28 L3-Life in Rainforests

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Oxford Read and Discover level 3 Life in Rainforests by Cheryl Palin

Introduction A tropical rainforest is a forest of tall trees that's warm all year. It's called a rainforest because it usually rains every day. It can rain more than 250 centimeters in one year. Many amazing animals and plants live in rainforests. What do you know about tropical rainforests? How tall is a kapok tree? How long does a sloth sleep every day? How many eyes does a tarantula have? What do hummingbirds drink? Discover! Now read and discover more about life in tropical rainforests!

Chapter 1 Tropical Rainforests All the tropical rainforests are near the equator. Most of them are in the Tropics. The biggest tropical rainforest is the Amazon rainforest in South America. The second biggest is the Congo rainforest in Africa. South Asia also has lots of tropical rainforests. There are smaller rainforests in Central America, Madagascar, India, Australia, and on the islands near Australia. Tropical rainforests cover only about 6 percent (%) of Earth, but they have 50% of all the different types of animal and plant that we know. About 10 square kilometers of rainforest can have 750 types of tree, 1,500 types of other plant, 400 types of bird, and 150 types of butterfly. Some very big animals live in tropical rainforests. Jaguars are the biggest cats in the Amazon rainforest.

Chapter 2 Rainforest Layers Tropical rainforests have layers. The top layer is the emergent layer. The tops of the tallest trees are in this layer. It's very windy! Eagles and bats live here. The next layer is the canopy. The big branches and leaves of the tall trees are here. There are many types of animal in this layer, because there's light and lots of food. Monkeys and toucans live in the canopy. The next layer is the understory. The tops of the small trees are in this layer. It's dark and hot. Jaguars and tree frogs live here. The bottom layer is the forest floor. The roots of the trees are in this layer. Many insects live on the forest floor. Some big animals like anteaters live here, too. They eat the insects. Discover! The kapok tree is one of the tallest rainforest trees. It can grow up to 70 meters tall.

Chapter 3 Plants Animals and people get lots of food from rainforest plants. Bananas, pineapples, and nuts all grow in the rainforest. We can make things from rainforest plants, too. People make clothes and bags from pineapple leaves. We also use some plants to make medicines. We can use some rainforest trees, like the balsa tree, for wood. We can use the rubber tree for latex to make rubber. Many rainforest plants are homes for animals, like monkeys, birds, and insects. Some frogs sleep between the leaves of big plants. Some birds and other small animals live in tree holes. They make nests for their babies in the holes. Orang-utans sleep in nests in trees. They make the nests from leaves and branches. Discover! Orang-utans use big leaves as umbrellas when it rains!