A Trip to the Rain Forest

Reading Comprehension for October 18

Jesse and Ethan walked along on the wet, decomposing leaves. They could feel the moist heat against their skin. They inhaled the sweet, heavy aroma from the multitude of plants. Looking up, they saw the canopy of trees. All around them, they heard the sounds of birds, primates, and chirping insects. It was dark where they walked, but ahead they could see beams of sunlight that broke through the trees.

"This is pretty cool," said Jesse. "It's like being in a real rain forest."

Ethan stopped and breathed deeply. "I could stay here all day. It seems so real."

"Yeah, me too," said Jesse. "But we need to go through the rest of the museum. Mrs. Russell wants us to fill out this form while we're here."

Ethan nodded his head reluctantly. "Okay. Let's get started."

The boys headed out of the rain forest room and began the self-guided tour through the museum.

"Hey, look at this," said Ethan, stopping to read a sign. "It says that the Amazon rain forest in Brazil covers an area that is two-thirds the size of the United States. It must be huge!"

"I never imagined it was that big! We have a forest behind our house that you can get lost in. Imagine if we were lost in the rain forest. We'd never get back," said Jesse excitedly.

"We'd have to live there the rest of our lives. Maybe we could join one of the tribes that lives there and learn how to survive off the land."

Ethan grabbed Jesse's arm. "That would be awesome!" Jesse said as the boys walked on through the exhibits.

As they went, they read about the different rain forests in the world. They discovered there are tropical rain forests in South America, Africa, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and the Caribbean Islands.

Then they came to a small theater just off the walkway through the museum.

"It's a cartoon about the rain forest," said Ethan. "Let's watch it."