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Biomes and Their Differences

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Biomes and Their Differences

Explore how climate shapes biomes. Read the field notes and use the visual comparisons to answer each question. Use evidence from the notes in your explanations.

Field notes: three very different places

A biome is a large region with a characteristic climate and communities of plants and animals. Climate means the usual pattern of temperature and precipitation over a long time.

Biome

Typical temperature

Precipitation

Plant-life clue

Tropical rainforest

Warm most of the year

High

Dense trees and vines

Desert

Often hot; can vary greatly

Very low

Sparse shrubs and grasses

Tundra

Very cold; short summer

Low

Low-growing plants; few or no trees

Read the clues

Think like a field ecologist: connect conditions to the plants and animals that can live there.

1.Which statement best describes a biome?

A large region with a characteristic climate and living communities
A single type of animal found in one place
A short spell of unusual weather
A small patch of land with only one plant

2.Which two climate factors in the comparison are most useful for explaining differences between these biomes?

3.Match each biome to the plant-life clue that best fits it.

Tropical rainforest
Desert
Tundra

Low-growing plants; few or no trees
Dense trees and vines
Sparse shrubs and grasses

4.A field team records warm conditions and high precipitation throughout the year. Which biome in the comparison is the best match?

Tropical rainforest
Desert
Tundra
All three equally

5.True or false: A desert must be hot all year because it receives very little precipitation.

TrueFalse

6.Complete the sentence: Tundra plants tend to grow low to the ground because the tundra is very and has a short growing season.

7.Compare the desert with the biome in the comparison that receives high precipitation. Give one climate difference and explain how it relates to the plant-life clues in the comparison.

8.A plant that needs lots of water is moved from a rainforest to a very dry desert. Predict one challenge it may face and explain why.

9.Australia has extensive arid and semi-arid regions. Name one kind of plant or animal adaptation that could help an organism cope with scarce water, and explain how it helps.