- Biomes are large ecosystems defined by climate, plants and animals. The main factors that determine a biome are temperature and rainfall. - Six main biomes are described: tropical rainforests, tropical grasslands, tropical deserts, temperate grasslands, temperate coniferous forests, and arctic tundra. - Climate largely determines the types of plants in an area, which then support certain animal life. Temperature and precipitation patterns dictate the distribution of global biomes.

1. BIOMES

2. Lesson Objectives
1. Define and use appropriately the terms ecosystem, biomes.
2. Describe briefly the environmental features and the plants
and animals of each biome: tropical grasslands
(savannah), tropical rainforests, tropical deserts, temperate
grasslands, temperate coniferous forests, arctic tundra.
3. Identify the location of different biomes on a world map
4. Outline the influence of climate (temperature and rainfall)
on biomes, and the interrelationship between
environmental factors and the plants and animals within a
biome.

3. WHAT ARE BIOMES?
• Biomes are regions of the world that share similar climate,
animals and plants
OR
• They are a group ecosystems on land that share similar
characteristics in weather, vegetation and animal communities.
• They are often referred to as large ecosystems.
– Definition - What does Ecosystem mean?
An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals, and organisms) in
a given area that interact with each other, as well as the non-living
environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere) that surround
the living things.
• Examples of biomes include:
– Rainforest
– Desert
– Grassland

4. THE MAIN BIOMES

5. We will be examining biomes under
the following categories.
TROPICAL /HOT REGIONS TEMPERATE/COLD REGIONS
1. TROPICAL RAINFOREST
2. TROPICAL GRASSLANDS (SAVANNAS)
3. TROPICAL DESERTS
1. TEMPERATE CONIFEROUS FORESTS
2. TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS
3. ARCTIC TUNDRA

6. TROPICAL/EQUATORIAL RAINFOREST

8. • These are located near to the Equator.

9. Watch the video and use information from it to
complete the table.
1. LOCATION
2. CLIMATE
3. PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE (EXAMPLES)
4. NAMED EXAMPLES

10. • Tropical rainforests are found in warm regions
close to the equator.
• They receive a lot of rain.
• The warm temperatures do not vary much
throughout the year.
• The sunlight is fairly constant all year.
• They contain a wide variety of species of plants
and animals.
• They consist of dense forest.

11. • The Tropical Rainforest has 4 main layers:
– Forest Floor
– Understory layer
– Canopy layer
– Emergent layer
• Forest Floor
–The forest floor receives less than 2% of
the sunlight, therefore little grows here
except plants adapted to very low light.
– On the floor is a thin layer of fallen
leaves, seeds, fruits, and branches that
very quickly decomposes.

12. • Understory
– Receiving only 2-15% of the sunlight that falls on the
canopy, the understory is a dark place. It is relatively open
and contains young trees plants that tolerate low light.
• Canopy Layer
– This is where the broad, irregular crowns of trees form a
tight, continuous canopy 60 to 90 feet above the ground.
– The branches are often densely covered with other plants
(epiphytes) and tied together with vines (lianas).
– The canopy is home to 90% of the organisms found in the
rain forest; many seeking the brighter light in the treetops.
• Emergent Layer
– These giant trees grow above the dense canopy layer and
have huge mushroom-shaped crowns.
– These trees receive the greatest amount of sunlight.

13. Tropical Rainforest layers/ structure

15. GRADED HOMEWORK
Due Friday March 29,2019
• Research on the: THE STRUCTURE OF THE
TROPICAL RAINFOREST.
• Write a paragraph describing each layer of the
rainforest. (12 marks)
• Write ONE example of a plant and ONE example
of an animal at each level. (8 marks)
• Include a diagram/picture of the Rainforest
structure. (5 marks)
TOTAL = 25 MARKS

16. TROPICAL GRASSLAND/ SAVANNAS
They are located near
the equator, between
the Tropic of Cancer
and Tropic of
Capricorn .
They cover much of
Africa, South America,
India and Australia.

17. CLIMATE & VEGETATION
• Grasslands are generally found in areas where the
rainfall is light and unevenly distributed over the
year. The bulk of the rainfall occurs during the
summer. They have long dry seasons and short,
rainy seasons.
• The vegetation consists of a mixture of grass,
shrubs and small trees, but the seasonal rainfall
makes it difficult for many types of trees to grow.

18. • A common tree of the tropical grassland in Africa
(savanna) is the Baobab. This tree stores water in its
huge trunk in order to help it survive long periods of
dry weather.
• A common plant also is the Acacia ( a thorny bush).
• Grasslands have many of the largest animals on
Earth. Mainly herbivores, such as antelopes, zebras,
rhinoceros, giraffes and kangaroos.
• EXAMPLES include:
– Llanos of Venezuela
– Campos of Brazil
– Savanna of West, East and Central Africa
– Interior of northern Australia

22. TROPICAL DESERT

23. • They are located between latitudes of 30° N
(Tropic of Cancer) and 30° S (Tropic of
Capricorn).
EXAMPLES
– Africa: Sahara, Kalahari and Namib deserts.
– Asia: the Middle East and Thar desert of India.
– North America: Colorado, Mohave and Mexican
deserts.
– South America: Atacama desert.
– Australia: the Great Australian desert.

