What is your Biome?

What’s Your Biome?

A WebQuest for 6^th Grade (Science)

Designed by

Brandon Chong

bchong@niu.edu

Introduction

In our class we have been learning about the relationship between animals and plants, as well as animals and their homes. What is a larger relationship? How about the community of animals and plants? What groups them together? In this unit, we will explore many large communities of animals and plants and what characteristics keep them together.

Task

You and your documentary team have just been given the Paul Kelter Award from Northern Illinois University that includes enough money to live and film in any biome you want to for one year. You can choose to live in the arctic tundra or even the dry and sandy lands of the deserts.

But with all good things comes a catch! To get the money, you must write a letter to the university that tells what biome you have chosen, why you chose it, what animals and plants you expect to study, and any hardships you might encounter. It is time to start collecting information earn the trip!

You will complete two activity sheets prior to your final letter to the university letter in order to assist you in organizing and recording your findings. The first sheet gives you an opportunity to research various biomes and compare them. The second sheet is used when your team selects a biome. This sheet has four categories for each member of the team to research. The end result is a letter persuading the university to fund the trip to the biome.

Process

To start, you and your team need to see your options. Just what are you looking for?

Just some of the many biomes include:

Tundra	Taiga	Temperate Forest	Rainforest	Grassland
Desert	Coral reef	Pond	Savanna	Cave

When you and your team are exploring different biomes, use this helpful activity sheet to record your findings.

Activity Worksheet Directions:

1. List the biomes in the category down the left side of the grid. This can include tundra, desert, and rainforest.
2. Across the top of the chart, list features that describe biomes. This can include types of plants, animals, climate, and geography. Large plants? Herbivores? Hot and humid? Cold and windy? Mountainous? Write your ideas!
3. Consider each word in the category relative to the features listed across the top. Use (+) to indicate yes and (-) to indicate no.
4. When you complete the sheet, use it to help you and your documentary team decide on your destination!

Your teacher will provide you all with a copy!

Now that you chose your biome, let’s search for more information!

Each team member will research a characteristic of the chosen biome, and discuss in the group what they have learned. Write their names next to the characteristic:

Climate: _________________

Geography: ______________

Plant Life: ________________

Animal Life: _______________

The climate and geography also determines a biome. What climate does this biome have? Where are they located on the planet? Can humans live in this environment or do they have to adapt to it (For example, I cannot survive in the arctic tundra without a lot of sweaters and a coat!)?

To support your choice, find at least 5 different types of plant life, 5 animals (3 herbivores, and 2 carnivores). What are their traits? How does their home help them survive?

Use the Frayer Model to record your findings.

Your teacher will provide you all with a copy!

If you find more information that you would like to record (and I’m most certain that you will), then keep writing them down! Attach them to the Frayer Model.

Now that your team is an expert on the biome, it is time to write the letter to Northern Illinois University to earn the Paul Kelter Award.

Write to the director of awards, Mr. Chong, and tell him about the biome you want to live in. What are you curious about? What makes you excited about going there? What are the plants like? The animals? What about the climate and geography? Is your team going to run into any difficulties?

Evaluation

During the students’ work period, the teacher will make informal assessments by observing and asking questions. Did the students use their sheets to construct their letters? Did they seek different biomes prior to choosing one for the letter? Did they individually do their research on the biome?

Conclusion

The students will learn that biomes are regions of the world that are distinguished by their climate, geography, and communities of wildlife. They also experience two types of graphic organizers that help students visualize what they interpret through reading, listening, and viewing.The class will conclude with a read-aloud of their letters and the presentation of the Paul Kelter Award (everyone gets one of course upon completion).

Teacher's Biome

In the activity sheets they use in the process, students compare and contrast different biomes, and organize different characteristics of a single biome into a graphic organizer. In the letter, students will describe their biome and its features, and present questions that they hope to answer, and assemble their collected information in an organized manner.

This lesson meets the following Illinois Learning Standards for Science:

11.A.2c Construct charts and visualizations to display data

11.A.2d Use data to produce reasonable explanations

11.A.2e Report and display the results of individual and group investigations

12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different environments.

To conclude their letters, the teacher can create certificates to present to all the winners of the Paul Kelter Award for a job well done.