Malaria is a disease spread by mosquitoes. It affects about 40% of the world's population, mostly people who live in the world's poorest countries. Sadly, 90% of deaths caused by malaria happen in Africa, and it's mostly children who die. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds.

Quinine is one of the drugs used to treat malaria. It is made from the bark of the Cinchona tree which was found in the rainforests of South America. About a quarter of the medicines we use are made from rainforest plants - just one more reason why the rainforests are so important to us!

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Put the story in the right order with an online game
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The world has tropical rainforests and temperate rainforests. Tropical rainforests are found in warm and wet places around the equator of the earth. There are tropical rainforests in South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. Tropical rainforests cover only 7% of the earth but they are homes to half of the world's plants and animals.

Temperate rainforests are in cooler climates, and have a wet and dry season. They are found along the Pacific coast of the USA and Canada, in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, Scotland and Norway. Temperate forests do not have as many plants and animals as tropical rainforests. Both tropical and temperate rainforests are in danger.

Choose a tropical or temperate rainforest (how about the one nearest where you live?). Find out this information:

			where is the forest?
			what animals live there?
			what plants live there?
			do people live there?
			what is happening to the forest? Is it protected? How? Is it in danger? Why?

Put the information on a poster, with some pictures and drawings if you like. Stick the poster on your wall!