Deserts of the Americas

1. Deserts of the Americas By: Morgan Maness

2. Content • Content area: Science • Grade level: 6 • Summary: The purpose of this PowerPoint activity is to have the students understand the different characteristics that make up the desert biome and the interdependence of vegetation and animals in this ecosystem as well as analyzing these characteristics in the different deserts located in North America. • Learning Objective: Given websites that contain facts and characteristics about the desert biome and North American deserts students will need to interpret the material within the websites to answer the questions within the power point with 100 percent accuracy. • Content Standard: GLE 0607.2.4 Analyze the environments and the interdependence among organisms found in the world’s major biomes. • ISTE Standards: ISTE Standards(s): • 3. Research and information fluency: students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. • 4. Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. • 6. Technology operations and concepts: students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. a. Understand and use technology systems.

3. Facts: Deserts Biome • Please go to this website to explore the different facts and characteristics of the desert biome: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php Did you know… • Deserts are ecosystems that account for1/5 of the Earth’s surface and can be found on every continent except for Europe. Deserts are classified as areas in which there is less than 10 inches of rainfall/precipitation per year. • Deserts are divided into four major types including: Hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, and cold. • The vegetation in the desert biome does not grow very large or tall and can only accommodate animals that can survive the harsh temperatures including small varmints, rodents, and reptiles. • Life forms in the desert have many adaptations to survive in such an extreme climate including storing body fat all in one area of the body (such as in a camel’s hump) because body fat retains heat.

4. Deserts of North America • Please go to this website to discover the major deserts of North America: http://www.americansouthwest.net/deserts.html • The four true deserts in the U.S are The Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan. • The four deserts cover a vast area of the western United States • The three hot deserts (Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuauan) contain little vegetation and are barren rocky, sandy deserts. • There are other areas in the U.S. that could be considered a desert but that exceed the rainfall requirement to match the firm classification.

5. Videos • Watch these two videos at the website provided on this slide. You will need to take notes from these selected videos to help with questions later in the lesson. The first video discusses the climate of deserts to provide you with a better understanding of the biome and the second video discusses animal and plant life and interdependence in this type of ecosystem in North American deserts. • Note: You can pause the videos so you can take quality notes if the videos are moving too fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ-w5I9XQyg http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/asset/tdc02_vid_desert/

6. Review Question 1 What is the largest desert in the U.S? • The Great Basin Desert • Sonoran Desert • Mojave Desert • Chihuahuan Desert

7. CORRECT! The Great Basin Desert is the biggest desert in North America consisting of 190,000 miles of western United States.

8. Review Question 2 Which of the following is NOT an animal that is adapted to live and thrive in deserts? • Meerkats • Reptiles • Bison • Grasshoppers

9. CORRECT! Animals that survive and thrive in the desert have adaptations for surviving such extreme temperatures and lack of water.

10. Review Question 3 In which North American desert are cacti notably plentiful and include twenty-four rare species that are not found anywhere else in the United States? • Chihuahuan Desert • Sonoran Desert • Mojave Desert • The Great Basin Desert

11. CORRECT! The Chihuahuan Desert is home to the Big Bend National Park in which plant and animal life of this desert are abundant. The cacti found in this park are rare and are not found in any other desert in the U.S. Click here to move to next slide

12. Summary • In this lesson, the students will have learned the major characteristics of the desert biome and the major deserts in North America. They will have watched two videos that explain the different aspects of this biome including climate, vegetation, animal life, as well as the interdependence in this ecosystem. • Students will have also learned the different types of deserts and the climates that distinguish hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, and cold deserts. They will also be able to recognize the different kinds of plants and animals that survive and thrive in this ecosystem. • The students will have read and taken notes from facts presented in the websites provided on slide three giving detailed information of the important features that classifies deserts. Also, on slide four, students were presented with a website in which they were to read and take notes on the major deserts in North America that included climate, location, plants, animals, and size that helped the students to gain a better understanding of this biome. Students will have learned of the different effects of the extreme temperatures that distinguish the types of deserts and the specific plants and animals that survive in the desert in the videos provided on slide five.

13. INORRECT Please review the information on slides 3-5 and try again!