Instructor Notes

This unit is designed to engage students actively in learning about terrestrial biomes. They will use the internet as a source of data, as an information resource, and as a vehicle to share their learning. They will work collaboratively both within their classroom and internationally using electronic communication options. Any educational institution is welcomed to implement this unit. Please contact the project leaders for additional information.

Before implementing this instructional unit, you will want to review the student activities and verify that all of the links are intact. The following are some additional notes, tips and hints to assist you in instructing these unit easily. Page number references are to the text used for Environmental Biology at Glendale Community College (Biology, 7th Edition, by Sylvia Mader and published by McGraw Hill).

Activities

• 1: Collecting and Analyzing Climate Data

• 2: Biomes

• 3: Application Problems

• 4: Importance of Using Averages

• 5: Telecollaborative Projects

Tips on Using Excel for this Project

Activity 1-Collecting and Analyzing Climate Data

You will want to select locations with available climate data representing the major terrestrial biomes with which you wish your students to become familiar. The number of locations selected will depend on the size of your class, the number of biomes you wish to cover, and the size of your collaborative groups.

The data collection part of this activity may be done as an in-class or a homework assignment. It is recommended that the student do the graphing part of the activity with their groups. Depending on your students' expertise with graphing, the climatographs may be drawn, constructed using a spreadsheet software package such as Excel, or both.

If you are using Excel, you will want to use the "XY (Scatter)"graph from the "Standard types" menu for the precipitation vs. temperature graph. For the graphs showing seasonal fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, the "Line - Column on 2 Axes" chart from the "Built-in Custom types" menu works well. A sample of these charts can be seen here. Some tips on using Excel in this exercise are included. The advantage of using a spreadsheet software is that it allows for easy manipulation of data and superpositioning of graphs which can be very useful in Activity 2.

Return to Activity List

Student Page

Activity 2-Understanding and Identifying Biomes

Rather than simply being presented information on the biomes in a more traditional lecture format, students are being challenged to match their assigned location to the corresponding biome. Successful accomplishment of this goal will require students to thoughtfully review the salient features of all the biomes and to discern the distinguishing features unique to their assigned geographic location. They are also given responsibility to share their climatographs and teach their classmates about that biome in a brief oral report. This task should help increase students' ownership, accountability, and level of concern about this material.

The web resources identified in this exercise provide descriptive information, photographs, and additional climatographic data. We encourage you to require your class to consult their text as well. For increased depth of content, you also may wish to require your students find additional web or library reference materials about their assigned biome.

We strongly encourage that time be allotted for students compare their graphs to those provided for other locales in the same biome on these websites. This exercise will help students to recognize the common features that unify these locations as the same biome but also to appreciate the range of climatic conditions that can exist in this type of environment. These points should be drawn out with questions or discussion during student presentations.

When the climatographs of the different biomes are superimposed on the same precipitation and temperature axes, the pattern of their distribution is characteristic. Climatographs of the different biomes can easily be superpositioned using spreadsheet software. It is a worthwhile exercise for students to compare their climate data to a standardized chart showing such a diagnostic pattern for the various biomes (e.g., Figure 26-4 Mader. Note that the temperature scale in this figure is inverted from student climatographs). Such a comparison exercise will likely require students to make conversions between inches and centimeters and between Fahrenheit and Celsius (equations and online converters are provided on the resource page).

This activity also forces students to recognize that in order to compare the visual pattern of two graphs, one must pay attention to scale. The scale appropriate for precipitation in a tropical rain forest would likely not be selected for the climatograph of a desert biome. It is worth emphasizing this matter in your discussion of climatographs.

Student presentations should be made at the end of Activity 2 or before Activity 3.

Return to Activity List

Student Page

Activity 3-Using what we've learned

The application activities in this unit allow students to assess their knowledge of the climatic and biotic characteristics of the major terrestrial biomes. The first two activities are from a NASA sponsored website called "Earth Observatory." In the first of these, the student is presented with images and information about several species of plants and asked in which biome they would thrive. In the second, the user is presented with climatographs from several locations throughout the world and is asked to identify the biome. The last activity in this lesson is similar to the second NASA activity but is based on student-generated climatographs of locations throughout the world (generated by previous students of this module during Lesson 5). The size of this collection will depend on the number of submissions received.

Return to top

Student Page

Activity 4-It is important to work with averages

In this activity students are asked to collect data for Phoenix, AZ during 1978, an unusually wet year. This activity not only reviews the skills and knowledge developed in Lessons 1 and 2, but also is intended to help students realize the importance of using climatic data averaged over as many years as possible in identifying biomes. Based on this single year's data, Phoenix would appear to be a grassland, but when 1978 is averaged in with the data of other years, it is clearly a desert. You will also want to develop the point that while long term climatic change in an area can lead to a change in a biome over time, a location's biome does not change from year to year based on the weather.

This same activity could be done with any other geographic locale using any year where the temperature and/or precipitation seems to be significantly above or below the average.

Return to Activity List

Student Page

Activity 5-Capstone activity

In this final activity, students are asked to collect and analyze one more set of climatic data* about either a location of their choice or their own community. They are then to work with their group to put together a brief report describing the climatic and natural history of this particular biome. Essential elements of this report are listed in student materials and sample versions are provided. This activity applies the important skills and concepts developed in this unit and extends them into the arena of biodiversity.

It is hoped that this activity will help students to appreciate the interdependence between organisms and their environment and to gain a deeper understanding of the various ecosystems found on Earth.

This activity is collaborational on several different levels. First the students are working with classmates to do this project. Secondly, their reports become a learning tool for future students by becoming part of the bank of student-generated climatographs used in Lesson 3. And thirdly, this activity can be extended into an international collaboration by having students correspond with students in a school in their selected location. One source of such science e-pals is the database of schools participating in the GLOBE program. However, your contacts are certainly not limited to this group. Any group interested in participating is welcomed.

We would like to link as many student-generated climatographs and reports to this site as possible. If you have web publishing capabilities, please contact the project leaders with your URLs so that they may be linked to this project site. If you do not have the ability to publish, please contact the project leaders to make arrangements for publication of your students' work.

Publication of student work not only helps to build our bank of information for the use of future students but, in our experience, also typically raises students' personal standards by enlarging their audience.

*Note: Data sources need not be limited to web-based records. Climate data for some locations may only be available in agency archives.

Return to Activity List

Student Page