Walking in the rain forest

This week we have been taking excursions into the rain forests of South America. We learned that there are four distinct layers to the rain forest*:

The emergent is the top layer where gigantic treetops rise above the rest of the forest trees. Mostly birds and insects live there.

The Canopy is the next level down where treetops reach up to 165 feet high. This area traps the most water and sunlight. These treetops produce the most food for the forest’s creatures.

The understory is below the canopy and is where shrubs and shorter, younger trees grow that can reach to about 60 feet. Only about 2 percent of sunlight reaches the understory.

dried plants of South America

Finally, the forest floor is dark. Only 2 percent of sunlight and very little water reach the floor. Few plants can grow in this darkness. The soil is weak due to the enormous amount of rain (lluvia-“rain” in Spanish-pronounced “juvia”) that flows down through the canopy and understory. Humidity in the forest floor is almost always above 70% and the temperature remains relatively constant.

There can be up to 350 inches of rain annually in the rain forest. The rain forest provides homes to a large and beautiful variety of plant, animal and insect life and is also considered to be the “lungs” of the planet due to the large amount of oxygen generated by the trees.

We are looking forward to our RAIN FOREST assembly next Monday, 4/15 at 10am and encourage our afternoon students to attend (and bring a lunch).