The Amazing Amazon LEVELED BOOK • U

The
A Reading A–Z Level U Leveled Book
Word Count: 1,843

Amazing
Connections
Amazon
Writing and Art
Create a travel brochure for the Amazon
that informs readers and persuades them to
visit. Use information from the book as well
as outside resources.
Math
Choose two animals from the text. Find and
record the difference in size between these
two animals. Then, draw a picture of both
animals to scale and label it.

• X• Z
1
U
Written by David Meissner

Visit www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com

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 The carbon dioxide
Words to Know
prehensile
Amazing epiphytes
ferns
ranges
species

Amazon fungi
nutritious
talons
territories
peccary unsuspecting
Photo Credits:
Front cover: © Gregory Hills/123RF; title page; pages 6, 7, 8 (all), 10, 11, 13 (all), 16,
17, 18: © ArtToday; page 4: © Jupiterimages Corporation; page 15: © Zoonar RF/
Zoonar/Thinkstock

Written by David Meissner

The Amazing Amazon
www.readinga-z.com Level U Leveled Book
© Learning A–Z Correlation
Focus Question Written by David Meissner
Illustrated by Signe Nordin
LEVEL U
Fountas & Pinnell Q
What makes the Amazon a unique habitat? All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 40
www.readinga-z.com
DRA 40
 Table of Contents
Chapter 1: There Is a Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 2: Layers of the Rainforest . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 3: Keeping It Clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

In the Amazon rainforest
Chapter 4: Who, Me? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 1: There Is a Place
Explore More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
There is a place where monkeys swing and
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 howl . There is a place where jaguars leap from
tree to tree . Bananas and pineapples grow for free .
Tiny frogs live in flowers . Pink-colored dolphins
swim in the river . Storms come often, and the air
is sweet .

A little sunlight filters through the vines and

leaves, but it is mostly dark here on the ground .
It is hot, steamy, and still . Rainwater flows from
leaf to leaf .

NOTE: Rainforest can be spelled in two ways: You are sweating . A bug lands on your neck .
rainforest or rain forest . We will use the one-word An ant quietly walks across your shoe . Suddenly
spelling . And when this book uses the word a little brown monkey swings to a nearby branch .
rainforest, it means tropical rainforest . Then a bright green bird flies past . Welcome to the
Amazon rainforest .

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 3 4

Rainforests
Tropical rainforests are forests where it rains
a lot . In fact, a tropical rainforest receives between
150 and 400 centimeters (59–157 in) of rain every
year . They are also warm . The temperature ranges
from 25° to 35° Celsius (77°F–95°F) . Rainforests are
green year-round . Their hot and humid climate is
perfect for tall trees and other plants . The really
thick parts of rainforests are what we call jungles .

Tropical rainforests cover a small part (about The rainforest’s dense foliage

6 percent) of Earth’s surface . But more than half

The Amazon
(50 percent) of the world’s plant and animal
species are found in them! Rainforests are The Amazon rainforest is in South America .
usually near Earth’s equator . Most of the world’s It is the largest tropical rainforest in the world .
rainforests are in Africa, Southeast Asia, and It has more kinds of insects, plants, and animals
South America . than any other place on Earth . Every year,
scientists discover new species of insects and
plants here .

The Amazon River flows through the heart

of this rainforest . Thousands of other rivers
and streams empty into it . Many fish and other
animals live in the Amazon River .

This book will take you through the Amazon

rainforest . You will travel from the tallest trees to
the rainforest floor . Along the way, you will meet
an eagle, monkey, jaguar, and ant . You will even
hear what they would say—if they could talk .

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 5 6

 Map of Amazon Basin From the Amazon Yearbook
AT L A N T IC
Venezuela Guyana
OCEAN
Panama
Suriname Sloths are slow-moving
French Guiana
Colombia
animals . They seem to just
hang out (upside down!)
Ecuador THE AMAZON RIVER in the trees .

