Rainforests -- The Web of Life

Humidity, heat, sweat, rain, wet feet, every shade of green imaginable, unusual shapes and shadows created by plants growing on plants all competing for their share of sunlight. The constant smell of dampness and things rotting. Piranhas, pythons, boas, screeching macaws, noisy monkeys, the slow motioned movements of the three toed tree sloth all welcome you to the tropical rainforest.

The tropical rainforests are the richest sources of plant and animal life on planet earth, yet, at the current rate of destruction they could disappear in our lifetime.
In this program, Jack will teach girls and boys what a tropical rainforest is, where they exist, and why they are so important to the very existence of life on planet earth.

What Is A Rainforest - Where Do They Exist - Why Are They Important?

When children and even adults hear the word rainforest, many automatically think of South America or Africa. Certainly, both continents do harbor large tropical rainforests, however, there are rainforests all over the world, even in Alaska.

Jack teaches girls and boys where tropical rainforests exist. Terms such as equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and the difference between a rainforest and a tropical rainforest will be explored and discussed. Children will learn that more than half the world's species of plants and animals live in tropical rainforests. Unfortunately, as we destroy the tropical rainforests around the world we also destroy many forms of life, many still unknown to science. Life forms which may hold the cures to cancer and other diseases.

Tree Sloths - Anacondas - Natives and Blow Guns

To learn first hand what it feels like to be in a tropical rainforest, Jack traveled to Peru in South America and spent three weeks living with native families in their homes consisting of just a floor and roof. The native people Jack spent time with live along tributaries of the Amazon River.

The natives' knowledge of animals and their habitats along with their keen awareness of plants and their uses are all brought to life in a beautifully choreographed slide presentation. At the conclusion of the slide presentation, Jack will demonstrate how native people make and use the blow gun which Jack traded his flashlight, batteries, pants and fishing line for. He will demonstrate how accurate the blow gun is by shooting balloons with actual darts from over 40 feet!