Do Now: Use your words to
paint a picture of what you
imagine when you think of a
Rainforest. Help us see what
you imagine. (1-5 sentences)
Tropical Rain Forests
Objectives: SWBAT describe the vertical forest
layers and how they are shaped by competition for
light.
SWBAT demonstrate the ability to read a
climatograph.
Tropical
Rain Forest
What is this chart telling us?
<-Tropical Rainforest->
Net primary
productivity
The best Net
primary
productivity of
any terrestrial
biome.
Terrestrial: On Land
What’s the Net
Primary
Productivity of
the Rainforest?
Only thing Higher is
Coral Reefs
Tropical Rainforest
Shaped by intense
competition for sunlight.
The forest has ecosystems
that are arranged vertically
Only 2-3% of
sunlight reaches
the forest floor
Tropical rainforests
cover less than 3%
of Earth’s area.
Home to half our
planet’s terrestrial
animal species.
Land based animals
adapted to trees are
stacked on top of
each other like
people are in a high
rise! You can fit more people in a
space that way
EPIPHYTES
Plants growing on
plants that grow on
plants!
Epiphytes: also called air
plants, grow on another
plant or object merely
for physical support.
Nutrients turn over quick in a Rainforest!!!
Things decompose about 10 times quicker in tropical
rainforests than in other biomes. The floor has a thin
layer of leaves, seeds or fruits and branches that fall
from the trees and it all decomposes fast and new
material takes its place.
Humans have destroyed half of the world’s original forest cover.
NPP=100
NPP =2,250
64% of the worlds’ rainforest has been destroyed over the last
200 years
STATIONS!
EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CLASS’S INDEPENDENT STUDY
GRADES.
WE SPLIT INTO 5 STATIONS, EACH GROUP IN A STATION IS RESPONSIBLE
FOR GETTING THE ANSWERS FOR THE WHOLE CLASS.
Exit ticket
Found in your google classroom
Rainforest Facts
More than 60% of anticancer drugs originate from natural sources, including
rainforest plants. Because rainforests are so rich in biodiversity, they hold
enormous potential for future discoveries. Compounds in rainforest plants are
already used to treat malaria, heart disease, bronchitis,diabetes, among other
health problems.