Lesson 2: Week 7

Welcome to our second Topic lesson!

Before we start our second lesson, have a think about what you already know about Brazil. Have a discussion with your grown up.

• Where is Brazil?

• Can you remember three facts from our last lesson?

The Amazon RainforestToday we will be learning about The Amazon Rainforest.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It covers over 1.4 billion acres (five and a half a million square kilometers).

Over half of the Amazon rainforest is just in Brazil but it stretches way beyond that. It spans across other countries including Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Bolivia, Suriname and French Guiana. It certainly knows how to travel!

You might like to check out just how big The Amazon Rainforest is! Click on the link below to access google maps. Type in The Amazon Rainforest and see if you can find the countries it spans across!

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Amazon+Rainforest/@-3.4653052,-80.1455671,4z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x91e8605342744385:0x3d3c6dc1394a7fc7!8m2!3d-3.4653053!4d-62.2158805

The Amazon RainforestClick on both of the links below and watch the videos about The Amazon Rainforest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIQSAm2MbZY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IzzogrKo6k (no information – just video)

After you have watched the video discuss what you have found out with your grown up.

• What did you already know about rainforests?

• What did you learn about The Amazon Rainforest?

• How does The Amazon Rainforest compare to forests you have been to? Maybe you could think about our forest at school.

What are Rainforests?• Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet

forests.

• They are habitats for millions of plants and animals.

• Rainforests are very important in the ecology of the earth. The plants of the rainforest produce most of the earth’s oxygen.

Where are the Rainforests?Tropical rainforests are found in a belt around the Equator of the Earth.

There are tropical rainforests in:

Central America

South America

Africa

South East Asia

Australia

Layers of the RainforestsEmergent Layer – these are the tallest trees in the rainforest and can reach 70 metres tall. They have huge leafy crowns that spread out to catch as much sunlight as possible.

Canopy – This is the dense leafy layer with trees about 40 metres tall. They spread their branches out to catch most of the sunlight and rain. This is the most popular place to live in the jungle.

The Understorey – Leafy bushes and small trees entwined with vines make up this layer. It is dark and hot here. Many animals cross between this layer and the canopy above and many are nocturnal.

Forest Floor – A carpet of dead leaves forms the base of this dim and shady layer. The lack of sunlight means fewer plants grow here.

Which animals do you think might live in the different layers of the rainforests?

Animals in the RainforestsRainforests are home to a variety of different animal species

Butterflies and Beetles

Insects

Spiders and Ticks

Arachnids

Snakes and Lizards

Reptiles

Toads and Frogs

Amphibians

Parrots and Toucans

Birds

Apes and Jaguars

Mammals

Different animals live in different layers of the rainforest

Large animals like jaguars generally live on the forest floor, but others like monkeys and sloths are more arboreal.

Insects are found almost everywhere. The Morphobutterfly lives in the canopy and has a wing span of 18cm.

Birds live in the canopy layer and the emergent layer.

Meaning of Arboreal– living in trees

The forest floor is home to many insects, spiders and large animals like jaguars and ocelots.

The understorey layer gets little light and is home to many animals like frogs, bats, apes and owls.

Many birds live in the emergent layer. They look for nesting places and are away from predators.

Different animals live in different layers of the rainforest

Now that you have learnt about rainforests – Close your eyes and imagine that you are in The Amazon Rainforest. Imagine that you are walking through The Amazon Rainforest with your friends.

Discuss these questions with your grown up.

• What might you be able to see?• What might you be able to feel?• What might you be able to smell?• What might you be able to hear?• What might you be able to taste?

Use this video to help you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IzzogrKo6k

Now that you have learned all about The Amazon Rainforest, I would like you to create an acrostic poem. You could use the video or the powerpoint to help you.

I would like you to create an acrostic poem with the word ‘Rainforest’ at the side…You might like to print out one of the pages with The Amazon Rainforest border on or design your own border. Your page should look like this:

twinkl.com

RAI

Continue down the side of your page to spell out RAINFOREST

Close your eyes and imagine that you are in The Amazon Rainforest. Imagine that you are walking through The Amazon Rainforest with your friends.

On each line you could write a sentence that tells me what you can see, taste, hear, smell or feel. Or you could write a fact about The Amazon Rainforest. The first word of each line must begin with the letter at the side.

For example… The first letter is ‘R’ -

Rain falls almost all year round and the climate is very hot, humid and damp.

Once you have finished, you could go back through the powerpointand tickle pink your work. Don’t forget to send a picture of your completed work to your class teacher!

Now tell your grown up three interesting facts you have learnt about The Amazon Rainforest.

You have now finished your second lesson about Brazil! Good jobJ

If your still hungry for facts about The Amazon Rainforest, maybe you would like to research more about it with your grown up and share your findings!

Well done and I hope you are looking forward to your next Topic lesson!J