Rainforest Trails

Rainforest Trails is a collection of photographs taken by a conservationist living in the Sungai Wain rainforest near Balikpapan, Indonesia. These have been organised into trails that explore issues such as energy transfer through the rainforest, biodiversity, animal and plant classification, camouflage strategies and even how a rainforest could pay for itself. By linking high quality photographs with clear text Rainforest Trails provides an easily-digested walk through some of the issues that feature in secondary school science across the world.


Rainforest Trails offers:

Over 250 images of rainforest species - see the animals and plants of Sungai Wain close up and personal!
Trails that cover material needed for school science across the world in an easy to digest form.
Summaries of the key scientific content for each trail.
Fully interactive and self-marking quizzes at the end of each trail to check understanding.
Complete, searchable glossary of all technical terms included.



We think Rainforest Trails is so good we want more people to see it and the photographs it contains. So, you can use it with a digital projector to show to whole classes and other groups in an educational context. 


Chapter list

1 Welcome

2 Biodiversity: what lives in the rainforest?

3 Cycling: how come the rainforest never runs out of mineral nutrients?

4 Energy flow: how do plants make food? 

5 Daily changes: what’s different about animals that move around in the daytime and their nocturnal cousins?

6 Moving around: what is the best way to get from one end of the forest to the other: flying, climbing, swimming, running or crawling?

7 Plant classification: what plants can you find in this very diverse environment?

8 Animal classification: what animals can you find living in the rainforest?

9 Water resources: how does Sungai Wain keep Balikpapan with a supply of clean drinking water?

10 Protect the forests! How can you protect the rainforests for future generations?

11 Sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll: just how do the plants and animals of the rainforest reproduce? 

12 Hiding and pretending: what is the difference between camouflage and mimicry? And why do animals do it?