Rainforest Layers
Know that a rainforest has four layers from ground to sky — the forest floor (dark, damp, full of decomposing leaves), the understory (small trees and shrubs in the shade), the canopy (a thick roof of treetops where most animals live), and the emergent layer (the tallest trees poking above the canopy into bright sunlight)
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name the four rainforest layers in order from ground to sky: forest floor, understory, canopy, emergent
- Describe one key feature of each layer, such as the canopy being a thick roof of leaves or the forest floor being dark and damp
- Explain that most rainforest animals live in the canopy because that is where there is food and light
The lesson
A rainforest has four layers, like floors in a tall building. They stretch from the dark ground up to the bright sky.
Most rainforest animals live in the canopy. It has lots of leaves, fruit, and sunlight to share.
The forest floor is dark and damp, full of dropped leaves. The emergent layer pokes into bright, sunny air.
Four layers, ground to sky: forest floor, understory, canopy, emergent.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.