Desert biome

Ahmad Khatib, Hamza Kahla, Kareem Shendi, Amelia Saleh

Pioneers Baccalaureate School- Nablus, Palestine

February 16, 2016

INTRODUCTION
Desert is the hottest place on earth. The Sahara dessert is the biggest dessert in the
world. Deserts take33% of land surface. Desert is home to a lot different and strange
plants and animals. The weather is really hot and dry in general. Though there are
different types of deserts.
ABSTRACT
This project is all about deserts, its animals, plants and problem it has to deal with.
There are a lot of dangerous animals and plants that can even kill you. We can get
underground water from the desserts. There are really important natural resources you
can find in the dessert.

The biggest problem on the desserts is the really hot and dry weather and the soil
is really not good for farming.

METHODS

Materials
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2.
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Plastic animals
Hot glue
Maps
Cartoon
Scissors
Styrofoam
Spray paint
DISCUSSION

Geographic Location
Hamza Kahla
As I know about the geographical location about all the deserts. That there are 35
major deserts in the world. The deserts depend on two factors latitude and global wind
patterns. The meaning of global wind patterns is the general circulation and the surface of

each hemisphere are divided into three belts. Most of the deserts are located between 15
to 35 latitude both north and south the equator. Most of the deserts are located south
eastern and north eastern trade winds belts.
The three belts of the wind patterns are:
-polar eastern lines: from 60-90 degrees latitude
-prevailing westerns: from 30-60 degrees latitude
-tropical eastern: from 0-30 degrees latitude
So now the two factors the desert depends on is latitude and tropical and prevailing
because there is degrees with it the connected with latitude.
Examples for countries that have deserts
Deserts biomes are found to be in:
-Algeria
-Chad
-Egypt
-Eritrea
-Ethiopia
-Iran
-Kuwait
-Niger
-Oman
-Qatar
-Saudi Arabia
-Somalia
-Tunisia
-United Arab emirates

-western Sahara
-Yemen
-china
-India
-Kazakhstan
-magnolia
-Pakistan
-Turkmenistan
-Uzbekistan
Natural resources
-rocks
-zinc
-aloe Vera
- Copper
-uranium
The most abundant natural resource are minerals such as copper, granite, mica,
and various types of clay. The desert are also natural resource that are used to make
syrups, medicines, and other products.
Zinc is a metal and it have a special name its (essential trace element). Very small
amounts of zinc they are good for human health. They use zinc in treatment and
prevention.
They use rocks and minerals from long time ago. They had used rocks in machines
and cities. They always use things made out of rocks because it has crystal in it. The
crystal in the rocks is really good. They can make a lot of things of it.
Uranium is a metallic silver-gray. The uranium used for fuel of nuclear reactors
and it's also used in nuclear weapons. Uranium has an atomic number of 92 which means
there are 92 protons and there is 92 electrons in the atomic structure.1

Climate
The dessert is known from its really hot weather. Most of the people when they
hear the word dessert there are two thing that pops into their mind which is the really hot
and dry weather. The dessert in the day is really hot, the maximum temperature is 40C to
45C which are common temperatures you can experience. Though in during the coldest
time in dessert the temperature may even fall to 0C. Every dessert is really hot at summer
though some like Gobi in Mongolia is an example of a cool dessert.
The dessert not only deals with really hot weather but also with really dry weather.
It doesnt experience that much rain in a year. In average less 10 inches (25 CM) of rain
falls per a year. Since there is not a lot of rain the air is really dry. In general the weather
is really tough and the lack of water is really harsh to live in for a long period of time.
The weather and climate causes for food and water to be hard to find and that is why
things and people that live on dessert have to be well adapted.
The global warming is affecting the earth. Some people dont notice and dont
care because it is not affecting the person's life. Soon everybody will feel that global
warming is affecting the life of everybody. The same thing is happening to the dessert,
but it's weird because arent desserts the hottest place in the world and nobody can
imagine for dessert to be hotter. Well there were studies going on that the soil in the
desserts are getting even hotter in effect of global warming. At 40C to 50C it was
discovered that the soil is becoming hotter and hotter.2
Landforms
Landforms of desert are specifically really beautiful. There are six types of
landform on dessert. Landforms are formed naturally by a little bit of rain or snow
through the year. Rock Pedestals are the first type of landform. They are created by
abrasion in which grains cut away the base of rock structures. Another type of landforms
are deflation hollows. They are formed sand that is carried by wind over long distances it
causes the depression to form which are called the deflation hollows.
Oasis is not found that often in desserts. It is one or more springs surrounded by
vegetation. They are mostly found in the middle of the dessert. Sand dunes are more
common to find then oasis. There are two different types of them which are barchan
dunes and seif dunes. Barchan dunes are formed by the action of wind facing from one
direction forming crescent-shaped dunes. Seif dunes are long and narrow or can be a
chain of dunes.

