Terr or in the TERROR Tropics Br adle Timothy J. Bradley

Transcription

1 TERROR Timothy J. Bradly

2 Consultants Timothy Rasski, Ph.D. Knt Stat Univrsity Lori Oczkus Litracy Consultant William B. Ric Natural Scc Author and Consultant Basd on writg from TIME For Kids. TIME For Kids and th TIME For Kids logo ar rgistrd tradmarks of TIME Inc. Usd undr licns. Publishg Crdits Dona Hrwck Ric, Editor--Chif L Auco, Crativ Dirctor Jamy Acosta, Snior Editor Lxa Hoang, Dsignr Stphani Rid, Photo Editor Ran Andrson, Contributg Author Rachll Cracchiolo, M.S.Ed., Publishr Imag Crdits: p.40 Corbis; pp.16 17, 20 (top), 49 (top) Gtty Imags; pp.13 (top), 40 41, 50 istockphoto; pp imagbrokr/jan Krimmr/Nwscom; p.41 (top) Evolv/Photoshot/ Nwscom; p.49 (top) lft Sybil Sassoon/Robrt Hardg/Nwscom; p.48 (bottom) Rutrs/ Nwscom; p.26 Nwscom; p.52 ZUMA Prss/ Nwscom; pp Catrs Nws Agncy Ltd/ Nwscom; p.32 (bottom) Joubrt, Bvrly/ National Gographic Stock; p.37 (bottom) Marnt, Thomas/Mdn Picturs/ National Gographic Stock; p.48 (top) Rynard, Nicolas/ National Gographic Stock; pp.13 (top lft), 14, 15 (bottom), 17 (top), 23 (top), 34, 36, 49 (bottom lft), 49 (bottom right), 51 (bottom lft) Photo Rsarchrs Inc.; p.13 (middl right) Thkstock; pp.8 9, 28 29, 42 43, 51 (top) Timothy J. Bradly; All othr imags from Shuttrstock. For tachrs' spction ONL Tabl of Contnts Wlcom to th Jungl Prdatory Plants Hungry Animals Th Shrkg Jungl Glossary Indx Bibliography Mor to Explor About th Author Tachr Cratd Matrials 5301 Ocanus Driv Huntgton Bach, CA ISBN Tachr Cratd Matrials, Inc. 3

3 r ON a tio r t c Wlcom to th Jungl T h tropics may appar lush and vn lik paradis, but bhd th trs can li a trrifyg world. Slithrg snaks twist through branchs without a sound. Jaguars stalk thir pry, waitg to attack. Inscts as small as an ant can dlivr a lthal stg strong nough to kill a human. Evn plants ar poisd to kill. Thos who dar travl through th tropics should watch thir stp it s a jungl out thr. macaws 4 ics? rs th trop tu a cr st rc fi Ë What ar th adlist? aturs th d cr st rg la th Ë Ar at th biggst thr b ts n la p t h Ë Why mig th jungl? 5

4 r ON a tio r t c Most raforst spcis hav no t yt bn namd or sctifically stu did. rd-yd tr frog In spit of th smg dangrs, th raforst is a plac whr lif thrivs. Mor than half of all spcis on Earth liv raforsts. Th Amazon raforst alon is hom to millions of spcis. Th most succssful craturs can adapt to a wid rang of situations. Thos that can t must fd thir nich. Truly Tropical forst? raforst a ra a s ak m t ha W with: rsts ar aras Tropical rafo y S High humidit turs ra p m S Warm t ra pr yar of s ch S s a canopy s that clud S A forst of tr s vrgrn tr of broad-lavd 6 Survival Scrts Many nw mdics hav bn dvlopd aftr discovrg plants that can only b found th raforst. Narly 70 prcnt of anti-cancr plants ar found th raforst and thr ar still mor to b discovrd. Chck out som of th plants that ar alrady savg livs. Raforst Plant Mdical Us cchona (sg-koh-nuh) tr xtract can b usd to prvnt malaria curar (kyoo-rahr-) liana trats bruiss and fvrs cocoa tr xtracts can sooth fars, coughs, cuts, and bruiss clavillia trats fctions mammosa trats sus fctions and sors causd by som sk cancrs priwkl xtracts usd to trat a typ of cancr sorosi usd to trat tick bits and lic annatto tr xtracts usd for protction from th sun and hungry scts 7

5 A nich is th plac whr a cratur is bst suitd to liv. Th prfct nich provids vrythg a cratur nds to surviv. Evry cratur has a favorit plac to mak its hom. Som animals liv on th forst floor. Othrs liv only on tr branchs. And som liv among th highst trtops. r ON a tio r t c Tourg th Trs Th mrgnt layr can b as high as 200 ft from th forst floor. It s th top of th forst, so thr s plnty of sunlight for lif hr. Th trs ar vrgrn and hav broad lavs. Eagls, monkys, bats, and buttrflis all mak thir homs hr. Th canopy is th ma layr of th forst. Th lush lavs and branchs form a roof ovr th lowr layrs. Food this layr is plntiful, so many animals liv hr. Snaks and toucans call this layr hom. Th undrstory is hom to many of th raforst s scts. Jaguars and lopards also prowl hr. Vry littl sunlight rachs this layr. In ordr to gt nough sun, plants grow wid lavs. chang How do th layrs? from top to bottom th Why do you thk on largst animals liv th forst floor? u What sounds do yo th thk can b hard diffrnt layrs? Th forst floor is as dark as night. Thr is littl plant lif. Thgs dcay quickly hr. Plants that normally tak a yar or mor to dcay stad rot a fw short wks. Th largst animals liv hr, cludg th giant antatr. 8 9