Rainforest Teacher Worksheets

Rainforests are home to the most diverse animal and plant species. They only cover six percent of the Earth's surface, but the account for more than half of the world's plant and animal species. Rainforests are hot, humid, and they receive a large amount of rainfall annually. These section of our web site works to help students understand the dynamics of rainforests.

Did you know that tropical rainforests are the home to over 30 million species of animals and plants? Another cool fact is that tropical rainforests are home to many of the foods we eat, such as bananas, cinnamon, and passion fruit. Rumberry, a fruit found in the Amazon, must be harvested by canoe due to the strength of the waters. Tropical rainforests are not only home to many animals and plants, but also to certain people.

While you teach students about the rainforests, also teach them the importance of recycling. The small choices that we make today, could mean a great deal to the rainforests tomorrow.

Acrostic Poem
Acrostic Poem
Adjectives Worksheet
Bank On It! Worksheet
Cryptogram
Rainforest Crossword Puzzle
Do The Research!
Graphing Rainforest Data - Make a line graph for each set of Rainforest data below. Label both the x (horizontal) and y (vertical) axis properly. Give each graph a title.
Group Creative Writing
KWL
Maze
Vocabulary List & Definitions
Vocabulary Quiz
Word Chop
Word Scramble
Word Search

Labs

Reading Comprehension

Comparing Plant and Animal Life In Layers Of The Rainforest

Teacher Resources Related to Rainforests

Coloring Sheets and Bulletin Board Items

Plant Life and Rainforest Writing Paper

What is the Rainforest Region of the Planet?

A rainforest is a lush, towering forest that receives heavy rainfall. They are mostly warm, but there are also colder rainforests depending upon regional topography. These forests are known for having a lot of biodiversity, which means that many different types of animals and plants inhabit them. In this article, you will learn all about rainforests and their ecosystems.

Different Types

Tropical rainforests are the most commonly known rainforests. These have warm and wet climates. But another type of rainforest is called a ‘temperature’ rainforest. These can grow in cold parts of the world too. The third type of rainforest is the monsoon rainforest. They are dry throughout the year except during the monsoon season. This means they also shed their leaves during the dry period. They are mainly found in warmer regions.

The Biggest in the World

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It has over a thousand different rivers inside it. Amazon rainforest plants and animals are extremely diverse- containing more than a million other species.

Much of it is still undiscovered because it’s so large! Many different types of trees grow inside the Amazon- including palm and rosewood trees. It is also known for having some dangerous snakes like anacondas and boa constrictors.

Layers of It

Tropical rainforests are thick because they are made of layers.

Emergent

These are the tallest trees that are so tall that they rise past the canopy and stick out distinctly.

Canopy

The second layer is the canopy- the branches and leaves of trees covering the whole forest. Canopies are responsible for the darkness in a rainforest because they prevent sunlight from reaching lower regions. The canopy is incredibly high, and many animals live on top of it.

Understory

This layer comes underneath the canopy, containing shrubs and smaller trees. It also includes trees that are still in the process of growing and eventually becoming part of the canopy. These trees stay small because sunlight doesn’t reach them, preventing them from growing past a certain height.

Shrub Layer

This layer consists of bushes and orchids that survive on the little sunlight they can get through the canopy and the nutrients from the forest floor. They receive the most water from the forest floor, which is why they are the most humid. Insects mostly live in this region.

Forest Floor

The floor of the rainforest is an open and wide expanse. Almost no sunlight reaches here, so there aren’t any plants covering it. There are many animals, though- large centipedes and spiders live in this area.

Plants and Animals

There are different types of plants and animals in Rainforest ecosystems. Animals can be found in every layer of the rainforest because different kinds of species prefer other regions. Monkeys, for example, are more likely to be found on emergent trees and the canopy region because they like climbing treetops. Bats are a common resident here as well.

They carry out a lot of functions in the Rainforest ecosystem. You can also find some leopards or jaguars on the forest floor.

Reptiles

Rainforests are the perfect breeding environment for reptiles. Snakes, lizards, and chameleons move easily through the tall trees of the rainforest and inhabit every layer. But there are also crocodiles in the small streams flowing through rainforests. Some of these reptiles are poisonous.

Insects

Counting the types of insects living in a rainforest would be impossible. There are simply too many. This is why they are the largest group inside a rainforest. They can live easily on every layer of the rainforest. The most common type of insect in the rainforest are beetles but there are so many different species that it’s hard to keep track of them. Most are still undiscovered.

Some of the most interesting types of insects can be found in the Amazon rainforest. For people who like butterflies, there are many different types flying through tall trees. But there are some really cool insects too like the lantern fly, for example, which has a very interesting bulb-shaped head to scare predators with.

Another super cool insect is the rhinoceros beetle, which is really small but can lift really heavy objects. Insects keep the forest ecosystem stable because they turn animal waste into nutrients for the plants in the rainforest. Dung beetles, especially, live on the forest floor and feed on waste.

Birds

The Amazon Rainforest actually has more than a thousand types of birds living within it. The tall trees provide the perfect environment for birds to fly to the top and build their nests.

Parrots and woodpeckers are most commonly found in rainforests but you can also find toucans and other types of birds. They are responsible for the thick growth of the rainforest because birds spread seeds throughout the forest through excretions. They are also an important part of the rainforest ecosystem, just like bats, because they also feed on smaller animals like reptiles and insects. This helps the ecosystem stay balanced.

Fun Facts about Rainforests

- There are actually very few rainforests in the world. They only cover 3% of the planet.

- They have the most and vastly varied number of plants and animals, unlike any other forest.

- They are extremely useful in preventing global warming

- Deforestation causes rainforest trees to be cut down, which means their area is decreasing each year.

- Plants and animals of rainforests provide essential elements of many of the products that we use today.

Hopefully, understanding and learning all about rainforests and their rich ecosystems have made you realize that they are extremely important to the planet. This is why it is important to save them from deforestation. Many rare species inhabiting rainforests will go extinct if their habitat is destroyed.