Arlon, P. & Gordon-Harris, T. (2013). Rainforest. Singapore:
Scholastic Inc.
This book allows readers to explore
many aspects of the rain forest. There are sections about animals,
insects, plants, the layers of the rain forest, the people, and rain
forests around the world. The section about plants (pages 12-23)
begin by describing the different layers of the rain forest-the emergent
layer, the canopy, the understory, and the forest floor. The layers
are arranged vertically with examples of plants and animals shown for
each layer. Each layer is also given 1-2 pages with in depth
descriptions and photographs. Also included in the book is the "Hall of Fame" which is a section of interesting facts about rain forest plants. Some of the interesting facts include the biggest leaf, the
biggest flower, and the stinkiest fruit. The plant section concludes
with information about amazing plant adaptations and how plants and
trees need to compete for light from the sun. This is an informative
and interesting resource about rain forest plants. (Book)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/rainforests/oclc/845722945&referer=brief_results
Aspen-Baxter, L. (2012). Rainforests. New York, NY: AV2
Aspen-Baxter, L. (2012). Rainforests. New York, NY: AV2
This is a unique book/website
combination. The book is a typical non fiction text, organized by
chapters and teaching about the rain forest. It is a comprehensive
guide that helps readers gain knowledge about tropical rain forests.
The section about plants teaches different information than most of
the other books listed in this bibliography. The plants described in
this book are separated into four categories. There is information
about trees, such as cacao and the cinchona tree. Then, there are
climbing plants such as lianas. Epiphytes(air plants) are plants
that grow without touching the ground, and moss is a small, smooth
plant that grows on the forest floor. The website component, found
at www.av2books.com, requires
a code and password from the book itself in order to access the site.
The website has educational activities for children as well as a
slide show. The slide show has beautiful photographs of the rain
forest and teaches more facts about tropical rain forest plants.
Finally, there is a quiz to test your knowledge! (Book and Website)
Benoit, P. (2011). Tropical rain
forests. China: Children's Press.
Tropical rain forests interests young
readers from the very first page. The book starts out with
true/false questions and prompts the reader to find the answers in
the book. The book contains sections describing the rain forest,
plants that live in the rain forest, how the rain forest is useful,
and conservation efforts. At the end of the book there is page of
statistics, resources, a glossary, and an index. This book is a good
resource to learn basic information about the layers of the rain
forest, as well as detailed information about a few plants. The
reader will learn about plants that rely on trees to survive. For
example, the monster plant (page 22) steals moisture and nutrients
from it's host tree. Orchids grow on the sides of trees and their
roots never touch the ground. These are just two interesting facts
that you will learn in this book. (Book)
Burnie, D. (2004). Plant. New
York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc.
From the basics to advanced
information, Plant is a comprehensive guide to plants.
Readers can learn basic information about plants, such as what is a
plant, plant parts, and the life cycle. From there, the book is
filled with more advanced information such as plants that are
meat eaters, parasitic plants, and plants that live without water.
Each page is filled with both written information and photographs
with labels. This book is appropriate for third grade and older, as
the vocabulary and amount of information could be overwhelming for
younger students. One limitation of the book is that there is not a
specific section for rain forest plants, and there is no entry for
rain forest in the Index. In order to read and learn information
about rain forest plants, one must have prior knowledge of the exact
plants that grow in the rain forest and then search for the specific
plant in the Index. It would be very difficult to find a specific
tropical rain forest plant in this book unless using the Index.
However, once you locate the plant in mind, the information is
complete and helpful. Overall, this book is an excellent resource
for plants in general, but does not focus specifically on plants of
the tropical rain forest. (Book)
Callery, S. (2011). Rainforest.
New York, NY: Kingfisher.
This book teaches the reader about the
life cycle of ten rain forest animals and the life cycle of one
plant. On pages 14-15, the book describes the pitcher plant. There
are photographs showing the life cycle of the pitcher plant. There
are also new vocabulary words introduced such as tendril and
germinate. Page 14 begins with a short paragraph about the pitcher
plant and what makes it so interesting. There is also a “Did you
Know?” section with little known facts about the pitcher plant.
One of the limitations of this book is that one can only learn about
one rain forest plant, as the book mostly focuses on animals.
However, the facts that are discussed, along with the photographs,
hook the reader in to learning about this fascinating plant. It is
also grade level appropriate and accessible to most third grade
students. (Book)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/rainforest/oclc/781498341?referer=br&ht=edition
Clarke, G.L. (2015). What's up in
the Amazon Rainforest. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap.
