---
title: "Rainforest Biodiversity"
description: "Understand that rainforests are biodiversity hotspots — covering just 6% of Earth's land surface but containing over 50% of all known plant and animal species — and that this extraordinary richness ma"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/rainforest-biodiversity-mt_pPGaf8bR8r
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/rainforest-biodiversity-mt_pPGaf8bR8r.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Rainforest Biodiversity

Understand that rainforests are biodiversity hotspots — covering just 6% of Earth's land surface but containing over 50% of all known plant and animal species — and that this extraordinary richness makes them irreplaceable for global biodiversity and a priority for conservation

Subject: Science · Area: Rainforests · Ages 9 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/rainforest-biodiversity-mt_pPGaf8bR8r

## Ready when they can

- State that rainforests cover about 6% of Earth's land but hold over 50% of all species
- Explain why this concentration of species makes rainforests a conservation priority
- Give specific examples of rainforest biodiversity, such as one hectare containing more tree species than all of northern Europe

## Lesson: Rainforests: Small Place, Huge Life

You already know how to sort rainforest animals into groups like mammals and birds. Here is why that skill matters: rainforests cover only about 6 out of every 100 parts of land on Earth, but they hold more than half of all the kinds of plants and animals scientists have found. A short walk there can show you more new life than a walk almost anywhere else.

*(drawing: Rainforests take up a small share of the land, but hold most of the world's species. Many live only there, so losing rainforest means losing kinds found nowhere else.)*

**Example.** Picture a patch of rainforest about the size of one soccer field, called a hectare. Scientists have counted more different kinds of trees growing in that one hectare than exist in all of northern Europe put together. Take a short walk through a rainforest and you could pass hundreds of tree types you would never see anywhere else.

**Tip.** This is why rainforests matter so much for protecting nature. So many species live only in rainforests that losing this habitat would mean losing plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth.

**Recap.** Rainforests cover just 6% of Earth's land but hold over half of all its species, which is why protecting them is such a high priority.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [The Amazon Rainforest](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/the-amazon-rainforest-mt_38d-k-dJPa)
- [Classifying Rainforest Organisms](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/classifying-rainforest-organisms-mt_OtShuvs3x8)

## Opens up

- [Deforestation Causes & Scale](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/deforestation-causes-and-scale-mt_2OSTHTWDpa)