Brazil Sammy
Peru “Slowpoke”
Sloth

So just how big is the Amazon River? Tamara

The tapir is a big, hoofed
• The Amazon River can be more than the animal that is related to the
Tapir
48 kilometers (30 mi) across at its widest horse and the rhinoceros .
point during the rainy season . Tapirs often weigh well
over 136 kilograms (300 lb) .
• It flows almost 6,437 kilometers (4,000 mi)
to the Atlantic Ocean .
• The river’s arapaima fish can grow to be 3 meters At around 1 .2 meters
(10 ft) long and weigh 180 kilograms (400 lb)! (4 ft) long, the capybara
• Its volume is greater than the next eight largest is the world’s largest
rivers combined! rodent . (But don’t call
Katie a big rat .)
Katie
Capybara

The poison arrow frog

has super-bright colors .
These colors warn other
animals that its skin is
Paulo the Poison poisonous .
Arrow Frog
The Amazon is the world’s widest and largest river.

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 7 8

 Spotlight interview:
Chapter 2: Layers of the Rainforest
To better understand the rainforest, scientists The Harpy Eagle
have “divided” it into four parts . You can think RAZ Interviewer: Hello there, Harpy . Is it true that
of it like a four-story building . The highest trees you are the largest eagle in the Americas?
make up the top floor, or the emergent layer .
Harpy: I think so . I am about one meter tall, which
The next highest trees make up the canopy layer .
is more than three feet high .
Below them is the understory . At the bottom is the
rainforest floor . RAZ Interviewer: It looks
as if you have some big
High Risers The tallest Rainforest Layers wings as well .
trees of the rainforest are
Harpy: Oh, these things?
called the emergents . They Emergent
Layer I was born with these . If I
are like umbrellas that rise
stretch them out like this,
above the thick forest .
they are longer than most
Emergents receive lots of Canopy
Layer people . You see? My
sun, wind, and rain .
wingspan is two meters Harpy eagle
Understory
Big roots support these Layer across—about six and a half feet .
giant trees . Because the Flying fast really helps me find food .
Rainforest
soil isn’t deep, tree roots Floor
RAZ Interviewer: What is your favorite food?
often grow above the
ground . The kapok tree, for example, has roots that Harpy: Oh, I like pizza delivered to my door . Just
extend out like wooden walls . These roots are so kidding—I hunt sloths, monkeys, and other birds .
big that your whole class could hide behind just Monkeys are probably my favorite .
one of them! RAZ Interviewer: Is that what your big talons are for?
Not many animals live in the emergent layer . Harpy: Yep . They can scoop unsuspecting animals
Some birds and butterflies eat the leaves and fruit . right off tree branches . Hey, there’s a monkey now!
One huge bird, the harpy eagle, actually lives I’ll see you later!
there, high above the river .

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 9 10

Crazy Canopy The rainforest’s real action Spotlight interview:
is in the canopy layer . This is where most plants
The Howler Monkey
and animals live . It is like a thick roof made out
RAZ Interviewer: Wow, that was one loud howl!
of tree branches and vines .
Would you please stop screaming for one
Many trees in the canopy are covered with moment? I would like to ask you a few questions!
climbing vines and epiphytes . Epiphytes are
Howler: Okay, but hurry up . If I don’t scream like
plants that grow on top of other plants . Most of
this, other monkeys may come into our territory .
the rainforest’s flowers, fruit, and seeds are found
in this layer . RAZ Interviewer: Do you always stay up here in
the canopy?
With so much good canopy food, it makes
Howler: This is our home, my man . On the
sense that animals hang out here . Many animals
ground, there are some really big animals—
rarely go down to the ground . They spend their
it’s a jungle down there . Up here, we can eat fruit,
whole lives up in the trees . Sloths, toucans, and
leaves, and flowers, and we can live in safety .
parrots are just some of the animals that live in
the canopy . Howler monkeys are probably the RAZ Interviewer: Does your long tail help you?
loudest . Their name fits their behavior, as these It looks prehensile .
monkeys howl and scream to keep other animals Howler: Yeah, if by prehensile you mean “grab
out of their territories . onto .” My tail helps me climb, but my hands and
feet are very useful for climbing, too .
Bromeliads are cone- RAZ Interviewer: You sure use big words for a
shaped plants that grow on monkey . Hey, stop the howling! If you can be
trees. Their cones catch a heard from miles away, just think how loud it
lot of rainwater and form is for me . What makes you so loud anyway?
little swimming pools high
above the ground. Tiny frogs, Howler: I have a special bone in my windpipe .
salamanders, and crabs live in My throat is like a hollow sound box .
these pools. Mosquitoes and
RAZ Interviewer: Okay, Mr . Monkey, you can go
dragonflies lay eggs in them.
back to howling now .

