Learn About the Biome of the World

This series offers lesson plans for the earth’s five land biomes. The planets land surfaces can be divided into zones or biomes according to the climate and other physical factors in each area. Each biome has a distinctive combination of life forms that are able to thrive in the particular conditions found there and each has a distinctive kide of vegetation.

Ecosystem: a community of plants and animals linked together for survival.

Ecotone: the area where two or more ecosystems overlap.

Climate: weather over an extended period of time.

Biomes: plants and animals live together in the same climate conditions.

Flora: all plants in a certain area

Fauna: all animals in a certain area

Vegetation: plant life that is used to determine the type of biome

Tundra: a treeless biome with long harsh winters and short summers. Grasses, lichens, low scrubs, mosses, and a few flowering plants are the only forms of vegetation.

Forest: contains large group of trees, scrubs, flowers, grasses, ferns, seedlings, lichens, and mosses. This biome has the largest variety of vegetation.

Grassland: the main vegetation is grass with a few scattered trees.

Desert: this biome receives less than 10 inches of rain a year and has little to no vegetation.

Mountain: the vegetation varies in this biome as the elevation changes.

Permafrost: a layer of permanently frozen ground.

Semiarid: A climate that is dry but not as dry as a desert.

1. Print a map of the United States including Alaska. As a class label the biomes, i.e. tundra would be in Alaska, forest in Washington.

2. Divide the class into groups, give each group a piece of labeled with each biome and several magazines. Have the groups go through the magazines and glue the pictures they find for each biome (i.e. a polar bear or ice berg would be glued on the piece of paper labeled tundra).

3. Have the students determine which of the five biomes has the least amount of flora and fauna and which has the most.

Mountain biomes, Tundra biomes, Grassland biomes, Forest biomes, Desert Biomes