Rain forests are the world's oldest living ecosystem They currently cover only 6% of the earth's surface but contain more that 1/2 of the world's plant and animal specimens which provide both food and medical products.
A rain forest is described as a tall dense jungle. The reason it's called a "rain" forest is because of the high amount of rain it gets each year (usually between 68-78"). The climate is very hot and humid so the plants and animals that live there learn to adapt to the climate.
The rain forest is made up of 4 layers: emergent (200' trees that tower over the forest floor), canopy (primary layer of the forest that forms a roof over the 2 remaining layers), understory (little sunshine causes the plants to have larger leaves to try to reach the sun) and the forest floor (very dark with almost no plants growing).
