Agenda: 8-29 & *World Map Test this Fri. *Desert Wksht Due next block day Supplies: *map pencils *pen or pencil Focus: Label the oceans Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean

Deserts ert/_tourlaunch1.htm Sand dunes in Death Valley National Monument, California. ndex.htm

North American Deserts North America’s arid lands can be divided into four distinct deserts: the Great Basin, the Sonoran Desert, the Mojave Desert, and the Chihuahuan Desert. All are found in the western United States and northern Mexico. Let’s look at some pics of these….

This ecoregion may be the most biologically diverse desert in the world. It contains over 250 species of butterflies, 100 mammals, 250 birds, 100 reptiles, 20 amphibian, and 100 cacti.* Of the four, the Chihuahuan Desert (which occupies 220,000 sq. miles) is the largest in North America! I am the largest!!!!

Sonoran Desert Great Basin Desert Mojave Desert Rock art Desert smallest and dryest desert—the Mojave

Deserts are out of thIS world!! One of the first images taken at the Viking 2 landing site on Mars shows the pink sky over Utopia and the desert pavement on the ground (courtesy of NASA)

Mojave Desert

Because it is so close to the ocean, the Sonoran Desert receives more rain than any other desert, about 10 to 14 inches (25 to 35 centimeters) a year. This precipitation allows cacti like this saguaro to grow extremely large Within hours of a rain, the Saguaro cactus will be spreading new rootlets to harvest the drops. The plants' accordion-like structure lets them swell with extra liquid, as a Gila monster's extra-large bladder is designed to do, while it packs away food reserves in its expandable tail. Gilas can drink enough in one day to boost their body weight 20 percent. Just like that, they'll go from looking awful to looking great.

"The desert is an ocean with its life underground."—from a song by the group: America Did you know?

The Namib Desert The Sahara s/sahara-desert-facts.html

Deserts cover about 1/5 th of the Earth’s land surface. More than one billion people, one-sixth of the Earth's population, actually live in desert regions. Deserts are arid because they receive less than 10 inches of rain or snow a year. (It’s one thing all deserts have in common!) Sand covers only about 10-20% of most deserts. The rest are made of gravel- covered plains, hills and mountains, dry lake beds and dry stream channels. Most of the world’s deserts are near the equator so some deserts are really hot. The hottest desert is the Sahara where temps can reach as high as 136 degrees F. But some deserts are always cold, like the Gobi desert in Asia and the desert on the continent of Antarctica. The largest hot desert in the world is the Sahara in northern Africa. It is about the size of the contiguous United States. Polar regions are considered deserts because all their moisture is locked up in the form of ice. Desert animals have adapted ways to help them keep cool and use less water. Camels, for example, can go for days without food and water. Many desert animals are nocturnal, coming out only when the brutal sun has descended. Some of the world's semi-arid regions are turning into desert at an alarming rate. This process is known as "desertification” om/environment/habitats/desert-profile/

Arabian - covering most of the Arabian peninsula. Atacama - running down the western coast of South America (in Chile). Australian - hot deserts covering much of western and central Australia. Iranian - northeast of the Arabian peninsula and west of the Thar desert. Kalahari - covering much of the southeastern tip of Africa. Namib - running down the southwestern coast Africa. North American Deserts -rain shadow deserts in southwestern North America, in the USA and Mexico.Includes 4 deserts-Chihuahan,Great Basin, Mojave, and Sonoran Patagonian - in southeastern South America. Saharan - a huge desert covering much of northern Africa - the biggest desert in the world. Takla Makan-Gobi - a continental desert in central Asia. Thar - in northwest India. Turkestan - in southern Russia.

lots of good websites with info on deserts eographic.com/environment/ photos/threatened-deserts/ This is a link to photos of threats to Desert areas. ronment/photos/desert-landscapes/ This is a link to cool desert photos om/environment/photos/desert- wildlife/#/military-sand- dragon_293_600x450.jpg This is a link to photos of desert animals. National Geographic websites on deserts:

ican/animal_games_african_desert_actual.html ment/habitats/quiz-habitathttp://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environ ment/habitats/quiz-habitat/