summerize this passage in 3-5 sentences
The Rainforest
A blue butterfly perches on a Heliconia flower in the rainforest.
An image shows the Amazon River winding through the rainforest.
An image shows brightly colored parrots resting in the rainforest.
Last summer, I had the good fortune to live in Perú and teach in the Amazon rainforest. I had students from Brazil, Perú, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Even though I was there to teach others, it was one of the most fabulous personal learning experiences of my life. The main point of the summer program was to show the importance of the Amazon rainforest for the health of Earth. Together, my students and I examined the ways in which the rainforest is crucial to the survival of all living creatures, including humans.
One important role the rainforest plays is helping the world maintain safe levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air. Every day, the many plants in the rain forest remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and add oxygen to the air in return. Many of the pollutants created by human activities add large amounts of carbon dioxide to the air while also depleting oxygen. The rainforest helps maintain the balance between the two gases.
The rainforest also helps humans in even more specific ways. For example, the rainforest provides many ingredients that are used in medicines. The indigenous people who live in the rainforests have a deep knowledge of ways that humans can benefit from the plants and animals that live there. To date, scientists have only researched about 1% of the rainforest plants and animals. Because about 40% of prescription medicines originate at least partially from a tropical plant or animal, it makes sense that the other 99% of the rainforest plants and animals might offer additional aid in the fight against human diseases. The shamans or medicine men of the rainforest offer a shortcut to understanding the medicinal benefits of the rainforest. However, as the rainforests decrease in size, the number of medicine men, decreases as well, which lessens the chance of scientists getting help from them. Likewise, shrinking rainforests means that some plants and animals that could be useful will no longer exist. Without the help of those who know the rainforest best, the search for new medicinal ingredients may take much longer.
Another way that humans benefit from the rainforests is through the simple enjoyment of being there. For example, the rainforest has over 2,000 species of birds and 4,000 species of butterflies, most of which are beautiful to behold and fascinating to observe.
During my summer in Perú, I helped build a hut in an Amazon village, canoed on the Amazon, played with monkeys on Monkey Island, explored the rainforest canopy on swaying bridges, slept in jungle huts under mosquito nets, and showered in waterfalls. It was an amazing experience, and it also provided me with a great answer to give when people asked me what I did over the summer break!