Rain Forest Q & A   

What is a rainforest?     A Rain Forest is an ecosystem that has a climate that encourages year round growth.  Most Rain Forests are in tropical regions along the equator.  There are some non-tropical rain forests.  One of these are in the United States in Washington, not far from Seattle.   This rain forest is a temperate rain forest with different vegetation and animal life.  For  the purposes of this unit, rain forest will refer to tropical rain forests.

Where are these rain forests located? The tropical rain forests are located along the equator.  The largest rain forest is in South America; the Amazon Rain Forest.   There are also rain forests in Africa, Asia, and a small area of Australia.

What do these rain forests have in common?  Tropical Rain Forests are very wet and warm.   They get rainfall nearly everyday and generally do not have a dry season.  Rain forests can get up to 60-70 inches of rain a year.  The temperatures of the rain forest are usually between 75-80 degrees year round.  The rain forest have layers that house different species of animal and plant life.  These layers are the forest floor, the understory, the canopy, and the emergent layer. See Layers of the Rainforest

What is an example of a Food Web in the Rain Forest?

Animals live in different habitats. Each habitat has different types of food.

Plants get food from the soil and can make food from sunlight.

Animals eat plants or other animals.

 Rain Forest Food Web Examples:

• leaves--sloth---eagle
• fruit--monkey--eagle or jaguar
• seeds--fish--Caiman (type of gator)--jaguar
• wood--termite---tamandula--jaguar

The eagle and the jaguar have few enemies.

What are mosses in the Rain Forest?

Mosses are plants that do not have flowers. They have spores. They live on trees and need moisture, which is abundant in the rain forest. It it is very damp in the rain forest. The mosses thrive in this damp environment. The mosses cover the entire bark of the trees.

What is the weather like in the rain forest?

The weather of a tropical rain forest is very warm and damp.  It rains almost every day. The rain forest has an average rainfall of at least 60 inches (1500mm) in a year. The temperature is usually around 78 degrees F.

Describe a culture in the rain forest.

There are many groups of people (tribes) in the rainforest.

The Yanomammi Indians live in Brazil in small villages. They live in one big house called a yano. This tribe lives near the river and grows a variety of crops.

• Women look after the crops and children. They gather the food.
• The men go hunting every day. Boys go, too. They use blow pipes with poison arrows.
• They believe everything has a spirit and these spirits must be respected.
• Shanmans are healers. They dance and sing to call good spirits to help ones illness.
• Feasts: Different villages invite each other to feasts. The tribe paints their bodies with patterns. They give presents, sing, and tell stories.

THe Kayapo Indians are also from Brazil.

The Penan tribe live in Sarawak, Malaysia.

What are some foods from the rain forest?

Here are some ideas for food products:

Bananas, Brazil Nuts, Cashews, Cinnamon, Cocoa/Chocolate ,Coconut, Mango, Nutmeg, Vanilla beans, figs, pineapple, sweet potato, Starfruit

What are some animals that live in the canopy?

Here are some of the animals that live in the rainforest.

katydids, beetles, parrots, toucans, cockatoos, anteaters, all monkeys, sloths, macaws, butterflies, many insects, boas. 

(some of these animals are in more than one layer)