Desert Biome

Pre-Activity Preparation
Before you start, record down these pieces of information.

Assigned biome:	Desert
Team member/Job distribution:	Jiaxuan, Pearlyn, Huiting, Nicholas, Javier.
Task master	Jiaxuan
Time keeper
Scribe

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[Session 1]

Task #1 My Ecology Glossary List (10 min)

• Make a glossary list of the following important terms by finding their definitions. Give only the definition that you deem best.

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Task #2 My Biome Profile (50 min)

• In this task, you will collect information on the physical factors of your assigned biome.
• You may collect useful pictures, links and videos that you found to help you explain your answers clearly to your teachers and friends.
• You must provide the link that you used by adding a caption.

Section	Guiding Questions
1. Brief description of biome	· Where is your biome found? Show the location of your biome on a map. · What are the countries that have your biome? List them down. · What are their locations on Earth?
2. Physical factors in the biome	· What is the most special part about each of the physical factors in your biome that is different from others? · Briefly describe the physical features of your biome. Keep your description for each physical factor to three lines only.
3. Organisms and plants in biome	· What are some organisms and plants that are found in your biome typically? · Name and show some pictures of the animals that can be found in your assigned biome. Select and show about five outstanding examples that you find most interesting.
4. Adaptations of the plants and animals to the biome	· How do the physical factors affect the type of organism living there? · What are some special features or adaptations that the organisms have that helps them live in their habitat? · Name and show some pictures of the animals that can be found in your assigned biome. · Select and show about five outstanding examples that you find most interesting.

Task #1 Ecology Glossary List

1)Biome	A major regional or global biotic community ,such as a grassland or desert,characterized chiefly by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate.
2)Habitat	The physical environment depends on the place where an organism lives,that is,its habitat.
3)Organism	An organism is a living thing.
4Adaptation	A characteristic which helps an organism to survive in its habitat.
5)Physical factors	A factor in the abiotic environment that influences the growth and development of organisms or biological communities.
6)Salinity	A mixture of salt in water.
7)Biotic	Related to living things.
8)Gallons	A unit for measuring liquid.
9)Prevailing	Existing or more common at a particular time.
10)Climate	An area with particular weather conditions.
11)Hibernation	To spend the winter in a state like deep sleep
12)Regulate	To control something(eg.temperature)in a machine or system
13)pH	A measurement of the level of acid or ALKALI in a SOLUTION or substance.In the pH range of 0 to 14 a reading of below 7 shows an acid and of above 7 shows an alkali.
14)Mined	A deep hole or holes under the ground where minerals such as coal, gold, etc.are dug.
15)lbs	Pounds
16)Sweltering	Suffers from the heat
17)Altering	To become different or make something different

Task #2 My Biome Profile

My Biome: Desert
1. Brief description of biome:
1) A desert is a place that gets just a bit of rain every year.
2)Some deserts get almost no rain at all.
3)A desert can be very hot in daytime and cold at night
4)Some deserts are cold all the time
5)A desert is a dry area where less than 50cm of rain falls each year.

Biome Map

2. Physical factors in the biome:

Physical factors	Description
Light	10 to 15 lbs at the most
Temperature	43.5 to 49 degrees celcius
Water	60,000 gallons of water
Air	60 degrees celcius
Mineral salt and salinity	The Sahara desert have been mined for nearly 3.5 weeks. It is one of the major exports, since minerals salts are high in demand.
pH	About 8pH to 11pH

3. Organisms and plants in biome:

Desert Fox

Camel

Snake

Vulture

Scorpions

Cactus

Creosote bush

Joshua tree

Desert ironwood

Triangle-leaf bursage

4. Adaptations of the plants and animals to the biome

Plant Adaptions
Some plants have developed tap roots. These tap roots can extend to thirty meters below the surface to draw water out of the water table. Other plants have shallow roots to catch water as soon as it lands.

Read more: http://scienceray.com/biology/ecology/plants-and-animals-adaptations-to-the-desert-biome/#ixzz1IST5P4YA





Animal Adaptions

Animals who live in the desert have to regulate their body temperature all day and all night to survive.
During the hottest and driest time of the year, some animals estivate. Estivation is like hibernation but instead of altering the cold, they are sweltering heat.

Read more: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0113340/text/biomes/biomes.desert.animaladapt.html


5. Bibliography
List down all the resources that you have used. An example has been listed for you.
Google http://www.google.com
Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org

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[Session 2]

Task #1 Compare and contrast the biomes (30 minutes)

• Go about the wikipages that your friends have compiled.
• Based on the information on your wikipage and that found in your partner group’s wikipage, compare and contrast the two biomes to decide on the physical factor that could have caused the difference.

An example can be seen here.

Adaptation	My biome: Temperate forest	My partner biome: Tropical rainforest	Reason
Leaf shape	Many tropical rainforest leaves have a drip tip. It is thought that these drip tips enable rain drops to run off quickly	Conifer needles have a thick, waxy coating of cutin that significantly reduces water loss. Needles also have much tighter stomatal closure.	Tropical rainforests experiences high rain fall. However, in temperate forests, plants experiences extreme cold and low rainfall in the winter.

Task #3 Virtual gallery walk (30 minutes)

• Go about looking at your friends’ biome and the compare and contrast table.

Ask them any questions that you may have and make suggestions for them on how to improve their work. Use the discussion tab above.