· "lungs" of our planet.
· 4 layers of the rainforest: emrgent, canopy, understory, forest floor.
· cosmetic




· 1% of known plants have been examined for their medicinal potentials.
· 70% of 3,000 plants were identified as anti-cancer properties and they are native to the rainforest.
· it serves as intermnal medicine in 3 ways: (1) extraction from organisms can be used directly as drugs; (2) chemical structures of forced organisms serve as templates; (3) rainforest plants provide aid for research.













· One pond in the Amazon contains more different species of fish than all of Europe’s rivers.
· Scientists have studied only 17% of the millions of species in the Amazon.
· In a four mile square in the Amazon you can find 750 species of trees, 125 species of animals, 400 species of birds, and 100 species of reptile, which are usually found nowhere else in the world.


· About 15 million years ago the Amazon River flowed westward into the Pacific Ocean, then when the South American plate moved into another tectonic plate, the Andes Mountains slowly rose up and blocked the flow of the river.
· After this occurred many freshwater lakes began to form, changing the environment of the river drastically.
· The Amazon River Basin has about 1,100 tributaries and some of them are a 1,000 miles long.
· The Amazon River is responsible for one-fifth of the freshwater that flows to the world’s oceans.
· The Amazon River is the second largest in the world and the Nile River in Egypt is just slightly longer.
· The river contains the largest watershed than any other in the world.
· During flood season the Amazon River has been recorded at over 20 miles wide.






· The indigenous people population has devastatingly decreased.
· The outside world has affected the Amazon people considerably
· Scientists work with the indigenous people to gain their knowledge of the Amazon
· Population has decreased, but there is still massive diversity among the people of the Amazon
· Outside interest in the Amazon has put the natives in increasing danger




· There are many ways the rainforest is becoming endangered land.
· The destruction leads to a downward spiral all over the Amazon.
· Every minute of every hour more of the Amazon is being tore apart.
· There are certain engineered machines made specifically to use in the destruction of the Amazon.
· Almost everything used from the Amazon can be seen through daily life.
· The main reason for the destruction is for profit.





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