World Biomes - Whitstone School

GEOGRAPHY
Year 8
World Biomes
Home Learning Booklet
The Home Front – World War One & Two
Name
Tutor Group
Teacher
Given out:
Monday 28 September
Parent/Carer Comment
Staff Comment
Target
Hand in:
Monday 5 October
The world is split into different sections depending on its climate and vegetation. These sections are
called biomes. You have already studied one biome in class; the tropical rainforest. In this homework
booklet you will have the opportunity to compare the tropical rainforest to other biomes in the world.
Task 1- World Biomes (10-15 mins)
Task 1
Using the map, give three facts explaining where tropical rainforests can be found.
(Tip: Name of continents, any patterns you can see and use the lines of latitude to help you.)
Bronze
1. ______________________________________________________________________________________
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Using the map, give three facts explaining where the savanna can be found.
(Tip: Name of continents, any patterns you can see and use the lines of latitude to help you.)
Silver
2. ______________________________________________________________________________________
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Using the map, give three facts explaining where temperate forests can be found.
(Tip: Name of continents, any patterns you can see and use the lines of latitude to help you.)
Gold
3. ______________________________________________________________________________________
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Task 2- What are the different biomes like? (10 mins)
Read carefully through the descriptions of each biome. Match the picture to the correct description by
drawing an arrow. Your arrows can go to pictures on the left or right.
All to complete
Area of lush vegetation with many tall
trees and lots of rainfall, often no
seasons are obvious.
This place is often very cold throughout
most of the year with short summers.
In summer the day is very long.
This part of the world has a lot of grass
and some large animals. The weather
here can be very hot and there are
often fires in late summer.
This place is home to the grizzly bear
and the moose, the trees are often
coniferous and the winters are long
and cold. There is more in the north
than the south.
Area with little or no rainfall. Little or
no vegetation. Can be either very hot
or very cold.
In this place we often find lemon trees,
lots of oranges. There is a drought in
the summer but rain in the winter and
snow is rare.
There are lots of different types of
trees, mostly deciduous - trees that
lose their leaves. An area with clear
seasons.
Task 3 – Climate of the Biomes (30 mins)
London, UK
Nyala, Sudan
70
60
205
50
15
20
Nov
Dec
30
Aug
Sept
Oct
0
Jan
Feb
0 40
5
Months
10
10
30
100
25
80
20
Rainfall (mm)60
40
Temp (oC)
20
15
10
5
Rainfall (mm)
0
Rainfall (mm)
Temp (oC)
0
Months
Nov
Dec
Aug
Sept
Oct
June
July
March
April
May
0
Jan
Feb
0
Temp (oC)
2510
80
June
July
Rainfall (mm)
Temp (oC)
15
40
10
35
120
Climate Graph for London, England
March
April
May
Rainfall (mm)
50
20
40
140
20
60
30
160
25
70
Jan
Feb
March
April
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
80
Temp (oC)
Climate Graph for Nyala, Sudan
Climate Graph for London, England
Look at the graphs above.
Look closely at the axis on the sides of the graph - what do they mean?
Months
These graphs show you the climate of a place over a year, the months of the year are along the bottom.
The graph shows you two pieces of information, the bars show you the amount of precipitation (rain)
and the line shows you the temperature. For example, In London in January, there is 50mm of rain and
the temperature is a little under 5°C. The two graphs have been labelled onto the map to show you
where they are located.
Rai
Tem
Task 3
Using the pictures and graphs on the opposite page, describe what the climate is like in the Savanna
(The graph for Nyala, Sudan).
[Tip: Use evidence from the graph and full sentences.]
Silver
Gold
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Task 3 Extension: For an extra house point!
Can you think of any reasons why the temperature in the Sudan is higher than in London?
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Task 3- African Savanna (20 mins)
The Savanna Biome covers about a quarter of all the land on Earth. The largest area of Savanna is in
Africa. Below is a map of Africa with a list of countries where savanna can be found. Using a yellow
pencil, carefully colour all the countries that are part of the savanna.
All to complete
Senegal
Gambia
Guinea Bissau
Guinea
Mali (Southern half only)
Burkina Faso
Cote D’Ivoire
Ghana
Togo
Benin
Nigeria
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad (southern half only)
Sudan (southern half only)
Ethiopia
Uganda
Tanzania
Kenya
Zambia
Angola
Namibia (northern half only)
Botswana
South Africa
Lesotho
Swaziland
Mozambique
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Malawi
Rwanda
Burundi
What are the other biomes in Africa?