Yardans are similar to Sand dunes and are the result of sand grains pushed by
persistent winds. It is a soft carved rock and sometimes can be formed into really
impressive shapes. Desert pavements are the last of the six landforms. Mostly they are
covered with rocks and sand. That is because when the wind blows rocks and sand stop
behind if they are bigger. 3

Animals
Kareem Shindi
Deserts are 4 types: hot, semiarid, costal, and cold.
Animals that lives in the desert:
-coyote
-lizards
-scorpions
-snakes
-hyenas
All of these animals have a lot of things in common. They can retain water. They can
control body temperature avoid heat. 4
Dealing with lack of water
Dealing with extreme temperature
Thick outer covering
Woodland-junior.kentsch.uk/homework adaptation/desert.htm
Negev Desert
The Negev desert is located or the southern part of Palestine. The distance 1400
km. the temperature is so hot. It can go through 60 calculus in day and its cold. Its cold it
can go 7 calculus. Lots of Bedouin people live in their. The population of it it arise to
300000 people.

Plants
The limited amount of rain and the extreme daily changes in temperature make life
in the desert very difficult for plants. Regardless of the challenges plants face in this
biome, there are many different types of plants that grow in deserts but still, they dont
make a good percent of the earths plants. Common plant types that are found include:
1.

Barrel Cactus

2.

Saguaro

3.

Palm Trees

Now, I am going to talk about each one in a fast way. Barrel Cactus is the most
common plant found in the deserts across the world. Its height is almost 1 meter to 10
meters. This plant usually grows during April. The saguaro belongs to the cactus species.
They live about 150 years, but their growth depends on the amount of rainfall in the
deserts. They grow almost a mm per day. Their flowers bloom at night and stay from
April to June.
Palm trees grow in tropical, hot and humid conditions, as they cannot survive in
too much cold. They have a wide set of species, amounting to over 2,600.Also Palm
Trees are economically beneficial for humans, they produce many products that we use.
http://study.com/academy/lesson/desert-biomes-facts-climate-locations.html
http://listovative.com/top-9-plants-commonly-found-deserts/
Tourist Attractions
Desert is a hot place that when people go there they get bored, I got surprised that
there are many fun activities that we would be able to do, and I am one of the ones who
would like to do it. Lets move to the most common activity which is Horseback rides,
people who like to ride horses would find the complete freedom to do whatever they
want. Along the way youll see wildlife in its natural environment.
You can do sand surf anywhere there are sandy slopes. All you need is a sand
board and a lot of determination to get yourself balanced on the board. Many adventure
companies rent out boards and teach the basics as part of desert safaris, so you can get a
feel for the sport. Quad biking might look a little scary to some people, but in fact theyre
much smoother and fun to drive than they look. A trip across the desert toward the

mountains takes you across open plains, dunes, valleys and canyons, at the perfect speed
to take in the surroundings. Imagine yourself doing this type of activities.5

1

https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/resources/uranium/what.html
http://www.rocksforkids.com/4uses.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/desert-threats/
How many deserts are in the world?
There are 33 major deserts in the world that, when subdivided into smaller deserts, similar to mountain ranges,
equal 71. Of those 71, 12 are in Africa, one is Antarctica, three are in the arctic...
www.ask.com
2
welhttp://www.windows2universe.org/kids_space/desert.html
http://www.enviropedia.org.uk/Climate/Desert_Climate.phpl adapted.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/desert_rev1.shtml
3
http://desertlandforms.weebly.com/desert-landforms.html
4
www.desertusa.com/survive.html
5
http://biomedesertvacationproject.weebly.com/attractionstour-packages.html