Where in the World?
Biomes of the Earth
OBJECTIVES
-
The student knows that life occurs on or near the surface of the Earth
on land, in air, and in water.
-
The student understands that the amount of food, water, space and shelter
needed is dependent on the size and kind of living things.
-
The student understands that there are many different kinds of living
things that live in a variety of environments.
-
The
student knows
that plants and animals have adapted to different ranges of temperature and
moisture.
DURATION
Four
one-hour periods
ADVANCE
PREPARATION
Bookmark all websites students need to visit. Prepare an Ecology bulletin
board with a picture of a globe or world in the middle. Then post
different pictures of biomes around the world. Vocabulary words include: Food chain,
Pollution, Endangered Species, and Recycling.
Prepare
a word wall where students can refer to for vocabulary words.
MATERIALS
FOR Activity #1
bulletin board,
picture of the world or globe, pictures of different biomes, word wall.
VOCABULARY
biome, climate,
ecology, environment, habitat, vegetation,
EPA
Glossary From A-Z about the Environment website. It can be used for all lessons.
PROCEDURE
1.
To begin the unit conduct a class discussion about what students already
know about ecology. Ask questions such as:
a. What is Ecology?
b. What is a biome?
c. What are some problems affecting the air, water and land?
d. How are these problems affecting living things?
e. What is being done to help solve these problems?
f. What is recycling?
2.
After the discussion, refer to the bulletin board with pictures to present
an overview of what you will be studying in the unit.
3.
Show the class pictures of the different biomes in the world. Tell
the students they are going to take a trip around the world using the
World Wide Web to visit all these biomes.
You will assign them a biome. You want them to research the biome and find out the
climate, animals, plants and
other non living things that are found there. They will hire a
"photographer" to take a lot of pictures
so they can share with the class later. The photographer can save
pictures from the Internet, utilize clip art, or graphics from animal CD-ROMs.
Note:
Please let your students know that they must make reference of websites for
their graphics and pictures. Some will need to get permission to copy.
4. Divide the class into groups of four or five. Assign different biomes to
each group to research: Grassland, Rainforest, Desert, Tundra, Marine, and
Woodland Forest.
5. The
students will use data collected to create a slide presentation on their
biome assigned. Their presentation will include five pages. One page for each of the
following:
a. Name of biome and geographical location
b. Description of the climate
c. Name of animals found in the biome
d. Name of trees and plants native to the biome
e. Name of nonliving things that make up the biome
(Compile visual examples for each page if possible).
Tip:
Since
you have five students per group, each student will be responsible for one page.
Each group will print their pages to be placed on the resource table along with
other books for projects.
6.
The students will use the resource center and the following websites to
get information on their biome.
a. NASA's
Classroom Of The Future will take you on a tour of the biomes. Read about different biomes, their vegetation, animals,
temperature, etc.
b. BrainPop
Biome Movie View
a movie about biomes.
c. Enchanted Learning
An awesome place to find all biomes.
d. Factmonster
informs you of different biomes. Click on science, then environment, then Major
Biomes of the World.
e. Enchanted
Learning Calendar Print a biome calendar, color, hang it up, read it
every day of the year.
7.
After students have presented their slide show, each individual will use these presentations, research done and other
resources to create a table on the computer to show six biomes
and describe their characteristics.
8. The students will use the information on their table and describe how
the geographical locations determines the diversity in the biome i.e. In the tundra
biome there aren't many plants and animals because it is icy throughout the
year much of the vegetation can't survive. Because of the lack of
vegetation there are not many animals because there is not enough food or
shelter. etc.
EXTENSIONS
1. Activity #1 make a biome diorama.
2.
The
students will choose two biomes and write an expository essay comparing and
contrasting both biomes.
HOME LEARNING
Choose
a biome and write a narrative story about what it would be like to live in that
environment.
ASSESSMENT
1.
The students participate in a group presentation
(see the rubric) in which they identify and describe the various living things in a particular
biome. slide presentation
2.
The student uses the knowledge acquired to create a table that shows the different biomes and their characteristics.
3. The student writes an expository essay explaining how
the geographical locations determines the diversity in the biome and
comparing two different biomes.
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