Year 9 Geography: Tropical Rainforest Revision

Vocabulary flashcards covering tropical rainforest distribution, convectional rainfall processes, forest layers, and climate graph interpretations from the Year 9 Geography revision booklet.

Amazon Basin

One of the three major global regions containing tropical rainforests, located near the Equator in South America.

Congo Basin

A major global region containing tropical rainforests, situated around the Equator in Central Africa.

Southeast Asia

A major tropical rainforest region situated along and near the Equator in Asia.

Convectional rainfall

Rainfall typical of equatorial regions that occurs when the Sun heats the ground and moist air, causing warm moist air to rise and cool, forming clouds by condensation and resulting in heavy rain.

Emergent layer

The uppermost layer of the tropical rainforest, composed of the tallest giant trees that tower above the continuous canopy and receive direct sunlight.

Canopy

The dense, continuous ceiling layer of overlapping branches and leaves located beneath the emergent layer and above the understory.

Understory

The dark, humid middle layer of the tropical rainforest situated between the canopy and the forest floor, receiving very little sunlight.

Forest floor

The ground layer of the tropical rainforest, which receives almost no direct sunlight and contains decomposing leaves and organic matter.

Climate graph

A geographical chart that displays monthly weather patterns for an area, with monthly rainfall plotted as bars and temperature plotted as a line.

Wettest month (Borneo dataset)

November, which records the highest monthly rainfall at $360\,\text{mm}$.

Driest month (Borneo dataset)

July, which records the lowest monthly rainfall at $190\,\text{mm}$.

Rainfall difference (Borneo dataset)

The difference between the wettest month ($360\,\text{mm}$) and the driest month ($190\,\text{mm}$), which equals $170\,\text{mm}$.

Temperature range (Borneo dataset)

The difference between the highest monthly temperature ($28\,^\circ\text{C}$) and the lowest monthly temperature ($26\,^\circ\text{C}$), which equals $2\,^\circ\text{C}$.

Adaptation

A physical or behavioral feature that helps a plant or animal survive in the specific conditions of its tropical rainforest environment.