Look back at the map from task 3 and list them below:
1)_______________________________
2)_______________________________
3)_______________________________
4)_______________________________
Task 4 - (What is the Savannah like? (1 hour)
All to complete
Over the next two pages there is a lot of information about the Savanna. Use this information to fill in
the boxes on the third page so you form a fact file about the African Savanna. Include plenty of
information, photos and diagrams.
A savanna is a grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees, which can be found between a
tropical rainforest and desert biome. Not enough rain falls on a savanna to support forests. Savannas
are also known as tropical grasslands. They are found in a wide band on either side of the equator on
the edges of tropical rainforests.
Savannas have warm temperatures all year round. There are actually two very different seasons in a
savanna; a very long dry season (winter), and a very wet season (summer). In the dry season only an
average of about 4 inches of rain falls. Between December and February no rain will fall at all. Oddly
enough, it is actually a little cooler during this dry season. But don't expect sweater weather; it is still
around 70° F.
In the summer there is a lot of rain. In Africa the monsoon rains begin in May. An average of 15 to 25
inches of rain falls during this time. It gets hot and very humid during the rainy season. Every day the
hot, humid air rises off the ground and collides with cooler air above and turns into rain. In the
afternoons on the summer savanna the rains pour down for hours. African savannas have large herds of
grazing and browsing hoofed animals. Each animal has a specialized eating habit that reduces
competition for food.
There are several different types of savannas around the world. The savannas we are most familiar with
are the East African savannas covered with acacia trees. The Serengeti Plains of Tanzania are some of
the most well known. Here animals like lions, zebras, elephants, and giraffes and many types of
ungulates (animals with hooves) graze and hunt. Many large grass-eating mammals (herbivores) can
survive here because they can move around and eat the plentiful grasses. There are also lots of
carnivores (meat eaters) who eat them in turn.
Plants of the savannas are highly specialized to grow in this environment of long periods of drought.
They have long tap roots that can reach the deep water table, thick bark to resist annual fires, trunks
that can store water, and leaves that drop off during the winter to conserve water. The grasses have
adaptations that discourage animals from grazing on them; some grasses are too sharp or bitter tasting
for some animals to eat, but not others. The side benefit of this is that every species of animal has
something to eat. Different species will also eat different parts of the grass. Many grasses grow from the
bottom up, so that the growth tissue doesn't get damaged by grazers. Many plants of the savanna also
have storage organs like bulbs and corms for making it through the dry season.
Most of the animals on the savanna have long legs or wings to be able to go on long migrations. Many
burrow underground to avoid the heat or raise their young. The savanna is a perfect place for birds of
prey like hawks and buzzards. The wide, open plain provides them with a clear view of their prey, hot air
updrafts keep them soaring, and there is the occasional tree to rest on or nest in. Animals don't sweat to
lose body heat, so they lose it through panting or through large areas of exposed skin, or ears, like those
of the elephant.
The savanna has a large range of highly specialized plants and animals. They all depend on each other to
keep the environment in balance. There are over 40 different species of hoofed mammals that live on
the savannas of Africa. Up to 16 different species of browsers (those who eat leaves of trees) and
grazers can coexist in one area. They do this by having their own food preferences, browsing/grazing at
different heights, time of day or year to use a given area, and different places to go during the dry
season.
These different herbivores provide a wide range of food for carnivores, like lions, leopards, cheetahs,
jackals and hyenas. Each species has its own preference, making it possible to live side by side and not
be in competition for food.
Threats
1) Changes in fire management
Savannas often have wildfires. These fires are usually just across the grassland and don’t affect the
trees; however, they can kill the tree seedlings which means that new trees do not grow. Fires are
actually good for the savanna in most cases and help to maintain a good variety of plants (biodiversity).
African tribes used to deliberately burn parts of the savanna to increase biodiversity and change the
structure of the woodlands. Now that this doesn’t happen any more, trees and shrubs are taking over in
some places and stopping the grass from growing. Also because large herbivores such as elephants tend
to eat the shrubs and trees there is less fuel for burning, leading to fewer and cooler fires. The
introduction of exotic plants has also led to less fires as there is a fresh supply of green growth all year
round from these plants.
2) Grazing and browsing animals
The lovely open grassland of the savanna is the ideal place to graze domestic livestock such as sheep,
goats and cattle. The removal of large areas of grass by grazing herds has affected the savanna in two
ways. Grasses compete with the woody shrubs for water. The removal of the grass by the cattle means
there is more water available for the trees and so more trees can grow. With less fires to burn down
these woody shrubs, the savanna can be changed from lush grassland to wooded areas.
Grazing, however, also encourages weeds to grow in the savanna. Once again the weeds compete with
the grass for water so if the grass is eaten it leaves the water available to be taken up by the weed,
reducing the amount of grass overall. Cattle and horses also spread the seeds of the weeds in their
faeces (poo) and enable the weeds to spead over larger distances.
