Tropical forest

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tropical-forest

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is Tropical forest known for?Contain over 50% of the world's terrestrial plant and animal species
2. What is the location?Primarily situated within the tropics, between 10°N and 10°S latitude
3. What is the average annual temperature?Ranges from 20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F)
4. What makes tropical forests so green and full of rain?Tropical forests stay warm all year, with temperatures around 20-25°C, and they get a lot of rain—often more than 2,000 mm—thanks to the Intertropical Convergence Zone that brings moist air.
5. Where can I find tropical forests around the world?They grow near the equator, between 10 degrees north and south, in places like the Amazon in South America, the Congo in Africa, Southeast Asian rainforests, parts of Australia, and Madagascar.

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ): A belt of low pressure near the Equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge.
Evapotranspiration: The process by which moisture is transferred from land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.
REDD+: A framework established by UNFCCC to guide and incentivize forest conservation and sustainable forest management.
Habitat Fragmentation: The process by which a large, continuous habitat is broken into smaller, isolated patches.