The tropical rainforest biome
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe and explain the location of tropical rainforests and identify their key features.
Key learning points
- Tropical rainforests are located in the tropical climate zone.
- Tropical rainforests are home to millions of species of plants, animals, insects, birds and humans.
- There are four layers to the forest; the emergents, the canopy, the understory and the forest floor.
Keywords
Biome - a large region of the world with places that have similar climates, vegetation and animals
Climate - an average of weather conditions in a place taken over a long period of time (usually 30 years or more)
Tropics - the region north and south of the Equator, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn lines of latitude
Solar radiation - energy radiated from the sun via electromagnetic waves
Common misconception
Topical rainforests are cold and wet.
In tropical rainforests it is hot, this heat actually causes the rain by creating a lot of evaporation and rising air, which then cools and condenses to form clouds which rain.
Teacher tip
Every time you can it is good to emphasise that the climate of the rainforest is hot, potentially ask the students to imagine how they would feel if they were in a rainforest, what they would wear etc. This helps remove misconceptions before they arise.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which key word am I defining?
An average of weather conditions in a place taken over a long period of time (usually 30 years or more).
Q2.Which key word am I defining?
A large region of the world with places that have similar climates, vegetation and animals.
Q3.Forests provide important for many plants, insects and animals that need forests to survive.
Q4.Where are the tropics?
Q5.Put these climate zones into the correct order. 1 is closest to the Equator.
Q6.Select the climatic conditions in the tropics.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Tropical rainforests are located ...
Q2.Tropical rainforests are important for millions of plants and animals.
Q3.Order the four layers of the forest, starting with the highest as 1.
Q4.The forest floor is home to many which break down leaf litter that has fallen from above.
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: The tropical rainforest biome, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: The tropical rainforest biome, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 geography lessons from the Forest biomes: why are forests so important? unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.