The Desert

What is a Desert?

• A desert is a region that can support little plant life because it gets very little rain and has very dry soil.  

• Deserts cover about a fifth of the earth's land area.  

• The largest desert in the world is the Sahara in northern Africa.  

• In North America, deserts cover about 500,000 square miles and many people who live there live in adobe or mud houses that provide insulation from the heat and cold.

• Hot deserts are dry, barren region usually sandy and without trees, with little rainfall or practical use of land unless irrigated.

• To see a map of the 12 major deserts of the world click here: 
  http://www.livingdesert.org/worlddes.htm

• Take a field trip though the desert
  http://www.field-trips.org/tours/sci/desert/_tourlaunch5.htm

• Desert Biomes from Enchanted Learning - may printouts available here http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/desert/desert.shtml

Did you know?

1. No two deserts are the same, but there are certain things they all have in common:

• Super-dry air
• Little rain....less than 10 inches a year
• High daytime temperatures
• Lots of wind

2. The desert is full of life!

Animals:

• Desert Animals
  http://www.livingdesert.org/animalst.htm

• Use your mouse to explore different kinds of desert animals http://library.thinkquest.org/28855/animals.html

• Search for desert animals
  http://horizon.nmsu.edu/ddl3/ddl.qry?function=form

• How do animals survive in a desert?
  http://www.desertusa.com/animal.html

Plants:

• How do plants survive the desert?
  http://www.desertusa.com/flora.html
• Desert Plants
  http://mbgnet.mobot.org/sets/desert/tplants.htm