Climate and ClimagraphsInteractive Map

Biomes - “Vegetation Regions”

Climate and Vegetation Regions

What is a Biome?• Regional or global community of

living things• Characterized by the dominant

forms of plant life and the prevailing climate.

• There are many different ways to characterize and list biomes.

Aquatic – Saltwater and Freshwater

• 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water.

• Includes rivers, lakes, oceans, and every other body of water on Earth.

• This water is teeming with life of tremendous diversity.

Forestlands - Deciduous• Located in the mid-

latitude areas

• places that have four seasons.

• During the fall, trees change color and then lose their leaves in preparation for winter.

• Many different kinds of trees, shrubs, and herbs

Forestlands - Coniferous• Consist mostly of conifers, trees that

grow needles instead of leaves, and cones instead of flowers.

• Conifers tend to be evergreen

• Spruces, pines, and firs.

• Called taiga in Russia and Canada.

Forestlands – Rainforest

• Two types:– Tropical Rainforests

are found closer to the equator.

– Temperate Rainforests are found near the cooler coastal areas further north or south of the equator.

Grasslands - Savanna

• Flat, grassy, mostly treeless plain in the tropical grassland region

• The largest areas of savanna are found in Africa

Grasslands - Steppe• Dry, cold, grassland that

is dominated by short grasses

• Temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere

Grasslands - Prairie

• Dry grassland very similar to a steppe, but with longer grasses.

• Usually refers to grasslands of North America.

Grasslands - Pampas

• Temperate grassland located in South America.

• Essentially same as prairie or steppe.

Desert• Receive less than 10” of

rain a year.

• Little vegetation.

• Hot and Dry Deserts near the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn.

• Cold Deserts are near the Arctic

Tundra

• Flat treeless lands forming a ring around the Artic Ocean

• Permafrost - permanently frozen layer of soil.

Extreme Weather

• ENTER VIDEO HERE

• Does weather effect settlement patterns? Where people live?

Geographic Information System(GIS)

What is GIS?

Moore, OK

Tracking Climate Change

Resources

Energy Consumption around the world