Biome Bags - Student Guide

In this activity, you will explore ecology and biodiversity in seven terrestrial biomes. Your taskwill be to work cooperatively to:

1. Research and share information to complete the Biome Jigsaw Chart.2. Determine which biome is represented by the cards in your group's bag.3. Justify, in writing, your choice of biome.4. Draw a picture representing your biome.5. Produce written answers to various questions.6. Research and report on, a) the locations of your biome worldwide; b) examples of endan-

gered species in your biome; c) some of the non-endangered species of that biome asrepresented by the broad categories on the cards.

1. Listen carefully as your teacher assigns you two or more rows of the Biome Jigsaw Chart(page S2) to fill in.

2. Use the Internet or other resources to find your assigned information in the time allotted byyour teacher. One excellent website for this information is www.blueplanetbiomes.org

4. When the information is due, form "expert groups" with the other students assigned to thesame biomes, as instructed by your teacher. Spend 10 minutes sharing the informationyou have gathered. The point of this step is to learn as much about your biomes as pos-sible, since, in the rest of this activity, you will be the resident "expert" who provides infor-mation on the biomes you researched to students representing other biomes. Listen to theother "experts" in your group, and fill in any information you may be missing, or changeany misinformation you may have included.

5. Separate into Biome Bag teams as instructed by your teacher; each team will include"experts" representing all of the different biomes.

6. As a team, spend 15 minutes teaching each other the information from the separate col-umns. DO NOT JUST COPY EACH OTHER'S INFORMATION. Talk with your teammembers about their information and yours too. At the end of this step, you and all of yourteam members should have filled in all of the spaces in your "Biome Jigsaw Ghart."

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BlOME LOCATION CLIMATE FLORA (plants) FAUNA (animals)6 examples 6 examples

TUNDRA

TAIGA

(ConiferousForest)

TROPICALRAIN FOREST

TEMPERATEDECIDUOUS

FOREST

GRASSLAND

DESERT

.. I

CHAPARRAL

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1. Listen carefully while your teacher assigns one biome to each student. NOTE: Eventhough you are an "expert" on a particular biome, your teacher may assign you a differentbiome.

3. Write a newspaper feature article about your assigned biome. Treat this assignment likean English writing assignment. First, write a rough draft (your teacher may ask you to writethis IN PENCIL). Your final draft should be written IN INK or TYPEWRITIEN, using asmany pages as necessary. Proofread your final draft for errors in spelling or grammar.Staple your rough draft to the back of your final draft.

a) Your article should emphasize a specific aspect of the biome, but also cover all theinformation on the Biome Jigsaw chart about that biome.

b) You can write your article like a travelogue, like someone living in the biome describing"home", or like someone from the Chamber of Commerce in the biome encouragingpeople to visit or move to the biome.

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In this activity, you will work as part of a team. Each member of your team will be from a differ-ent "expert group". Your team will receive a bag of 30 cards. Twenty-eight (28) of the cards inthe bag represent the types of organisms found in approximately one square mile of a particu-lar biome. The number on the front of each card represents the total number of different spe-cies of that type of organism in the biome. Two cards represent the amount of human involve-ment in the biome. Higher numbers on these cards indicate more human impact on or humanpopulation in the biome.

Materials

Bag of 30 cardsDrawing paperMap of the worldLined paperColored pencils or markers

Procedure

1. Form teams as instructed.

2. As a team, obtain the materials listed above.

3. Sort and layout the cards into 4-6 categories of organisms. (Examples of categories:vegetation, mammals, etc.)

4. Based on the numbers and kinds of organisms shown on your cards, determine whichterrestrial biome is represented by the cards in your bag.

5. Decide which team member will be the scribe and which will be the .artist If you have morethan two team members, select researchers as well. Check with your teacher to findhow much research your team is responsible for.

Scribe: On the lined paper, write a defense of your team's biome selection. Include theteam's rationale and supporting evidence from the cards in the team's bag.

Artist: On the drawing paper, draw a color illustration of the organisms in your biome.Choose either a or b.a) Bird's eye view: Draw the view of the biome as it would appear if you were above the

area, looking down.b) Landscape view: Draw the view of the biome as if you were at ground level, looking

into the biome from the edge of a clearing.

Researcher(s): Using the Internet or print sources, make a series of lists. Do only thoselists assigned to you from the following options.a) World areas where the biome is found. Color in these areas on the map of the world.b) Endangered species found in the biome, including at least two plants, one mammal,

one bird, and one insect.c) Representative species of each type of organism from your cards that normally live in

the biome.

6. As a team, answer all the Think: Describe and Explain questions (on pages S5-S6) as-signed to you. •

7. Answer whichever Think: Apply and Synthesize questions (on pages S6-S7) are assignedto you as an individual or a team. p.S4

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BlOME:

Number Number Number

Tall Deciduous Trees Small Birds HerbivorousArthropods

Tall Broad-Leafed Medium Birds PredatoryEvergreen Trees Arthropods

Tall Coniferous Trees Birds of Prey Social Insects

Medium Deciduous Large Herbivorous Beneficial!Trees Mammals Other Arthropods

Medium Broad-Leafed Medium Herbivorous HerbivorousEvergreen Trees Mammals Arthropods

Medium Coniferous Burrowing RodentsTrees

Shori/Dwarf Non-burrowing Human ImpactDeciduous Trees Rodents

Short/Dwarf Predatory HumanConiferous Trees Mammals Population

Bushy Shrubs Amphibians

Vines Large Reptiles

Grasses Medium Reptiles

Other Plants Small Reptiles

Data Table

3. Fill in the data table, above. Include the numbers of different species for each type oforganism found on your cards. Do not use the human involvement cards In this step. Whatis the total number of different species for your biome?

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4. Compare your data table with another group's data table. Explain why the two biggestdifferences between these two biomes exist. ~---.

6. What is the number on your human population card? List three physical factors of thisbiome that make it easy for humans to live in the biome or three factors that make ithard for humans to live there. These answers should be different from your answers toquestion 5.

7. On a separate sheet of paper, make a bar graph, showing the number of different speciesfor each type of organism in your biome.

8. Consolidate your "types" of organisms into 3 groups: plants, vertebrates, invertebrates. Donot use the human involvement cards in this step.

1. Every biome has at least one "0" (zero) card for a type of organism. List each organismwith a "0" card in your biome, and explain why it is not found in this biome.

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3. Explain why the group of organisms in your answer to question #8 outnumbers plantswhen plants are the only autotrophic organisms in the biome.

4. Draw a food chain for your biome, using specific examples of organisms from the researchyou did on the types of species represented by your cards.

5. Use a map of the world to locate areas where your biome is found. Why would your biomebe found only where it is?

6. What would happen to your biome if all the herbivorous arthropods were eliminated fromthe biome? Why?

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