Rainforests Lesson 1-3 (copy) (copy)

Lesson 1:

Key characteristics of tropical rainforests:

1. Low nutrient soil

2. High biodiversity

3. High temperatures

4. High rainfall

Rainforests have low nutrient soil because of how it is sucked up by plants quickly as the battle fought by many species for little nutrients is hard. High temperatures because of its location and high rainfall due to convectional rainfall (more detail in lesson 2).

Tropical rainforests are typically located along the equator and in between the two tropics. Countries with rainforests include: Brazil, Democratic republic of Congo and Indonesia.

1. Interpret maps that show information about the rainforest (i.e. rainfall rates):

   When trying to interpret information on a map, you should use the key or legend which tells you what colour corresponds to what amount of the unit of measurement.

   Then, you try and spot trends, for example: there is more rainfall in the north because …

2. Image annotation:

   When annotating an image geographically you should point out the three types of geography: human, physical and environmental geography. Clear lines and labels to indicate what things are and annotations are to add information so the labels have to have information or indication of what the thing you have labelled is. You should also describe it geographically.

   Example of annotating geographical image:

   

Rainforests are located around the equator and within the two tropics where more sunlight is radiated. Examples of rainforest regions include Brazil, DRC and Indonesia.

Lesson 2:

Climate graphs are graphs that show both the temperature and rainfall of a certain region. They are useful as they show all the data in one place and are easy to read.

Climate is different to weather as weather is for a short-term basis (daily) but climate is on a long term basis (monthly). So, climate graphs show monthly periods.

The climate of the rainforest consists of high temperatures and high rainfall. The temperatures are so high because they are located near the tropics and along the equator because at the equator the sun is directly overhead therefore the rays are more concentrated, in comparison to the poles which are at the curve of the earth and the sun’s energy would be balanced.

The climate of rainforests are extremely rainy because of a process called CONVECTIONAL RAINFALL. It happens because the heat of the sun warms water on the land’s surface, causing it to evaporate. As it rises, it cools down and condenses to form precipitation.

Tropical rainforests also do not have distinctive seasons like the UK because of the earth’s tilting, because the UK is not in the centre when the UK is tilted towards the sun, it makes the summer, and away from the sun, it makes winter because of the different concentration of the sun’s rays. But, because tropical rainforests are near the equator so they always receive direct sunlight and therefore have no distinctive seasons as they always get sun and rain because high temperatures result to high rainfall due to the water cycle.

LESSON 3: Layers of the rainforest

Forest floor: Bottom layer of the rainforest. Only 2% of sunlight reaches there and it is home to dead plant matter that release nutrients.

Shrub layer: 0-10m tall. Smaller plants grow in this layer; they grow near openings and rivers. Plants that grow here include orchids and animals that live here include alligators and jaguars. Plants are also less densely packed because they cannot grow large due to limited sunlight. Plants in the shrub layer also grow near openings because of how low sunlight is and how hot it is so all the nutrients come from those rivers and openings.

Under Canopy: 10-20m tall. Made of young trees that grow quickly in the intense battle for nutrients/sunlight. Home to sloths and howler monkeys.

Canopy: 20-30m tall. Home to many species of birds and the trees’ leaves act as umbrellas to the lower layers. The trees are tall and straight with few branches. Also home to lianas which are long woody vines and use trees as support and epiphytes which grow on other plants and steal their nutrients! The canopy is also the thickest layer in the rainforest and home to 80% of life because food is abundant.

Emergents: 30-40m (up to 60m) tall. Home to the tallest trees with wide roots which can grow to 1.5 metres wide. Home to the balsa tree, the fastest growing tree in the rainforest but it very light in weight. Also home to many birds and butterflies and leaves in the emergents are horizontal to absorb the most sunlight possible.

Nutrients can be so abundant that species in the canopy only survive by soaking up nutrients from the air and rain water!

Always remember to consider the three types of geography when answering questions.

Three types of geography:

• Human geography

• Physical geography

• Environmental geography