Digital Desert. Teacher s Guide for third grade- What is available here? Objectives

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1 What is a Desert tutorial Virtual Habitat What is available here? What is a Desert? Flash animation tutorial that teaches students about the three characteristics of a desert Virtual Habitat Interactive exploration of the Sonoran Desert plants and animals Discussion questions Classroom activities Sun vs. Shade Poetry Response Life in a Desert Desert Guessing Game Community Connection Web Book Report on the Desert Necessary Worksheets (plus general, optional use Desert Investigation Log and Experiment Log) Relevant Arizona State Standards These questions and activities are designed to let third graders think creatively and to inspire curiosity about the world around them. Objectives The objectives of this curriculum are to 1. Educate students about the Sonoran Desert 2. Encourage students to ponder and respect the natural world 3. Encourage students to begin thinking in terms of the Inquiry Process as they observe, ask questions, and formulate hypotheses continued 1.

2 Background Knowledge These are concepts the educator should understand and can be found in the glossary. Adaptations Estivate Nocturnal What is a Desert tutorial Bimodal Evaporation Metachromatism Camouflage Food Web Omnivore Carnivore Habitat Pollinator Consumer Herbivore Predator Virtual Habitat Diurnal Nectar Producer Materials Pencils Paper Glue Ruler Marker Scissors Crayons Magazines Large box Calendar Ball of Yarn Sleeping eye mask Shorts Mittens Worksheet (provided) Water 16 oz water bottle Misting spray bottle Pin cushion with pins stuck in it 2 one-gallon jugs cut in half Spray bottle with fan attached to sprayer Books for book reports Picture of dry, cracked earth (provided) 2.

3 What is a Desert Tutorial Teacher s Guide Discussion Questions 1. * This introductory prompt should be used before the students view the tutorial. Pay attention to the three characteristics of deserts and the name of the desert. How would the extreme conditions in a desert affect the plants and animals that live there? Do you think that you live in a desert? Why or why not? What is a Desert tutorial 2. The Sonoran Desert is the only desert in North America with two rainy seasons. Do you know when the rainy seasons are in Arizona? What are some advantages that two rainy seasons may bring to the desert? Do you think two rainy seasons are better than one? Why? The winter rainy season is from December to February. The summer rainy season (monsoon) is from July through September. One benefit of bimodal rainy seasons is that some plants in the Sonoran Desert can bloom and flower twice a year. If one rainy season doesn t bring much rain, the second rainy season may provide a second chance for some plants. Many desert animals also benefit from the added rainy season by coordinating their mating season with the rainy months when more food and water are available. The Sonoran Desert is the most structurally diverse desert in North America. This means that there is a greater variety of growth forms including trees, tall cacti, shrubs, and wildflowers. Other deserts in North America do not have this variety of growth forms- partly because they have only one rainy season. However two is not necessarily better than one. Many plants that live in other North American deserts are specially adapted to one rainy season and may not benefit from having two rainy seasons. 3. Do you think that a marsh is an easier place for a plant to live than a desert? Why or why not? Could a desert plant live in a marsh? Could a marsh plant live in the desert? Students connect that different plants occur in deserts than occur in marshes. Whether a plant would find it easier or harder to live in a desert or a marsh depends on the plant. A desert plant does well in the desert but would perish in the marsh. A desert plant would receive too much water in the marsh and would rot. A marsh plant would dry out in the desert but thrives in the marsh. A marsh plant needs more water than the desert provides. continued 3.

4 What is a Desert Tutorial Teacher s Guide What is a Desert tutorial Discussion Questions 4. Based on the three characteristics of a desert, do you think you live in a desert? What could you do to find out if you live in a desert? Are there some experiments you could do to determine whether or not you live in a desert? As a class, design three simple investigations (one for each characteristic) that would help answer the question Do I live in a desert? This question is all about experimental design; they do not actually need to perform the experiment. Encourage students to plan their own simple experiments about the desert. Students need to find out how much rain falls yearly where they live, what the temperatures are at night and during the day, and how quickly evaporation happens. Experiments should measure rainfall, record daytime and nighttime temperatures, and measure evaporation. For this exercise students should complete the first four steps of the Inquiry Process by making observations, asking questions, developing hypotheses and predictions and planning the experiment. They should think about what instruments are needed to perform the experiment. Factors they should consider when planning the experiment include shaded or sunny location, open or covered location, and time of day. 5. How are deserts different from what you thought before? Did anything we learned about deserts surprise you? Are all deserts the same? How might they vary? Students can list ways their understanding of a desert changed. They should understand that deserts throughout the world have different plants and animals and weather patterns. Deserts are not always hot, either. Some deserts are cold including the Great Basin Desert in North America, the Atacama in Chile and the Gobi in China. Review What is the name of the desert we are learning about and what are the three characteristics of a desert? Students are learning about the Sonoran Desert and the three characteristics of a desert are extreme temperature differences in one day, quick evaporation, and less than 10 inches of rainfall per year. 4.

