Exploring the Amazon

By: Madison D.

Do you know a lot about the Amazon rainforest? Do you know anything about the Amazon rainforest? Well, let me be your guide to learn about this magnificent place. This is an opportunity to help save the Earth. So, read on if you want to help.

LocationThe Amazon Rainforest is located in

the northern, southern and western hemispheres. South America is the continent. It is located at 0° latitude by 15° latitude and 75°

longitude by 45° longitude approximately. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and French Guiana.

RegionWhat is a rainforest? A rain forest is a

hot and thick jungle that gets a lot of rain. The Amazon contains tropical wet areas, tropical dry areas and humid subtropical areas. There are many other different types of areas in South America, but we are just focusing on the Amazon area. Look at the climate map to see all of them.

ClimateThe average temperature is 79° Fahrenheit. The climate

zone is warm and humid. Lastly, the average rainfall is 80 inches a year. That’s a lot!

MovementHow do people get around? There are two main

movements they use. The most common is just walking. But people do get around by canoe s too. Depending on the size of the canoe depends on how many people fit in it. They trade items and ideas to.

LayersThe rainforest has 4 main layers. The forest floor is 0

feet off the ground. The understory is 0 to 60 feet off the ground. The canopy is 60 to 130 feet off the ground. The emergent layer is 130 to 250 feet off the ground. The floor is hot and humid. The understory contains only 2-5% of the light from the canopy. The canopy has a dense roof of trees. Lastly, the emergent layer is windy with large leaves.

Human Environment Interactions

Humans effect the environment greatly. Deforestation is an example. We cut down hundreds of trees a year just to make paper! Can you believe that? Between May of 2000 to August of 2006, 150,000 square kilometers of forest were lost. Conservation is also an example. A man may get sap from a tree, without truly damaging the tree. Ecotourism is one last example. Say you are on a boat tour through the Amazon. Even though it is supposed to be “eco”, oil from the tour boat is spilling into the river.

TribesThe Yanomami tribe lives in the Amazon. It is

indigenous to the Amazon. They lived in the Stone Age and still live today. Usually there are 40-350 people in each tribe. They sleep in shelters that are called yanos. They are placed on a disc-shaped platform called a shabono. They hunt for their own food and plant their own gardens. They gather as much as they can, when they can. Do you want to know about their culture? Well, they do this creepy thing with the dead tribe members. Each time a tribe member dies they would cremate them. Then they cut up the bones to drink them. So the dead can stay with them forever.

The Tikuna tribe also lives in the Amazon. This tribe has been changed greatly by the outside world. But still, some of their culture lives today. They still dig out their canoes. They are also very intelligent. They know how to remove the poison from certain plants so they are able to eat them. They also know that stirring the poison in a river will make the fish float to the top, now they have food. They build their homes out of wood and bark. They build the homes on stilts to prevent them from sinking into the ground.

PlantsThe cocoa tree is a delicious plant. You do know that is

where we get the cocoa to make chocolate? It grows on the forest floor. It has leaves that grow up to 15 centimeters by 8 centimeters. The leaves do create foliage on the tree. It is a producer you know. Through a process called photosynthesis. Humans eat it of course. I mean who doesn’t like chocolate? Well, let’s go look at another plant.

The bleeding heart plant, ever heard of it? It can be found throughout the forest floor. But it is very small, growing up to be 5 to 7 inches tall. The flower is either a pink or close to white color. Shaped like a perfect heart, it has a “drop of blood” hanging to the bottom. It

really has no predators because it contains poison. Humans know how to remove it and use it for medicines. We have to save this plant.

AnimalsThe three-toed sloth lives in the

Amazon. It has a flat head and grayish brown hair. Its habitat is up in the trees. It has a diet of leaves and other plants. So, it’s a herbivore. They are extremely slow. Sometimes so slow algae will grow on it. Algae’s a decomposer. The algae also helps it camouflage in with its surroundings. Of course a sloth is an organism. One of its main predators is the jaguar. Say good-bye to this creature as we go to look at another animal.

The red-eyed tree frog is a beautiful creature. It has big red eyes, yellow feet, a blue belly and a green back. Most of the time, it looks like that. This animal is a carnivore. The main prey of the frog is insects. Like the moth, flies, crickets and grasshoppers. It has had to adapt to its surroundings. It has learned to sleep upside down on a leaf. When it is disturbed it will flash its bright red eyes, momentarily paralyzing the predator; giving the frog a chance to escape from death.

This is a Food Web. It contains three of the things I’ve told you about. The cacao tree, is a plant. The three-toed sloth, is an animal I told you about. Last the red-eyed tree frog, is also an animal I told you about. Plus, the cacao tree would make its own food. So, let me tell you one more thing.

Remember at the beginning of the story when I asked you if you knew anything about the Amazon? Well, I’m sure you learned something! I mean, after everything I told you. You had to learn something new. Like there is only 6% of the 14% of rainforest we had a few years ago. Now that you’ve learned about the Amazon, you should help save it.

Cited SourcesInformation

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/

http://mongabay.com/brazil.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111765/layers.html

http://christainanswers.net/kids/rainforest/transportation.html

http://animal.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/red-eyed-tree-frog/

Pictures

http://nature-plants.com/?p=27

http://isite.lps.org/eharris/web/Culture.htm

http://travel.ezinemark.com/most-picturesque-travel- paradises-in-the-world-77363621227e.html

http://leslietaylor.net/gallery/water/water.htm

http://www,travelblog.org/Photos/1382462

http://animal.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/red-eyed-tree-frog/