their long, strong tail helps them climb up to the highest layer in the rainforest. They are slow like sloths, have red, orange or yellow eyes, and grow only to be as big as a house cat. The cuscus is part of the possum family, and like the possum, is nocturnal.

Emergent Layer


Leafcutter AntAs the name says, leafcutter ants cut off leaves of plants, and use them in their nests. These ants do not even eat these leaves, they eat fungus which is made when the leaves die. Leafcutter ants are so strong that they can carry up to 20 times their own weight. That amount of weight is like one human carrying a whole tone by their selves! These ants live in huge groups of 3-8 million ants called “colonies.”

Forest Floor


Poison Dart FrogPoison Dart FrogAt about 1 1/2 inches they can be green, red, orange, yellow, blue, or black, or any combination of these colors. Their skin contains toxins that are bad tasting, making them an unlikely meal for most animals. If these poisons got into the bloodstream of another animal, it could cause: convulsions, paralysis, and even death. Poison-dart frogs do have one known predator, the snake Leimadophis epinephelus, which is immune to their poisons.

Emergent Layer


Stick insects, like this one, grow to look like sticks, leaves, and plant stems! Because they blend in so well, it is often hard to find them crawling around the plants of the forest floor!

Emergent Layer

The Blue MorphoMorphos taste with sensors on their legs, and they taste-smell the air with their antennas. Morpho adults eat and sleep on the forest floor and in the understory, but they fly through all layers of the rainforest.

This Long-Horned Grasshopper has leaf-like wings that help it blend in while it eats real leaves.

Forest Floor

Butterflies and other Butterflies and other Rainforest InsectsRainforest Insects


IguanaIguanaThe iguana can be found in all areas of the rainforest, but mainly in the canopy. It is an excellent swimmer and will plunge into water when it feels threatened. The iguana lays eggs to reproduce and their young generally forage on the forest floor eating invertebrates such as insects, worms and snail.

Canopy


Spider MonkeySpider MonkeySpider monkeys grow up to two feet, not including their tail. This long tail is used like a hand to grab onto branches. They climb and swing in both the canopy and emergent layers. These monkeys got their name because when they hand from trees, it looks like the have many arms/legs just like a spider! They travel in small groups, and eat fruits, nuts, and seeds. Spider monkeys have even been seen shaking vines to make their predators fall off!

Canopy


Howler MonkeyHowlers live in family troops made up of a father, three or four mothers, young males and females, and babies. Their howl can be heard up to three miles away! They eat lots of fruits and leaves, which they get their main source of water from. Monkeys use a lot of energy to digest, so that is why they lounge around in trees.

Emergent Layer


Red Eye Tree FrogRed Eye Tree Frog

Understory

This little frog (2-3 inches) is neon green with bits of color all over. It’s legs are blue and their feet are red or orange. Their toes act like suction cups for climbing! These tree frogs eat small insects, moths, grasshoppers, and sometimes even smaller frogs! When they sleep, they blend in because their big red eyes are closed and they are just green, However, when they pop open their big, red eyes, they scare their predators away!


GeckoGeckoGeckos are the only lizards that make noise. They got their name because the noise they make is a tiny squeaking that sounds like “gecko.” They have big eyes and great vision. If a gecko is caught by its tail, it can release its tail and grow another one back! These lizards are good climbers because of their sticky, Velcro-like feet that lets them attach to whatever they climb. Because of these feet, they climb back and forth from the forest floor to the understory.

Understory


Boa ConstrictorBoa ConstrictorBoa Constrictors live in the Boa Constrictors live in the understory, canopy, and on the forest understory, canopy, and on the forest floor! They smell with their tongues floor! They smell with their tongues and hear through the vibrations on and hear through the vibrations on the ground. Most boas are between the ground. Most boas are between 6.5 and 13 feet in length. They will 6.5 and 13 feet in length. They will wait for days near their prey's home, wait for days near their prey's home, waiting for the perfect time to attack waiting for the perfect time to attack it. They eat rats, lizards, and other it. They eat rats, lizards, and other small mammals. After eating a large small mammals. After eating a large meal, Boa’s can go for weeks without meal, Boa’s can go for weeks without eating!eating!

Canopy


GorillaGorilla

Forest Floor

Gorillas spend much of their time eating! They consume large amounts of stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Their arms are longer than their legs, and often used to help them “knuckle-walk.” Gorillas are very smart and some have been taught to communicate with humans. They live in groups of 6-7 gorillas called “bands.” Although gorillas are very large, they rarely threaten other animals. In the wild, Gorillas live to about age 35 but in captivity they can live to be about 50 years old!


