The book is submitted to Miss. Sukhbans for Holiday Homework

                     By-Nandini Goel

                             VI-B

           A1- Introduction to Rainforest

A rainforest is an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall. Rainforests are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. In some rainforests it rains more than one inch nearly every day of the year! Rainforests are Earth's oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. A tropical rainforest receives between 150 to 400 centimeters of rain. 

            A2- GETTING TO KNOW THE AMAZON                                                 RAINFOREST

The Amazon Rainforest is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. It is located in northern South America. The rainforest covers some 6,000,000 square kilometers of land surrounding the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon Rainforest lies in parts of nine countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Suriname, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Guyana, and French Guiana. However, most of the rainforest is in Brazil, where it makes up about 40 percent of the country’s total area.

                  A3- AREA OF THE AMAZON                                                  RAINFOREST

The Amazon River can be more than 48 kilometers across at its widest point during the rainy season. It flows almost 6437 kilometers to the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon rainforest covers an enormous 6.7 million square kilometers. During the dry season (June to November) the width of the Amazon River averages between 2 to 6 miles (3.2 to 9.6 km) depending on the area, and in the wet season (December through April) the width can reach up to 30 miles (48 kilometers).

           A4- MAP OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

           A5- LAYERS OF THE RAINFORESTS

There are 4 main layers of a rainforest:

Emergent layer- Consists of the tallest trees, some birds and insects. No animals live here.

Canopy layer- Thickest layer that hosts most flora and fauna.

Understory layer- Consists of young herbs, shrubs and bushes.

Forest floor- Darkest, humid layer that hosts insects and giant animals.

   A6-  AMAZING ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN THE                                           AMAZON RAINFOREST

There are many animals that live in the rainforest-

1 Jaguar

2 Amazon River dolphin

3 Black caiman

4 Green anaconda

5 Poison dart frog

6 Giant otter

7 Sloths

8 Capybara

9 Squirrel monkeys

   etc.

A7- EDIBLE FRUITS OF THE RAINFOREST

There are many edible fruits in the rainforest. You may be surprised to know that many of the fruits we enjoy in the Western world have their roots in the Amazon Rainforest. Mangoes, oranges, lemons, and many more all grow in the Amazon, but we only consume a tiny proportion of the 3,000 or so known to the people of these areas. Rumberry, Maracuya, Purple berries (Acai), Bacaba (Kumbu), Cupuacu (similar to cacao plant), Moriche palm fruit and Cocona are some if the super fruits of the rainforest.

        A8- TREES OF THE RAINFOREST

The phrase “the lungs of our planet” is increasingly used to describe the Amazon Rainforest, both among the people of South America as well as globally. The phrase refers to the significant amount of oxygen produced by the trees and other plant life of the Amazon. So, the main trees of The Amazon are Kapok tree, Cacao tree, Palm tree, Euterpe Precatoria, Angelim Vermelho. There are 390 billion individual trees in about 16,000 species in the rainforest.