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 11 12

The Darker Story The understory is the Spotlight interview:
third level of the rainforest . It is below the canopy
The Jaguar
and above the ground . This is where ferns, plants,
and young trees grow . It is dark in the understory RAZ Interviewer: Hey, put me down! And don’t
bite . Bad big cat!
because very little light shines through the thick
canopy . Understory plants grow leaves that are big Jaguar: Sorry, I thought you were a monkey . What
and wide to catch more sun . are you doing here anyway?
RAZ Interviewer: I came to talk to you, the biggest
Animals like to eat these big leaves . The
cat in the Americas . Mr . Jaguar, are you really
understory is not nearly as busy as the canopy,
2 .6 meters (8 .5 ft .) long?
but animals do live here . Poison arrow frogs hide
in the leaves . Snakes wrap around trees like vines . Jaguar: That’s what they say . I weigh 136 kilograms
Birds eat insects from the wood . Large cats such (300 lb), too . Not many animals mess with me .
as jaguars leap between branches . You can call me Jag .
RAZ Interviewer: Okay, Jag, what do you do for
exercise?
Jag: I get bored with just one sport . That’s why
I cross-train: I run, swim, climb, and fish when
I hunt .
RAZ Interviewer: What do you hunt?
Jag: Sometimes I climb up in the canopy to eat
sloths and monkeys . On the ground, I hunt
peccaries, tapirs, and yummy capybaras . On lazy
Howler monkey days, I lie near the river and catch fish . When I’m
really hungry, I kill caimans .
RAZ Interviewer: Wow, I don’t want to be in your
powerful jaws ever again! Excuse me, I need to
Jaguar go now .

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 13 14

 Chapter 3: Keeping It Clean Spotlight interview:
If you walked around the rainforest floor, you The Leaf-Cutter Ant
might be surprised . It is not just one thick jungle .
RAZ Interviewer: Hey down there! The one
Sure, you would see roots, plants, and baby trees . carrying the big leaf over your head! May I ask
But most of the green would be high above you . you a few questions?
Earthworms, termites, Ms. Ant: Sure, but I do need
fungi, and bacteria eat up to hurry back to the fungus
the fallen fruits and parts garden . We’re low on food .
of trees . They recycle it back RAZ Interviewer: Did you
into nutritious soil . When a really just climb up a tree
big tree falls, they munch it and cut off that leaf? Leaf-cutter ants
down into small pieces . Ms. Ant: Yes, and now I’m carrying it back to our
Also on the ground are underground home . That’s where smaller ants
animals like deer, tapirs, will chew it up into spongy bits .
peccaries, and capybaras . RAZ Interviewer: So you don’t eat the leaf?
But there are far more Rainforest floor Ms. Ant: No, we use the leaf bits to grow the
spiders and bugs . Ant highways crisscross the fungus that we eat . Want some?
rainforest floor . One kind of ant even parades
RAZ Interviewer: No, thank you . I just had lunch .
around with leaves and flower petals in its mouth . So tell me, what is it like underground?
It is the famous leaf-cutter ant .
Ms. Ant: We have deep nests with lots of rooms .
In the middle rooms, small ants tend to our
Reaching the Top fungus gardens . Our queen is in a different room .
Scientists have found creative ways to study the top She can lay up to thirty thousand eggs in one day .
layers of rainforests. They have climbed with ropes and That’s why there are almost five million of us
ladders. They have built platforms like tree houses. Some here! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to sniff my
have gone up in cranes. A blimp has even lowered a raft
way home . And please watch your feet—if you
of scientists down to the canopy.
step on our trail, I might get lost!