24. CLIMATE & VEGETATION
Daytime temperatures
can rise to 47°C. Night
temperature can drop to
as low as 5°C. They
receive less than 25
cm of precipitation per
year. Precipitation is very
irregular and unreliable.

25. The organisms that live in
the desert are adapted to
the lack of rain and to the
extreme temperatures.
Example, the cactus holds
water when it is raining.
The camel can survive for
many days without water.

26. Watch the video and use information from it to
complete the table.
1. LOCATION
2. CLIMATE
3. PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE (EXAMPLES)
4. NAMED EXAMPLES

29. TEMPERATE GRASSLAND

30. • Temperate grasslands are drier than tropical
grasslands and also colder.
• They occur in areas where the precipitation is
too light for trees to grow well and which have
a cold temperate type of climate.
• In such areas winters are long and very cold
and summers are short and not very warm.
• Precipitation is generally light, and in winter
falls in the form of snow.

32. Watch the video and use information from it to
complete the table.
1. LOCATION
2. CLIMATE
3. PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE
4. NAMED EXAMPLES

34. Watch the video and use information from it to
complete the table.
1. LOCATION
2. CLIMATE
3. PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE
4. NAMED EXAMPLES

35. TEMPERATE CONIFEROUS / BOREAL
FORESTS / TAIGA

36. • Temperate coniferous forests are also called
Boreal forests and Taiga.
• Coniferous forests adapt to the cold climate.
– They produce their seeds in cones and have leaves
shaped like needles, and have thick barks, example fir,
spruce, pine, larch and hemlock. [Coniferous means
cone-bearing]
– These keep water from evaporating.
– Because of low temperatures, the trees grow slowly
and are much smaller than those of the rainforest, and
there are far fewer species. The trees are also conical
in shape.
• Animals that have thick furs, such as squirrels,
deers, moose, beavers, wolves, brown bears, to
keep warm during colder/winter months.

40. Watch the video and use information from it to
complete the table.
1. LOCATION
2. CLIMATE
3. PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE
4. NAMED EXAMPLES

41. ARCTIC TUNDRA

42. • The tundra is an extremely cold, dry land biome.
• The tundra receives no more precipitation than
a desert. Most of the soil is frozen all year.
• Most of the soil in the tundra is frozen all year.
This frozen soil is called permafrost.
• During the short summer, the top layer of soil on
the tundra thaws.
• These areas are found across northern Alaska,
Canada and Russia.

43. Plants on the tundra
include mosses, grasses,
shrubs and some dwarf
trees.
Animals include foxes,
wolves and other animals
that grow thick fur coats.

45. Watch the video and use information from it to
complete the table.
1. LOCATION
2. CLIMATE
3. PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE
4. NAMED EXAMPLES

46. SUMMARY
• It is mostly the climate conditions –
temperature and rainfall – in an area that
determine its biome.
– Because climate determines the distribution of
plants in an area.
– Then the types of plants determine the kinds of
animals that live there.

47. REVIEW
• How does climate determine a biome’s
characteristics?
• Which land biome receives the most
precipitation?
• Which two receive the least?
• In which biome would you find large herbivores
such as antelope and elephants? Explain your
answer.
• How are the forest biomes (rainforests and
coniferous forests alike? How are they different?

48. • COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:
(1) ______________ is one factor that affects where
organisms live. A group of _______________ with
similar ___________ and organisms is called a
biome.
(2) By what other name are tropical grasslands
commonly known?
(3) How has the baobab tree adapted to survive long
periods of dry weather?
(4) Name the main areas of temperate grassland.
(5) In what important ways does the appearance of
the temperate grasslands differ from that of the
tropical grasslands?

49. 6. Explain what are meat by:
(a) Epiphytes
(b) Lianes
(c) Emergents
(d) Plank-buttress roots
7. USE THE WORDS BELOW TO COMPLETE THE
FOLLOWING:
feed; equatorial rainforest; evergreen; straight; hot;
sunlight; tropical rainforest; three; stands;
epiphytes; wet; lianes; crown; tall; plank-buttress.
Because the climate of the equatorial lowlands is always
_______________ and _______________ plants grow rapidly, and the
natural vegetation of such areas consists of a dense type of forest
known as ______________ ______________ __________ or
_______________ _____________ _____________. The main
features of this forest are:

50. (a) The trees are very _______________, as they reach upwards to
get their share of the ________________;
(b) There are often _____________ layers of trees;
(c) The trees have _____________, smooth-barked trunks, and do
not usually have any branches before the ________________;
(d) Many of the trees have _______________ ______________
roots, which are thought to help anchor them more firmly in the
soft ground;
(e) There are many ______________ such as bromeliads, ferns and
orchids – these grow on the trees for support, but do not actually
____________ on them.
(f) There are many _______________ . These are woody climbers
which twine around the trunks and branches of the trees.
(g) Because of the constant high temperatures and rainfall, most of
the trees are ____________ . They shed their old leaves and
grow new ones simultaneously throughout the year.
(h) There are a great number of different species of trees. They do
not grow in pure ________________ of one type. The individual
trees of each species are widely scattered.