This is the first presentation for the Biomes Journey. In this section, students will learn about the living and non-living parts of a biome. They will focus on animals, plants, geography, and climate.

______________________________________________

Begin the Biomes Journey by asking students to look at the pictures on this slide. Tell students that these represent different areas on the Earth. Ask students the following questions:

Ask students: What is similar about the pictures? 

Ask students: What is different about the pictures?

Using the pictures, discuss that one of the similarities is that in all of these areas on Earth there are living organisms. This includes plants and animals as well as other organisms such as fungi and bacteria. Continue the discussion focusing on the differences of the areas: different terrains, different climate, and different organisms that live in each of the areas.

Conclude the discussion by explaining that these pictures represent one of the ways in which scientists can classify the Earth. They can classify different areas of the world into groups called biomes.  Tell students that to better understand the concept of a biome, they will first begin by looking at what makes up a biome in the next several slides.

______________________________________________

Scientists observed there were areas of the Earth that had similar climates and similar types of plants and animals. They gave the name Biome to these areas. Biomes represent different geographic areas of the Earth. The map on this slide shows different biomes. Different colors represent different biomes. The detailed biome divisions vary greatly depending on the source.

Introduce the concept of a biome to students using this slide. Students may not completely understand the concept of a biome from the definition on this slide. However, as students view the next set of slides and the rest of the slides in the Biomes Journey, they should develop a deeper understanding of the concept of a biome.

There are essentially three factors that constitute a biome: climate, plants, and animals. Climate and plant life are more indicative or descriptive of a biome than animal life. Many times, a biome can be described solely by vegetation and climate. Once described, the animals that live in that biome are identified. In addition, biomes carry with them a geographical component. This means that all over the Earth, you will tend to find similar biomes at similar latitudes. This is because of the correlation of biomes with climate. As a result, you may notice that many biomes appear to be stretched horizontally on this map.

______________________________________________

This slide introduces students to one of the key parts of a biome – climate. The climate is intricately linked with biome classification. Therefore, if students are to develop a deeper understanding of biomes, they need to understand what is meant by climate and what determines the climate of a geographical area on Earth.

Stress to students that an area’s climate cannot be determined by one, two, or even five years of data. To truly define and describe the climate of an area requires the study of several decades of data so that any unusual weather events, such as back-to-back blizzards one winter followed by a string of sunny, 70°F days the same time next year do not exert too much influence in determining the area’s climate. This is similar to students collecting multiple observations in their own experiments in order to form accurate conclusions from their lab investigations.

______________________________________________

Because climate includes conditions such as temperature, precipitation (rain), wind, and seasons, students may be tempted to confuse the climate of an area with its weather. This slide provides an opportunity to discuss the difference between the weather of an area with the climate of an area.

In addition to the points listed in the slide, another way that students can distinguish weather from climate is to think of the climate of a region as the result of the weather. The day-to-day weather, when looked at over a long period such as 30 years, makes up the climate of a region. In this way, students may understand that the reason that people can predict what the weather will be like during different months of the year is that they are really describing the climate of the area in which they live.   

When people began keeping records of the daily weather and then reviewing it they found that they could predict what the temperature and precipitation would be like during different times of the year. This is because the climate of the area is relatively consistent year after year.  The weather, however, usually changes from day to day.

______________________________________________

This slide helps students to view climate in a global sense. When observations of climate around the world were combined, a pattern emerged. The Earth could be divided into five basic types of climate based primarily on annual and monthly averages of temperatures and precipitation. Although not presented here, students will hopefully see later that these five basic climate regions correspond to different biomes. The five major regions are (from coldest to warmenst) are: polar, cold, temperate, hot, and tropical.

The division of the Earth into five major climatic regions was introduced in 1900 by a Russian-German climatologist, Wladimir Köppen. It should be noted that although five basic climate regions were initially described by Köppen and are presented in this slide for elementary students, today’s scientists can further divide these 5 major climate regions into smaller climate regions that distinguish specific seasonal characteristics of temperature and precipitation. For example, they may define two different types of areas in the tropical region: one with adequate precipitation all year round and no dry season and those areas that have precipitation most of the year with a short dry season. 

______________________________________________

In addition to climate which is a non-living component of a biome, a biome also includes a living component. This living component encompasses all living organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. For the purposes of this Journey, the living component will be described as the plants and animals living within that geographical area.

Within a biome, the plants and animals interact with each other in specific ways. Understanding these interactions can help scientists understand the effects of climate change on organisms and the effect of organisms on each other within the biome. One of the ways to describe the organisms within a biome is to look at the different populations of organisms. A population essentially refers to each individual species of organism. A species is a group of organisms that share genetic similarities and can reproduce. 

Ask students: What are examples of a population? Examples of a population would be all the deer in a forest or all the pansy plants in a field. Ask students to brainstorm additional examples.

If you think about a biome, you realize that it is not inhabited by only one population of organisms. Many different populations co-exist. This co-existence is referred to as the biome community. A community of organisms is essentially all of the populations of organisms that interact with each other. There are many different communities within a biome because not all areas of a biome have exactly the same resources and living conditions.

Ask students: What are examples of a community? Examples of a community would be all the deer, grass, and mice in a meadow or all the fish, coral, algae, and sharks in a coral reef. Ask students to brainstorm additional examples.

______________________________________________

One of the ways in which students may be familiar with a community is through a food web. All animals eat other organisms. Some animals eat other animals. Some animals eat only plants, and some eat both plants and animals.

A food web describes the patterns of feeding and being fed upon within a community. A food web describes interactions between plants and animals. 

Within a biome, climate or other changes produce changes in the populations within a biome due to disturbances within food webs.

Ask students: Look at the food chain on this slide. Can you describe what each of the animals eats to survive? Student answers may vary. Both squirrels and rabbits eat acorns and plants. The squirrel and rabbit may, in turn, be captured and consumed by either the weasel or wolf. Finally, the wolf may attach and eat the weasel.

______________________________________________

This slide shows hundreds of different animals and plants in different areas of the world. The class can spend some time looking at and discussing the details. The image below can be clicked and increased into a much larger format:

______________________________________________

An organism’s habitat is where an organism, population, or community lives, including food, water, temperature, oxygen, and minerals. For example, an eagle’s habitat is its nest within the tallest pine trees of a forest biome near a water source.   

In general, if a habitat does not or cannot meet the needs of a particular population or community, the organisms within the community must move to another habitat to survive. In many cases, changes within a habitat may occur over a relatively long period of time, and the organisms within the affected habitat will likely have migrated to another habitat that can support life.

This migration may be easier in the short term for animals because they are mobile. However, plants also “migrate” through the dispersal of seeds. Seeds, either carried by the wind or attached to animals, can be moved to different locations where the habitat will support life. There are circumstances in which the change to the habitat is so quick that organisms cannot re-locate. In these circumstances, the organisms face the possibility of not being able to survive the change.