Jungle Layers Explorer

Emergent, canopy, understory, forest floor. Four layers, and every one of them is findable in a decent garden if you look properly.

The layers are the organising idea for a lot of tropical ecology and children who have them can slot new information into place for years afterward.

We find our emergent layer in a single tall palm and the understory in the shrubs beneath it, which is enough.

The page has the four layers with descriptions, a labelling diagram, and a find one of each task on your own site. It also names the creatures typical of each layer, which sets up food web and habitat work later. The layer names stick. Children use them unprompted a year on.