Please help Billy Bear to find out some information. He will tell you what he needs to find out more about. Click on the bubble at the bottom to leave a reply.
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Hi our names are Lauren and Rachael. There are four layers of the Rainforest the layers are the Emergent layer,Canopy layer,Understory layer and the last layer is the Forest Floor. I hope you enjoy the Rainforest topic because it is really interesting and full of brilliant facts.We have done the Rainforest topic before and that is how we know how interesting it is. Bye.
Hello primary five we were learning about the Rainforest and we have sponsored five endangered species the animals we sponsored are leopard,tiger,jaguar,Orangutan and a giant panda.We raised the money by doing a sponsored spellathon.
by Ross Josh and Craig
Hi primary 5 ,
we are Kaitlin and louise we have just finished a topic on the Rainforest. We got to sponsor 5 animals by doing a sponsored spellathon we sponsored a Tiger, Jaguar , orangatan , Giant panda and a lepoard hope you enjoy your topic please come to our blog the primary six bloggers . primary six at Golfhill . enjoy and write back if you have any questions just ask and we will answer !!!!!!!!!!
Bye
Hi Primary Five,
We have done the Rainforest topic.We sponsored five endangered rainforest animals they were the Amur Leopard,Jaguar,Orangutan,Giant Panda and the Tiger.You could try it
From Golfhill primary p6
Calum,Lewis,Calvin
hello primary 5 did you know that the biggest butterfly in the world is called the queen alexandra birdwing the wingspan is up to 1ft 30cm wide .
Dear Primary 5,
Our names are Greg, Blair and Sandy. We have adopted five animals from the WWF. They are Giant panda, Jaguar , Leopard , Tiger and the Orangutan . Our packages will come in the next two weeks.
WOW KIM!!!!
That is a lot of information you have given Billy Bear to think about. Did you do a lot of research to find out this information??
Dear Billy Bear
We are losing earths greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.
* One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries.
* Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners.
* Nearly half of the world’s species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.
* Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.
* Most rainforests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers and fires for its timber value and then are followed by farming and ranching operations, even by world giants like Mitsubishi Corporation, Georgia Pacific, Texaco and Unocal.
* There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.
* In Brazil alone, European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900’s. With them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rainforest species. As their homelands continue to be destroyed by deforestation, rainforest peoples are also disappearing.
* Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down.
* When a medicine man dies without passing his arts on to the next generation, the tribe and the world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants.
The Wealth of the Rainforests
* The Amazon Rainforest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world.
* The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the “Lungs of our Planet” because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
* More than half of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world’s fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.
* One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants.
* At least 80% of the developed world’s diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.
* At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rainforest use over 2,000.
* Rainforest plants are rich in secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids. Biochemists believe alkaloids protect plants from disease and insect attacks. Many alkaloids from higher plants have proven to be of medicinal value and benefit.
* Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.
* The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest. Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today’s cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest.
* Vincristine, extracted from the rainforest plant, periwinkle, is one of the world’s most powerful anticancer drugs. It has dramatically increased the survival rate for acute childhood leukemia since its discovery.
* In 1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers involved in research programs to discover new drugs or cures from plants. Today, over 100 pharmaceutical companies and several branches of the US government, including giants like Merck and The National Cancer Institute, are engaged in plant research projects for possible drugs and cures for viruses, infections, cancer, and even AIDS.
I hope this information helped.
by Kim Lambert
Hi Mr Clark and Primary 5 from Tannochside Primary
We have just been introduced to the rainforest today and will be learning lots about it over the coming weeks. We would love to join in a Glow meet with you to share what we learn.
From Miss Docherty and the Brilliant Bloggers
Dear Billy Bear the rain forest is huge and has lots of trees in it. The rain forest has lots of leaves.
From Rachael Nathan.
Primary 5 in our school (Tannochside Primary) are also learning about the Rainforest. Perhaps we could have a Glow Meet to share what we have learned.