5 What is a Desert Activities 1. Sun vs. Shade We learned that the desert is a place with quick evaporation. But do you think water evaporates faster in a sunny location or a shady location? Do wet clothes hanging in the sun dry faster than clothes in the shade? Is there a difference at all? Why? Let s make a prediction and then set up the experiment to find out! * After completing the experiment ask Was our prediction correct? Which jug s water evaporated faster? What does this mean for desert life? The purpose of this activity is to have students participate in the Inquiry Process by developing a hypothesis and a prediction, setting up and performing the experiment, recording their findings, and discussing the experiment. The students will also gain a better understanding of the evaporation process. The class could also use this activity to review the whole Inquiry Process Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Prediction, Experiment, Results, Conclusion, Communicate. For best results set this experiment up in the morning so that there is more time for the water to evaporate. This investigation will work best on a warm sunny day. As students are making their prediction, you can lead them to understand that the sun s warmth will probably make the water evaporate faster in the unshaded location. Students should record their prediction on paper. (The optional Experiment Log may work well for this.) To set up the experiment put two centimeters of water in each open container (such as gallon milk jugs cut in half). Have the students use a marker to mark the water line. Then place one jug in a location that is sunny and exposed all day while the other jug is placed in a shaded location. The students can check on the water levels throughout the day or they could leave them over night and check the water levels in the morning. They should record their results and then discuss with the class. They should understand that locations that are shaded will have slower evaporation and remain cooler than locations in the sun. You could point out that desert animals may seek such locations to avoid the heat and dryness of the desert. If the results of the experiment are not what they predicted, the class could discuss why this might be. Would they change the experiment design if they repeated the experiment? continued 5.

6 What is a Desert Activities 2. Poetry Response The desert is a beautiful place that inspires many artists to honor the desert through songs, paintings, poems, or sculpture. Water Secret is a poem inspired by the desert. The first time I read Water Secret, just listen to the poem. The second time I read it, think about what the main idea of the poem is, what it makes you feel, and what images it makes you think of. Close your eyes as I read this poem. Water Secret Everyone here keeps a secret. Some sing for her. Some sting for her. Some make her. Some take her. Some grow wide and round for her. Some grow deep and straight for her. Some dig a hole. Some wait for her. But everyone here keeps a secret, a secret that helps them grow. A wet secret, a deep secret, a secret the sun must never know. Water Secret from Cactus Poems, copyright 1998 by Frank Asch, reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing company. This material may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. Now open your eyes and draw a picture about the poem. The purposes of this activity are to have the students respond to poetry, to have them develop and present their ideas by drawing, and to learn about some adaptations that desert plants have to help them survive in a place with limited water. Since one of the characteristics of a desert is limited water, this poem can help students understand what life is like for the plants and animals living in a desert. continued 6.

7 What is a Desert Life in a Desert Venn Diagram Activities In addition to each student s individual reflection on this poem, you could return to this activity after visiting the Virtual Habitat. The students could see if they can determine what or who the poet may be referring to in each line. Sing Spadefoots sing their mating calls during wet years. Sting Scorpions meet most of their water requirements by eating their prey, which they sting to capture! Make Kangaroo rats and pocket mice do not need to drink water because their special bodies are able to make water from the food they eat! Take Most animals will take a drink of water whenever it s available. Grow wide and round Cacti store water in their wide and round stems. Grow deep and straight Roots of the mesquite tree can reach quite far underground to obtain water year round. Dig a hole and wait The Spadefoot toad, tortoise, and ground squirrel are all animals that wait underground in burrows until water is available. 3. Life in a Desert We learned the three characteristics of a desert, so now let s compare life for people in a desert to life for people in other climates. Look through newspapers and magazines for pictures or words that show what life is like for humans in a desert and what life is like for humans in other climates. Cut out the pictures and paste them on the provided Life in a Desert Venn Diagram worksheet. Put images and words in the middle to show ways life is similar in both places. Put images and words on one side to represent what life is like in a desert and put images that represent what life is like in other climates on the other side. The purposes of this activity are to reinforce what conditions are like in a desert and for them to compare that to conditions in other locations. You can print out and copy the provided Life in a Desert worksheet for students to use. Ideas that should be reinforced during this activity are deserts have temperature extremes from night to day, deserts are often warmer than other locations, water is precious in the desert, it does not rain very often or very much during a year, water evaporates quickly in the desert. 7.

