How do you think climate effects How do you think climate effects what vegetation and animals are what vegetation and animals are in a region or area?in a region or area?

Biome Terms

• Ecosystem- an interdependent community of plants & animals.

• Biome- an ecosystem of a specific region.

• The four types of biomes are : forest, grassland, desert, tundra.

• A forest biome is determined by the types of trees in the area.

The World’s Major Biomes

Biome Terms

With each of the biomes, set up a station for a group to work in.

They will combine the information from the slides to draw a “snapshot” of the biome.

Each drawing should include characteristics of :• Vegetation• Climate• Animals• Level of Precipitation• Locations

What does Grassland look like?

• Grasses: prairie clover, oats, wheat, & barley.

• Few trees

Weather and Climate

• Windy, semi-dry biome, but has a rainy season

• What is the temperature range?– (line represents the

temperature on the right side)

– (bar graph represents inches of rainfall on the left)

Where are grasslands found?

• On every continent except the South Pole.• One-Fourth of the earth is grassland.• Great Plains of North America.

Grassland Animals

•Zebra •Lions•Elephants•Wildebeest•Prairie Dogs•Bison

What does Deserts look like?

• Sandy often salty soil• Few trees, but may sand dunes• Various cactus plants

Joshua Tree

Where are the Deserts?

• Most are in Africa.• Others are in the

U.S. S. America Australia, and Asia.

• The largest Desert in the world is the Sahara in Africa.

Sahara Desert

Weather and Climate• Dry, it barely rains

• Sunny, the sand is hot

• Hot temp., up to 131 degrees

• Cold at Night– Because of the very little amount of

moisture in the air. Water holds on to heat

– Daytime can be over 100°F and then drop to 40°F at night in the dry summers

– Winters can be below freezing

Desert Animals

What does a Tundra Biome Look Like?

• Tundra “Treeless plain”• Almost no trees due to short growing season.• Sedges, shrubs and grass• Permafrost - ground frozen year round

Weather and Climate • Permafrost soil - occurs in

the coldest tundras. Soil is frozen for over two years or more

• Too cold for many animals or plants to survive.

• Very short summer season.• What is the temperature range

Freezing point

Where are Tundra biomes located?

• Artic, North America, Europe, Siberia• Found in the most Northern climates

Animals of the Tundra

Polar Bear OxenPolar Bears

Wolves

Caribou

What does Coniferous Forest look like?

• Coniferous means “cone bearing”• Evergreen-trees that produce cones and pine needles.

– The cones protect the trees seeds from the cold– Needles retain moisture better than common leaves

• Pine needles remain on trees all year long.

Coniferous Forests Weather and Climate

– Notice the units are in millimeters and Celsius on this graph• Cold, long, snowy winters• What is the range in temperature? (about -20°F to 60°F)• Humid summers • Less precipitation than most forests (At most, 1.5 inches of precipitation a month)

Where are Coniferous Forests?

• What two lines of latitude do all the coniferous forests occur?

Coniferous Animals

•Reindeers•Bobcats•Bears•Squirrel

What do Deciduous Forest look like?

• Broad leaf trees like Maple, oak, & mosses.• Leaves tends change color and then fall off

when the weather turns cold.

Deciduous Forest Weather and Climate

• Warm summers and cool winters (about 25°F-68°F)• Trees lose there leaves when it turns cold• Some deciduous forests have winter snow fall.• Rainfall tends to be heavy. (About 2.75 inches a month)

Where are Deciduous Forest?

Deciduous Animals

White Tail Deer

Grizzly Bear

WolfBald Eagle

Platypus

What does a Rain Forest look like?

• Has many layers of trees, each trying to gain as much sunlight as possible

• vines, palms, orchids, and ferns.• Contain a lot of moisture and water

Weather and Climate

• Plants in a rain forest can grow all year.– Remains warm and frost free year round.– What is the range in temperature?– It gets lots of rain all year.

Where are Rain forest?

• Between the ______ of Cancer and _____ of Capricorn.

• Northern South America, Central America, Central Africa, and Indonesia.

Rain Forest Animals

• Many types of birds, monkeys, cat like mammals, insects, lizards and snakes.