Topic: Wildlife in the desert

Supplementary material for use in lessons in the group of natural sciences (nature, biology, chemistry, geography, physics), additional classes, science clubs. It can serve as a resource for expanding knowledge, preparing students for science competitions.

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

Grade V Geography
IV. Landscapes of the world: humid equatorial forest and temperate forest, savannah and steppe, hot and ice desert, taiga and tundra, Mediterranean, high altitude Himalayas; zonation and climatological vegetation in the world. Pupil:
3) presents the main features and compares the known landscapes of the world and recognizes them in descriptions, films and illustrations;
4) recognizes plants and animals typical of the landscapes that are known;

General aim of education

Students recognize and name the organisms typical of the hot desert.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• recognize plants and animals living in hot deserts;

• discuss the relationship between the climate of the hot desert and the appearance of vegetation occurring on it;

• recognize selected animals living in the hot desert.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • brainstorming.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• large sheets of paper with a continental outline, glue, scissors, crayons.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Before the lesson, the teacher asks pupils to search in colorful magazines and on the internet for pictures of plants and animals found in the hot desert.

Introduction

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

• The teacher asks students to read the given fragment of the abstract and try to remember its content. Then the participants, working in pairs, ask each other about the knowledge of the fragment.

• The teacher asks pupils to do exercise No. 1 themselves.

• Teams receive their own work – a map of the world. The task of each team is to make a collage of photos depicting life in the hot desert.

• The teacher using the interactive illustration explains to pupils the occurrence of similar traits in unrelated species living in a similar environment.

Summary

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

• The teacher chooses one student by random method and asks him or her to explain in own words the meaning of a given word or concept learned during the lesson.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Wildlife in the desert

Adverse water conditons mean that deserts are characterised by extremely low vegetation. In peripheral areas of the deserts, there are often regions where total precipitation is slightly higher. They have scarce vegetation – such regions are known as semi‑deserts. Deserts are also characterised by oases where there is enough water for vegetation to grow and develop.

Desert and semi‑desert vegetation manage their water efficiently. They reduce water evaporation during the day and have the ability to absorb water from mildew (or fog) during the night. Their leaves are reduced in size and covered with substances that impede evaporation. They can survive long hibernation periods. After it rains, annual plants can germinate, grow, bloom and produce seeds that will survive until next rainfall, all in an incredibly short period of time. Perennial plants, on the other hand, have severely reduced the size of their leaves and developed their root systems. Some of them hibernate underground during a draught period, in the form of bulbs, rhizomes or roots, and wait for rain so that they may rapidly grow their above‑ground parts together with annual plants. Other plants live on the surface in the form of arid patches, undershrubs, shrubs or low trees covered with thorns. A number of perennial plants stores water in leaves or stems.

Long‑term absence of water, low humidity, high air temperature during the day and low temperature at night mean that the living conditions for animal life in the desert are extremely harsh. Additionally, low vegetation means that there isn’t enough food for herbivorous animals. As a result, only a small number of animal species inhabits desets.

Deserts and semi‑deserts are inhabited by intervertabrates, but their presence is difficult to detect, as many of them hide below ground level. Termites, ants and several other species of wingless insects can also be found there. In addition, there are also beetles who are able to absorb mildrew and use condensation formed on their sheels and appendages. The most commonly known example of arachnids are venomous scorpions, but there are also many other arachnid species present.

The group of vertebrates that is well adapted to periodical water shortages are reptiles. They can store water within their body and favour high temperature. Therefore, their population in desert areas is relatively high. There is a particularly diverse population of different species of lizards and snakes. The African spurred turtle is another well‑recognised species present in such regions.

Mammals can also be found in the desert. Some of them are nocturnal and protect themselves from the heat during the day by hiding in burrows, while others live underground. There are also camels and antelopes like oryxes and addaxes, which can survive without water for several months, as they assimilate water directly from food. Despite being larger than humans, camels consue five times more water per hour than humans. The critter population, which is a source of food for reptiles and a small predator –vennec fox (fennec), is also diverse. In Australia, desert regions are inhabited by marsupials.

• Deserts and semi‑desertsare characterised by similar climatic conditions.

• Living conditions in the desert and semi‑deserts are extremely harsh.

• A few plant species have adapted to life in the desert.

• Desert animals have to overcome constant water shortages and high air temperature