Wildlife
Adventures
Life in the Desert (Grades 4 & Up)
| Summary | This lesson is an in depth look at the desert ecosystem and the variety of animals and plants that make up the desert and their home. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction | This activity will help students examine the impressions they have already formed regarding deserts, and compare the nature of a human and a desert community. |
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| What is a desert? | Ask the students to tell what comes to mind when they hear the word desert. List the students' ideas on the board. Explain that everyone has some ideas about deserts. We live in one. In addition, as we go along and learn more about deserts, we might be surprised by what we discover. Focus students on the pictures of various animals. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ask students to vote with a show of hands: | Are
all these animals desert animals? Are some desert animals? Are none desert animals? |
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| Later in the class we will learn just how many are desert animals. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| What is a community? | Explain that a community is a group of species (living things) that inhabit the same area and depend on each other and on the environment for survival. | |||||||||||||||||||
| What do living things need to survive? | Write " Humans- Wildlife- Plants" on the chalkboard, so that a column of words can be written under each word. Ask students what people need to live? List the student's ideas under "humans". Do the same for "Wildlife" and "Plants". After the lists are made, ask the students to think which ideas can be combined into larger ideas. For example, warmth, protection, and comfort might all fit in the concept of shelter. Help students narrow the list to the main survival needs in each category. The lists could be reduced to: | |||||||||||||||||||
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| How do living things depend on each other? | Have the students compare the lists of survival needs and ask: |
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| Do humans and wildlife need the same things? | Yes, all animals have the same basic needs | |||||||||||||||||||
| What do animals need that plants do not? | Food and shelter | |||||||||||||||||||
| How do plants get food? | They make it using water, sunlight, air and nutrients in the soil | |||||||||||||||||||
| How do some desert living things depend on each other? | Focus
students attention on study #2 (the desert scene). Explain that it
is a scene from a desert in the southwestern United States called
the Sonoran Desert. Ask the students: |
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| What do the plants need to survive? | Soil, water, air, space, sun | |||||||||||||||||||
| Which of these is the most difficult to get in the desert? | Water | |||||||||||||||||||
| What does a ground squirrel need to survive? | Water, food, space, shelter, air | |||||||||||||||||||
| Which of these is the most difficult to find in the desert? | Water | |||||||||||||||||||
| What does a ground squirrel eat? | Plants, seeds | |||||||||||||||||||
| What in this picture might the fox eat? | The ground squirrel | |||||||||||||||||||
| If we were to take water and/or soil away from this desert, what would happen to the plants? | They would die | |||||||||||||||||||
| Then what would happen to the ground squirrel/fox? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Conclusion | Plants and animals depend on the desert environment and on each other for survival. All things in the desert (soil, water, sun, air, and space) are needed by the living things. Moreover, the living plants and animals are needed by each other. |
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| Definition of a Desert | Many people have mistaken ideas about what deserts are like. It is often thought that deserts have little or no life in them. However, there are many special
plants and animals that grow and live in deserts. All deserts share one basic
characteristic. They are all very dry. There are about 20 major deserts in the world spread over 5 of the 7 continents. Ask the students to name those continents. (North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia) In other words, if you were to take all the land on earth, put it together, and then cut it into seven equal pieces, one whole piece would be desert land. In fact, one out of every 20 people (5%) in the world today live in places we call desert. |
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| How can we define a desert? | A desert is an area of land that usually
receives less than 10 inches of rain in a year, and is hot at least
part of the year with daytime temperatures of at least 70-90 degrees
F (21-32degrees Celsius). Water evaporates very quickly in the
desert; that is, it turns from liquid to vapor in the air. Deserts
are also very windy. The wind blows sand around creating tall piles
called dunes. It is not easy to survive in the desert. |
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| What do all deserts have in common? | Little rain, strong winds, high temperatures at least part of the year. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Can deserts be cold? | Yes, at night or during certain seasons. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Antarctica is very dry all year-round. Is it a desert? Why not? | Cold - all year round. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Does the wind slow down or speed up evaporation? | Speeds it up | |||||||||||||||||||
| What are three reasons deserts are so dry? | Very little rain, heat speeds up evaporation, wind speeds up evaporation. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ask the students to name the special problems plants and animals face in the desert? | Getting water, holding onto water, avoiding overheating, food. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Putting It Together | Plants and animals depend on the desert environment and on each other for survival. All things in the desert (soil, water, sun, air, and space) are needed by the living things. Moreover, all the living plants and animals are needed by each other. |
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