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 15 16

 Chapter 4: Who, Me? Explore More
Yes, you . Do you like to eat bananas or Did you like learning about the Amazon
chocolate? Does your bicycle have rubber tires? rainforest? Well, there is much more to see . If you
Well, guess what! Bananas, chocolate, and rubber do some research, you’re bound to find some very
all grow in the Amazon rainforest . Many more interesting animals!
things come from the Amazon, too, such as
1. At the Library
medicines and pineapples .
Tell your librarian that you are interested in
The Amazon is a treasure . Insects buzz by that books about the Amazon rainforest .
haven’t been named yet . Trees grow, fall, and turn
back into soil . And rainforest plants take carbon 2. On the Web
dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen . In the address window, type: www.google.com
Humans and other animals need oxygen in order
Then type: Amazon rainforest . Click on
to live .
“Google Search .”

Read the colored links . Click on one that looks

interesting .

When you want to explore other links, click the

“back” arrow on the top left .

Or try a new search: Amazon River

The Amazon rainforest is home to many living things.

The Amazon rainforest is a real place . As you

read these words, a jaguar moves through the
understory . Right now, a leaf-cutter ant marches
back to a fungus garden . Somewhere in the
Amazon, the scream of a howler monkey echoes
through the forest . Can you hear it? Capybara

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 17 18

3. Try This! Glossary
carbon dioxide (n.) an invisible gas that is formed by the
Where do you live? Do you live in the
chemical breakdown or burning of
rainforest? What about in a desert, tundra, or organic substances, such as fossil fuels,
pine forest? Do you live on the coast, up in the and that is absorbed by plants during
mountains, or out on the plains? You must live photosynthesis (p . 17)
somewhere, right? epiphytes (n.) plants that grow on top of other plants
instead of being rooted in soil and get
If you live in a town or city, sometimes it can their nutrients from air and rain (p . 11)
be hard to tell what kind of region you live in .
ferns (n.) leafy plants without flowers or seeds
But there are clues all around . What kinds of trees
(p . 13)
and bushes grow nearby? What kinds of birds fly
fungi (n.) plural form of “fungus”; a living thing
overhead? What is the weather like? Look around
that grows on organic material and
and investigate . If you are not sure, ask your produces spores (p . 15)
teacher, librarian, parent, or friend .
nutritious (adj.) containing nutrients needed for life and
Once you figure it out, make a report . Draw growth; nourishing (p . 15)
a picture like the one on page 9, but make it peccaries (n.) nocturnal pig-like mammals found in
for your area . What kind of insects, plants, and the Americas (p . 14)
animals are native to your home? You could find prehensile (adj.) able to hold or pick up things (p . 12)
this information by walking around outside . You ranges (v.) changes within set limits (p . 5)
could also ask other people . Or you could read
species (n.) a group of living things that are
a book or search the Web . You’ll probably be physically similar and can reproduce
surprised by the cool things you learn about (p . 5)
your neighbors!
talons (n.) claws on the feet of birds such as owls,
hawks, and eagles (p . 10)
territories (n.) areas of land or water that animals or
groups of animals defend and live in
(p . 11)

unsuspecting (adj.) unaware of potential danger (p . 10)

The Amazing Amazon • Level U 19 20