Grazing animals like cows can also affect the condition of the soil by squashing it down and breaking it
up with their hooves. By removing the grass and then churning up the soil there is no protection from
soil erosion and the soil is either blown or washed away. In some cases this can lead to severe
desertification where parts of the savanna are turned into desert-like places through intense overuse by
humans.
3) Tree clearing
Large areas of the Australian and South American savannas have been cleared of trees completely. The
clearing is carried out by farmers trying to improve the quality and quantity of food available for their
animals. By removing the trees there is more water available for the grasses to grow and can lead to a
four fold increase in the amount of grass.
Where
Vegetation
Climate
Threats
Task 5 – Where is the Tundra? (10 minutes)
Silver
Gold
The second biome that we are going to look at is theTundra. The Tundra is located near the top of the
world and covers around 1/7th of the Earth’s surface. It is one of the coldest and harshest places in the
world and is the most fragile climate region on Earth.
Go back to the map on task 1 or task 3 and using that map carefully, shade in blue the areas of the world
that are tundra.
Describe the distribution of the Tundra from your map using named locations of continents (and
countries if you can).
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Silver
Gold
Task 6 - Tundra Landscape (10 mins)
Read the resource about the tundra landscape and then answer the questions below.
The name Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturi which means treeless plain. For most of the year
the Tundra is covered in snow, but in summer some of this will melt away. Because of the very harsh
climate it is extremely difficult for anything to grow there. Plants and animals have to be well adapted to
survive and both are very vulnerable to any slight changes in the environment. The foundation of the
whole Tundra ecosystem rests on a layer of ground called the Permafrost. This permafrost is a frozen
layer of soil and dead plant material that in some places extends to almost 450 metres under the
surface. In much of the Arctic it is frozen all year round. In the southern regions, the surface layer above
the permafrost melts during the summer and this forms bogs, marshes and shallow lakes that invite an
explosion of animal life. Insects swarm around the bogs, and millions of migrating birds arrive to come
and feed on them.
Because of global warming, the autumn freeze comes later in the year and more of the permafrost is
melting. Shrubs and spruce that previously couldn't take root on the permafrost now dot the landscape,
potentially altering the habitat of the native animals.
Another major concern is that the melting of the permafrost is actually contributing to global warming.
It is estimated that about 14 percent of the Earth’s carbon is tied up in the permafrost. Until recently,
the Tundra acted as a carbon sink and captured huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
as part of photosynthesis. This process helped keep the amount of this greenhouse gas from
accumulating in the atmosphere.
Today, however, as the permafrost melts and dead plant material decomposes, it releases carbon
dioxide (CO²) into the atmosphere.
1) Why is there very little plant life in the Tundra?
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2) Why are there no trees in the Tundra (think about how the permafrost would stop trees growing)?
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3) What problems are caused by the melting of the permafrost?
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Silver
Task 7 – What is Permafrost? (10 mins)
Gold
Permafrost is defined as the temperature of soil or rock that remains below 0oC throughout the year. It
forms when the ground cools so much in winter that the frozen layer then lasts all summer without
melting.
Surface water and tundra vegetation
Active Layer (up to 4m deep)
Saturated (full with water) in the
summer, frozen solid in the winter.
Permafrost (up to 1500m deep)
Frozen ground that does not let
water travel through (impermeable)
and behaves like solid rock unless it
thaws.
Sub-permafrost
Unfrozen and saturated with water.
Look
carefully
at
the
diagram
of
permafrost and use it to explain why this
house in Alaska is sinking.
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Explain why utilities such as water pipes and sewerage pipes cannot be built underground in
permafrost areas.
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Task 8 - Living in the Tundra (1 hour)
Silver
Gold
Using this diagram, plus all the other information you have learned about the Tundra, design an
information poster with the title
‘Tough in the Tundra’ on the next page or on the computer. It
should include the following things:

Warnings about living with permafrost.

The difficulties of living in such a cold and remote place in the world.

What things you need to survive.
For Task 8
Task 9 Extension – Imagine you are Bear Grylls and you have been dropped in the middle of the
Canadian Tundra. All you have with you is a penknife and the clothes you are wearing. You have to
survive for a week before someone will come to collect you.
Use the internet to research the types of plants in the tundra that you might be able to eat. Are there
any ways you can think of that you could trap and kill animals? How will you keep warm? Where will you
sleep? In the space below explain how you would survive.
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Self Evaluation of my Homework
I am a R____________________ learner.
I know this because:
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I believe that my effort and attitude to learning for this booklet is a:
1
2
3
4
I know this because:
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