By Rory Wilson, aged 9
Evendons Sschool
On the May 10, Year 3 and 4 from Evendons Primary school left their school grounds and started the one hour journey to the Living Rainforest in Newbury.
We split into two groups and each group had their own coach to travel on. When we arrived we were given a safety check and were asked to wash our hands after touching any plants in the greenhouses. So the first two groups went for a tour of the glasshouses, I was lucky to be a group with my good friend Noah.
Our tour guide was a lovely lady who poured water on the plants to help explain how water moved down the leaves and stems. Unfortunately, I was underneath the tree and I got very, very wet!
It was fascinating to see a real banana plant with bananas growing on it. I was surprised at how small the leaves were. There were really tall trees, taller than three men and we were also lucky to discover pitcher plants. These are plants that are shaped like a cup, they let off a sweet smell that attracts insects, the insects then get trapped in the cup and the plants digests it.
The Living Rainforest had so far been amazing but there was still more to come. After the tour we were allowed some free time to explore in the glass houses. I felt empowered to find the ‘hardest to find animal’, the two-toed sloth! It was tricky to find but Noah and I looked and looked and eventually spotted a claw and discovered it was the claw of a sloth. Sloths are really slow creatures, they have small tails and eat fruit and seeds which they find in the canopy. We also saw water dragons, we learnt that they can camouflage themselves in trees when they are hiding from predators.
After lunch we had a play in the playground then we packed up and left for home. The visit was really enjoyable and it helped me understand more about the Rainforest. I used the information I was told about the Capybara to write a report. I’d recommend this visit to other children who would like to learn about the Rainforest.