ArmadilloArmadilloThe armadillo’s arms, head, body, legs, and tail are all protected by the hard, bony, plates. They will spend most of their time burrowing underground and because of this, their sense of smell is much better than their hearing or vision. Armadillos eat insects, bird’s eggs, roots, and some fruits. In one meal they will eat up to 40,000 ants! Like many animals of the rainforest, the armadillos is loosing it’s habitat because of rainforest destruction.

Forest Floor


Kinkajou Kinkajou The kinkajou is related to the raccoon. They have red-ish brown or tan fur with a very long tail. These animals eat almost anything from flowers and fruits to birds and small mammals. They even have a long, thin tongue they use to get honey from bee hives! Their claws help the kinkajou reach and eat fruit. They communicate with other kinkajous by their scent and grunting sounds. Like many animals of the rainforest, the kinkajou’s tail helps it climb and hold on!

Understory


JaguarJaguarLike the Scarlet Macaw, Jaguars are also endangered because they are losing their home, and being hunted by humans. Unlike the house cats we know, Jaguars are actually very good swimmers. They eat birds, reptiles, eggs, alligators, and other small mammals. They stay lower in the rainforest so they can prey on other animals on the ground.

Understory

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AnteaterAnteater

Forest Floor

Anteaters have very small mouths, long, thin tongues, and a very long snout. They actually have very bad vision, but they sense of smell is great. Anteaters eat only insects, usually ants and termites but sometimes other insects, too. They catch the bugs by flicking their tongue in and out of their mouths which they can do as fast as 160 times per minute!

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Find The Difference

Multiplication and Division

Test your rainforest knowledge using your math skills!

Click on a quiz below

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The Amazon Rainforest gets 100 feet of rain each year!

If New Hampshire gets 4 feet of rain each year, how many more feet does the rainforest get compared to New Hampshire?

104 96 94 400

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Scientists divide the rainforest into zones based on the living environment. What is another name for “zone?”

12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

Lettersubstitution

Letter Code:

1-D2-A3-N

4-O5-R

7-T8-U9-Y6-S

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12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

6

Lettersubstitution

S

Letter Code:

1-D2-A3-N

4-O5-R6-S

8-U9-Y

7-T

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12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

6 7

Lettersubstitution

S T

Letter Code:

1-D2-A3-N

4-O

6-S

7-T8-U9-Y

5-R

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12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

6 7 5

Lettersubstitution

S T R

Letter Code:

1-D

3-N

4-O5-R6-S

7-T8-U9-Y

2-A

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12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

6 7 5 2

Lettersubstitution

S T R A

Letter Code:

1-D2-A3-N

4-O5-R6-S

8-U9-Y

7-T

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12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

6 7 5 2 7

Lettersubstitution

S T R A T

Letter Code:

1-D

3-N

4-O5-R6-S

7-T8-U9-Y

2-A

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12÷ 2

7x 1

15÷ 3

2x 1

21 ÷ 3

6÷3

Mathsolution

6 7 5 2 7 2

Lettersubstitution

S T R A T A

Letter Code:

1-D2-A3-N

4-O5-R6-S

7-T8-U9-Y

Back to Quizzes

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Amazon Rainfall:

New Hampshire Rainfall:

100

4-

_______

To find the difference, subtract:

96

The rainforest gets 96 more inches of rain than New

Hampshire!

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ReferencesReferences Rainforest Alliance: Species Profiles.

www.rainforestalliance.org/resources/forest-facts/species-profiles/poison-dart.frogs.html

Cadbury: Spotted Cuscus. http://www.cadbury.com.au/yowie/rainforest/wl3.htm

Earth’s Birthday Org: Rainforest Exploration: Kids. http://www.cadbury.com.au/yowie/rainforest/wl3.htm

Teach-nology. Rainforest: Spider Monkey. http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/science/rain/read2/

Enchanted Learning: Boa Constrictor, Scarlet Macaws, Gorillas, Jaguar, Anteaters, Geckos, Kinkajou http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/reptiles/snakes/Boa.shtml

Wellington Zoo. Primate Fact sheet: Spider Monkey. http://www.wellingtonzoo.com/animals/animals/primates/spider-monkey.html

Nashville Zoo. Red-Eyed Tree Frog. http://www.nashvillezoo.org/redeye.htm

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Documents

emergent layer slide

canopy slide

emergent layer emergent

forest floor slide

highest layer

rainforests animals

larger animals

largest animals