I-Search+by+Nelly

by Nelly
 * Title: Amazon Rainforest **
 * Part I--What I already know about my topic **

The Amazon Rainforest along with other rainforests are being destoryed and made into something else. The trees that had been there for years are forced to go away. This is because companies want to build stores and houses there. This not only makes the rainforest smaller, it also endangers the animals and plants living there. The rainforest is full of new and amazing creatures. They lived there for many years and has to move just because people are destroying their homes. The Amazon Rainforest has many unique plants and animals. When the trees are chopped down, it makes the animals and plants that used to live there go away. This only endangers the species of plants and animals living there.

When the Amazon Rainforest is destroyed many things are affected. The bees need the forest to pollinate the plants. Many animals would become homeless and later on they would die. Leaving animals at a greater risk of extinction. Trees in the rainforest create oxygen. Without it people would die. The Amazon Rainforest is important to life. It holds beauty that is not seen anywhere else. Many rainforests are being chopped down and this makes the rainforests on earth even less. If people do not stop chopping down rainforests, earth may have none left and in place of the rainforests, there will only be desserts.


 * Part II--What I Want to Find Out **

Why are rainforests always toward the equator? Why is the equator the hottest place on earth? How come there isn't any rainforests in North America? What are some types of plants and animals that only live in the rainforest? Why does it rain so much in the rainforest? If global warming warms the earth up, will some parts of the earth turn into rainforests? Why are trees in the Amazon rainforest bigger than the regular ones you see on the street? If the Amazon Rainforest was destroyed, how else might it affect the earth? There are many layers of the rainforest, do all the animals stay in the place that they are meant to be, or do they move around the different levels? Why do people chop down the trees even though they know the consequences?

 Many of the natural places around the world are becoming more endangered. People keep chopping down trees in the Amazon Rainforest. People do not realize the harm they do to the environment. Every animals, every creature, every plant that lives in the Amazon Rainforest has a life. They had a breath, a soul, just like us humans. When we chop down their trees and their habitat, it is destroying their homes. Sometimes people do not dig deeper into things. Everything we do affects something or someone in ways we never knew.
 * Part III--The Search

I chose to do my research on the Amazon Rainforest because when I was younger, my teacher read a book to the class. The book was "The Great Kapok Tree" From that day on I wondered if animals can really speak out. Can they really feel and understand? When we chop down trees we are really trying to kill them. We aren't giving them the respect that they desrve. All creatures are made equal. It doesn't matter if we are different but every animal and living thing on earth all have a right to live. So why are people trying to destroy the homes of animals? The Amazon Rainforest affects the world in ways we have never imagined.

From my research I have learned many things about the Amazon Rainforest. There are 5 layers in the Amazon rainforest. The lowest layer is the herb layer. It is were sloths are living at. The shrub layer is the next layer where the jaguar lives. The middle layer is where the monkeys live. The canopy is where birds are and butterflies. The emergents are the highest layer in the Amazon Rainforest. Colorful birds live up there. There are many other animals that live in the amazon rainforest. Imagine people chopping down one tree. They will destroy the homes of sloths, monkeys, jaguars, birds, butterflies, bees, and many other animals along with exotic plant species. Just chopping down one tree can cause a major difference. It is just like knocking down one dominos. The rest of it would also have to fall. It is just like life. We all need someone to depend on or someone to catch us when we fall. When one thing dies, a part of us dies as well. If we don't have oxygen at all, we would all die.

I am trying to decide on a person to interview. Who would know most about the Amazon Rainforest?? The author of my book I'm reading? A teacher? Well, I decided to write to the author of the great kapok tree on her website. Will she write back? I don't know. On with reasearching on my topic. I learned that the Amazon Rainforest is the biggest rainforest on earth. It covers most of Brazil and Brazil is a very large country. There must be many species living in the Amazon Rainforest. Animals and plants all together would include many lives. If it were destroyed imagine how many animals and plants would die. People chop down the trees in the Amazon Rainforest just to build stores and other buildings. We already have enough of cities, why not just leave things the way they are.

More than 300 species of mammals live in the Amazon rainforest. Some of the animals living there cannot survive anywhere else. The Amazon Rainforest is their home. I wonder everyday how life would be without the creatures on earth. Everything would be different. Animals and plants are part of the world. If the rainforest did not exist, many creatures and plants would also vanish. Many colorful birds such as parrots and toucans live in the Amazon Rainforest. While researching on my topic, I went to the pet store. I saw a colorful parrot in the pet store. It was all alone in a corner surrounded with other birds. It was lonely and didn't have anyone of its own kind. It made me think about if the Amazon Rainforest was destroyed. Many creatures would be homeless and have no family. Their type of birds would become very few and later on would become extinct. These beautiful creatures on earth would become extinct and no one would be able to see them ever again. The plants that were once here will never be seen again and their beauty would never be shared again. Many living things on earth would vanish without the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest is the heart of the animals's homes.

(Working on the Interview) **

** Part IV--What I Learned I learned a lot about my topic. It changed my way of thinking about the world. From my research I learned many things about the Amazon Rainforest. I learned that there 5 layers of a rainforest. Different animals live in each layer. The sloth and panther live at the very bottom and the butterflies and birds live at the very top. From this I can figure out that the trees in the Amazon Rainforest must have to be really really tall. If they are really tall, then one tree would produce a lot of wood. That is probably a reason people want to chop down the trees in the Amazon Rainforest. Chopping down one tree in the Amazon Rainforest produces more wood than chopping down a regular tree.

Many plants in the rainforest are used as medicines and can cure many illnesses and diseases. Killing the rainforest is killing the medicines inside the rainforest. There are many plants that can cure illnesses that no other plant can and they can only live in the Amazon Rainforest. Chopping down trees is not allowing the plants to grow and are limiting their space. Medicine is very valuable because it can cure a sickness or disease. It can save a life or without medicine people can die. Medicine is very important and is made up of plants. Plants live in the Amazon Rainforest and chopping down the rainforest is destroying medicine.

I learned about myself as an investigator is that you have to do a lot of research in order to make a game. You would need to be well educated in the topic to make a game that is fun to play and educational at the same time. Researching is very hard and it requires a lot of reading. The process of researching and planning out the game needs a lot of thinking. Using what you researched and your ideas for the game to make design plans that are ready to be created. **