8 Virtual Habitat Teacher s Guide Discussion Questions 1. * Present students with this introductory prompt before they examine the Virtual Habitat so they have an idea of what to look for. As we are investigating the Virtual Habitat, think about what life would be like for Sonoran Desert plants and animals. How do they interact? What do they eat? How do they thrive in the desert? Virtual Habitat 2. Monsoon rains can make a Sonoran Desert wash an exciting place. Why do many plants grow near washes? Why do so many animals come out during the monsoons? Although washes are dry most of the year, during rainy months they are a great place for living things to be. Some Sonoran Desert plants that live along washes, such as mesquites, have deep roots that soak up water from deep underground. They benefit from the monsoon rains that are channeled through the washes. Trees rely on the rainy seasons to provide water. Also, many Sonoran Desert animals are more active during monsoon season because water is limited the rest of the year. Spadefoot toads and tortoises are both active during the summer rainy season. Spadefoots need puddles for laying their eggs. In dry years the spadefoots may not lay eggs. You could use this opportunity to discuss the lifecycle of toads. A female may lay up to 3000 eggs which quickly hatch into tadpoles. They must complete this part of their lifecycle before the puddle dries up. In about two weeks, the tadpoles will metamorphose into toadlets. These young toads need to eat as much as they can before the desert dries up at which point they will burrow underground. Tortoises need water to digest food. During the dry months they hold their bladder to conserve water and they eat very little food. During the rainy season they can eat and drink much more. continued 8.

9 Virtual Habitat Teacher s Guide Virtual Habitat Discussion Questions 3. All of the living things we learned about in the desert habitat are producers or consumers. Producers make food and consumers eat food. Which living things are producers and which ones are consumers? Do all of the consumers eat the same things? How are their diets different? What are you producer or consumer? Plants do not eat food like people and animals do. The green parts of the plant make (produce) their own food using the sunlight. All of the plants in the Virtual Habitat are producers. Animals cannot produce their own food so they must eat (consume) either plant material or animal material. Herbivores are consumers that eat plant material like seeds, leaves, and fruit (Tortoise, Jackrabbit, Pocket Mouse). Carnivores are consumers that eat insects or animals (Scorpions, Spiny Lizard, Spadefoot Toad). Omnivores are consumers that eat plant and animal material (Woodpecker, Cactus Wren, Coyote, Ground Squirrel, and humans). 4. Many desert animals are able to blend in with their surroundings. This is called camouflage. Why do they have this special characteristic? Look at each of the desert animals and decide whether or not they use camouflage. If they do, what are they blending in with? If they do not blend in with their surroundings, think about why they don t need to hide. Many animals use camouflage to avoid being detected by predators or prey. Some animals without camouflage may not need to hide because they are poisonous or have very good defenses against predators. While most of the animals in the Virtual Habitat generally blend in with their surroundings, the ground squirrel and the spiny lizard provide very good examples of camouflage. As their name implies, ground squirrels spend their time on the ground and underneath the ground. Their light brown colors blend in well with the earth. The spiny lizard also blends in very well with its surroundings. The lizard is able to slightly alter the color of its skin to control its body temperature. Darker shades keep the lizard warmer while lighter shades reflect light and keep the lizard cooler. The lizard s color also allows it to blend in with rocks, bark, and earth quite well. Lizards may use camouflage to hide from predators but it may also help them sneak up on their prey. Additionally many desert animals tend to have lighter colors as a way to keep cool. Lighter colors reflect heat whereas darker colors absorb heat. 9. continued

