Step into the majestic rainforest of the Pacific west coast and discover a unique community of creatures thriving in an interconnected web of life.
Towering over the sea, along the magnificent Pacific west coast, is an ancient and beautiful rainforest with a unique ecosystem that is linked in many ways. In this fourth book in the West Coast Wild series, you will find trees as tall as twenty-storey buildings, tiny seedlings sprouting on nursery logs and brightly colored salmon spawning in streams. The salmon, as a keystone species, connect the ocean to the forest and provide a rich source of food for the bears, wolves, eagles and other creatures that live in this pristine wilderness. The remains of the fish add vital nutrients to the forest, feeding the lush green plants and trees. In turn, the thick vegetation shades the streams and protects the baby salmon that hatch and swim to the sea.
Author Deborah Hodge provides a clear and engaging look at the interdependence of the forest species and the fascinating cycles of nature in this rare ecosystem, while Karen Reczuch's lavish watercolors show the rainforest teeming with life in shades of green that can only come from receiving more than ten feet of rain a year.
Key Text Features
illustrations
author's note
further information
further reading
facts
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.3
With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3
Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.4
Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
"Along the Pacific west coast, stretching from Alaska down to Northern California, is an ancient and beautiful rainforest where everything is connected. Full of towering ancient trees and new seedlings, the forest provides shelter and food for many animals. The trees are home to Douglas squirrels, which help to spread the conifer cones that will sprout into new trees, Western screech-owls and chestnut-backed chickadees. The giant conifers shelter the streams where baby salmon hatch in the spring, and where adult salmon return to spawn. Bears, wolves and eagles feast on the fish, and the leftovers of their meals fertilize the plants and trees in a cycle where the trees protect the salmon and the salmon feed the trees. Banana slugs that slide along the forest floor, helping to further break down decaying plants and animals. And new life is lifted up by nursery logs, where seedlings sprout and grow strong on the decaying fallen trees. Deborah Hodge's text shows the interconnectedness of this amazing ecosystem, while Karen Reczuch's lavish watercolors show the rainforest teeming with life and the shades of green that can only come from more than ten feet of rain a year."--
