U2W3 A Tree Full of Life

A Tree Full of Life

CHAPTER 1 Eucalyplus Forests A tree stands tall in the heart of a forest. It is one of many eucalyptus (yew-kuh-LIP-tuhs) trees in many eucalyptus forests in Australia. This giant tree is a habitat, or home, to lots of animals. They depend on the eucalyptus to meet their needs. The continent of Australia has many eucalyptus forests.

Eucalyptus trees may be extremely tall. Some eucalyptus trees can climb above 300 feet! This tree has been standing for many years. Its mighty trunk has sticky bark that hangs like string. Its leaves smell sweet and spicy. Its flowers and fruit do too. Although eucalyptus leaves are sweet, they are also poisonous!

CHAPTER 2 Food for Animals It is a warm summer night and the sky is bright with stars. A hungry koala bear sits up high in the branches of this tree. It spends hours chewing the tree's leaves. It takes a long time to eat an entire pound of them! The leaves have water, but they aren't very nutritious. The koala needs to eat a lot of leaves to get the vitamins it needs. DID YOU KNOW? Koala bears are not bears. They are marsupials, animals with pouches. Koala bears smell like cough drops because of the sweet leaves they eat. . Koala bears have been known to jump from tree to tree. After the koala chews the eucalyptus leaves into a mush, its stomach can break down their poisons.

The tired koala finally falls asleep. It sleeps wedged between branches with the baby koala resting peacefully in its arms. The koala bear sleeps through most of the day. In fact, it may not wake up for 18 hours. The mother koala snuggles with the baby, or joey.