10 Virtual Habitat Teacher s Guide Virtual Habitat Discussion Questions 5. Some of the animals we learned about during our exploration of the desert habitat are nocturnal. Nocturnal animals are animals that are active at night and inactive during the daytime. What are some reasons that a desert animal would be nocturnal? Do you think nocturnal animals do anything differently than diurnal (active during the daytime) animals? Nocturnal animals, such as pocket mice and scorpions, avoid the warmest parts of the day. They sleep during the hot daytime and are active during the cooler nights. Animals that are active at night may depend more on their sense of hearing, smell, and touch than diurnal animals which are largely dependent on their eyesight. Some desert animals are only nocturnal during the hottest summer months. During the rest of the year when it is cooler during the daytime, they may become diurnal instead. 6. We saw many different kinds of plants while exploring the Virtual Habitat. What would happen if one of those plants was gone? Would its absence matter to the other living things in the desert habitat? Pick one plant from the habitat and think of one way that it would change life in the desert. You may even be able to think of a way that its absence would impact people. In general, desert plants protect desert animals by sheltering them from temperature extremes and from predators. Desert plants also provide food for some people and for animals. Plants provide oxygen for all living things, including people. The plant roots help to hold soil in place. Without the roots to hold the soil, heavy rains may carry away much soil. Here are some more specific services provided by the plants in the Virtual Habitat. Saguaros provide homes for many animals. Living saguaros provide homes for Gila woodpeckers, elf owls, many song birds, insects, and hawks. They provide food for many animals from the fleshly stem (jackrabbits), from their flowers (doves, bats), and from their fruits (birds, humans, many animals). Decomposing saguaros provide homes and food for snakes, rats, lizards, scorpions, and insects. Prickly Pear provides food for birds, tortoises, jackrabbits, javelina, and insects. People use the prickly pear as source of food (fruit or pads) and use insects (cochineal) living on the pads as a source of dye. Packrats build their dens around prickly pear. Many birds also build their homes in the prickly pear. continued 10.

11 Virtual Habitat Teacher s Guide Virtual Habitat Discussion Questions Chollas also offer protective homes for many birds and rats. The cactus wren s nest is often found in chollas. Many of the same animals that eat prickly pear flesh also eat some kinds of cholla (jackrabbits, javelina, packrats). The nectar in cholla flowers provides food for bees and other pollinators. Ocotillo stems provide fencing material for gardens. The spines on ocotillo keep hungry herbivores out of the garden. Hummingbirds and other pollinators feed on the nectar found in the red flowers. Mesquite provides cool shade for many desert animals and plants. The seeds are a source of food for many animals including ground squirrels. The hard trunk and limbs of the tree provide good building materials. The mesquite is also a good source of shade for people. Palo Verde also provides shade for desert animals, plants, and people. The seed pods of the tree provide food for some desert animals like the pocket mouse, javelina, and some insects. Creosote bushes provide protection for young plants. The bush protects the vulnerable plants from predators and weather extremes. Jackrabbits eat the leaves of the bush. Rodents prefer to use the ground underneath the Creosote bush to dig their burrows. Later, other animals may use the rodent holes as homes. The nectar of agave flowers provides food for many desert pollinators like bats, hummingbirds, hawkmoths, and other insects. People also enjoy agave. The pulp of agave is made into juices and other beverages. Agaves come in a variety of beautiful shapes and colors and are enjoyed by many people in yards and other landscaped areas. The absence of one of these plants would mean loss of shelter and food for many desert animals. 11.

12 Virtual Habitat Dry earth Activities 1. Desert Guessing Game Now that we learned about the characteristics of a desert and about some plants and animals that live in the Sonoran Desert, we can do this activity to help review what we learned. Break into nine groups and have one person pick one item from this box without looking. After each group has their item, take some time to think of what the item could represent about the desert. Then each group will tell the class what their item represents about the desert. The purpose of this activity is to help the students review the characteristics of a desert and the Sonoran Desert habitat. Put these items in the box for students to choose from Pin cushion with pins stuck in it (cacti and other spiny plants) 16 oz. water bottle (ten inches or less rain per year) Provided image of dry earth (dry air or quick evaporation) Shorts (Hot daytime temperatures) Mittens (Cool nighttime temperatures) Calendar (importance of seasonal changes rains) Misting spray bottle (light winter rain) Spray bottle with fan attached to sprayer (monsoons) Sleeping mask (hibernation) 12.