What's up in the
Amazon Rainforest has an interesting layout as it looks like
someone's scrapbook of the rain forest. There is a lot of
information on each page along with snapshots, or photographs, of
what is being taught. The background of each page looks like travel
stationary, furthering the scrapbook effect. The book begins with
information about animals and then Chapter 3 is when plants are
introduced. The plant section begins with each layer of the
rain forest. One limitation of this book is that the forest floor and
the understory chapters focus mostly on animals rather than plants.
However, in chapter 5, “The Canopy,” there is a longer section
about plants, such as the Brazilian spiny tree and the tanganara
tree. Readers can also learn more about plants in Chapter 6, “The
Emergent Trees.” Epiphytes (air plants) are introduced, as well as
the kapok tree and vanilla bean. This is the only book that
discusses bromeliads. These plants look like the top of a pineapple
and the leaves form a bowl to catch rainwater! Overall, this is a
good resource to learn about the plants of the top two layers of the
rain forest. (Book)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/whats-up-in-the-amazonrainforest/oclc/903763389&referer=brief_results
Green, J. (2009). Rain forest
extremes. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing.
This book is part
of the Extreme Nature series. It is a good introductory book
for students about tropical rain forest plants. The book is
separated into chapters about plant life, rain forest animals, the
people of the rain forest, and extreme facts. The chapter that
teaches about tropical rain forest plants introduces the layers of
the rain forest. Then, several tropical rain forest plants are
discussed. One such plant is the pitcher plant. Pitcher plants
catch insects and digests them in a pool of juice. Another
interesting plant discussed is the Rafflesia. This flower smells
like rotting meat! These are just two interesting plant facts
discussed in this book. Other plant information includes statistics
about trees and plant adaptations. There are close up photographs to
accompany the extreme facts. This is a good resource for students
reading on grade level and above.
Greenwood, E. (2013). Rain
forest. New York, NY: DK Publishing.
This book teaches about two main
categories concerning plants—the layers of the rain forest and the
medicinal uses of rain forest plants. While the majority of Rain
forest focuses on the animals of tropical rain forests, the two
sections teaching about plants are full of interesting information
for young learners. Pages 6-7 contain a vertical photograph of the
different layers of the rain forest. There is a paragraph describing
each layer as well as images of some of the animals which live in
each layer. The way that the information is laid out on the page
makes it easy for students to understand the similarities and
differences between layers. The next section concerning plants,
Exploring the Jungle, is on page 45. While other books give
generalized descriptions of how tropical rain forest plants are used
for medicine, this book gives concrete examples. For example, there
is a photograph of the Moreton bay chestnut and a brief summary of
how it's seeds may be used to help people with HIV. (Book)
Latham, D. (2011) Rain forests.
White River Junction, VT: Nomad Press.
Rain forests
focuses on tropical rain forests. There are sections about plant and
animal adaptations, the food chain, and why the rain forest is
important. This text explores a lot of new vocabulary. There is a
traditional glossary at the end of the book, but there are also
“Words to Know” boxes on many pages, which help the reader
understand new vocabulary on that particular page. This is
convenient for readers who do not want to turn to the end of the book
to read a definition. There is a chapter titled “Plants Growing in
the Rainforest Have Adapted,” which describes plant adaptations, such as how plants living in
the understory grow large leaves so that they can get as much
sunlight as possible. Another section describes how some plants in
the rain forest can be used for medicinal purposes. This book is
part of a series called Endangered Series and is suitable for Fountas
and Pinnell level O readers. (Book)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/rain-forests/oclc/707327860?referer=br&ht=edition
Schomp, V. (2014). 24 Hours in a
tropical rain forest. New York, NY: Cavendish Square.
As the title
suggests, this book runs through 24 hours of life in a tropical rain
forest. It begins with dawn, then morning, afternoon, evening, and
night. There is also a Fast Fact section and Find Out More. Since
the book is organized by times of day, the reader must use the Index
to find specific information about plants. However, once the reader
finds the pages teaching about plants, there is a lot of information
about plants that grow in tropical rain forests. There is basic
information about the layers of the rain forest, which leads to more
specific information about plant adaptations. One example of rain
forest plants adapting is the buttress root. These roots bend above
the soil to take in nutrients and air. Finally, there is a section
about using plants for medicinal purposes. This section describes
how ¼ of the world's medicine comes from plants in tropical rain
forests and discusses how scientists find the plants that are used
for medicine. (Book)
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