13 Virtual Habitat Activities 2. Community Connection Web We discussed producers, plant consumers, and animal consumers earlier. Now we are going to take it a step further and explore how the desert plants and animals are all dependant on one another. We are going to use this ball of yarn to show connections between the plants and animals. Stand in a circle facing each other. Anyone who has an answer or idea, please just say so. Let s start with the first Sonoran Desert cactus you can think of (Saguaro). Who lives in the saguaro? (Woodpecker) What does it eat? (Insects) Where can you find insects? (Other cacti like prickly pear) Who eats prickly pear fruit? (Tortoise) What animal may prey on (baby) tortoises? (Coyotes) Where would a coyote go for a cool nap? (shade of mesquite tree) What animal will eat mesquite seeds? (Ground squirrel) Where does the Ground Squirrel live? (Under a creosote bush) The purpose of this activity is to help the students understand the many ways that plants and animals in the desert are connected. The pathway provided is just one example of the types of questions you could use to help students develop connections. Students should feel free to think creatively; in addition to using the information from the tutorial they may also use their own knowledge of how plants and animals are connected. As the students think of new plants and animals to add to the food web the yarn can be passed on. Each person should continue to hold onto the yarn so that only the ball is passed on to create a web pattern. If the class cannot think of the next connection at any point, they can toss the yarn back to a different organism and make another pathway. When the web is complete (or the class can no longer think of additions or connections) ask the class whether a community with more members (more yarn connecting individuals) is stronger or weaker than a community with few members. They should understand that a strong community has many members and many connections. 13.

14 Virtual Habitat Hip, Hip, Hooray, It s Monsoon Day! Activities 3. Book Report on the Desert We learned some interesting information about the Sonoran Desert from the Virtual Habitat, but now is your chance to learn more about the desert. Each of you will choose a book to read and report on. You will show the class what you learned from your book by doing a short book report presentation. Your presentation will include showing the class an object that represents something interesting you learned from the book, a statement explaining why you would or would not trade places with a character in your book, and a discussion of how your book relates to what you learned from the What is a Desert tutorial and the Virtual Habitat. You will also hand in a written report with the same information. The purposes of this activity are to allow the students to expand on what they learned and communicate with their classmates. Examples of objects students could bring in are an umbrella to represent the shade that trees provide, a bouncy ball to show how well jackrabbits jump, or binoculars for an animal with exceptional vision. Below is a list of some desert books that may work well for the reports. Storm on the Desert by Carolyn Lesser Hip, Hip, Hooray, It s Monsoon Day! by Roni Capin Rivera Ashford A Saguaro Cactus by Jen Green The Magic School Bus: All Dried Up: A Book about Deserts by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degan A Walk in the Desert Biomes of North America by Rebecca L. Johnson Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands by Laura Purdie Salas 14.

15 DIGITAL DESERT venn diagram Name Desert Non Desert Both

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17 DIGITAL desert INVESTIGATION LOG Name Plant Name Cool Fact

18 DIGITAL desert INVESTIGATION LOG Name Animal Name Cool Fact

19 DIGITAL desert EXPERIMENT LOG Name Question: Results: Draw a picture about your experiment!

20 What is a Desert Tutorial Arizona State Standards What is a Desert tutorial Language Arts S4 VP-F3 Access, view, and respond to visual forms such as computer programs, videos, artifacts, drawings, pictures, and collages Science S1C1: PO1 Formulate relevant questions about the properties of objects, organisms, and events of the environment using observations and prior knowledge S1C1: PO2 Predict the results of an investigation based on observed patterns, not random guessing S1C2: PO1 Demonstrate safe behavior and appropriate procedures in all science inquiry S1C2: PO2 Plan a simple investigation based on the formulated questions S1C2: PO3 Conduct simple investigations in life, physical, and Earth and space sciences S1C2: PO4 Use metric and US customary units to measure objects S1C2: PO5 Record data in an organized and appropriate format S1C3: PO3 Compare the results of the investigation to predictions made prior to the investigation S1C3: PO4 Generate questions for possible future investigations based on the conclusions of the investigation S1C4: PO1 Communicate investigations and explanations using evidence and appropriate terminology S4C3: PO5 Describe how environmental factors in the ecosystem may affect a member organisms ability to grow, reproduce, and thrive S4C4: PO1 Identify adaptations of plants and animals that allow them to live in specific environments Technology Education 1T-F3: PO2 Use multimedia resources 1T-F3: PO1 Operate keyboard and other common input and output devices 2T-F1: PO1 Describe and practice respect for other students while using technology 20. continued

21 What is a Desert Tutorial Arizona State Standards Workplace Skills 1WP-F3: PO1 Listen effectively 1WP-F3: PO2 Analyze/evaluate orally received information 1WP-F3: PO3 Respond appropriately 1WP-F5: PO1 Participate in groups 1WP-F5: PO2 Speak to a group Habitat Exploration Writing S1C2: PO2 Organize writing into a logical sequence that is clear to the audience S1C5: PO1 Prepare writing in a format appropriate to audience and purpose S1C5: PO2 Share the writing with the intended audience S1C5: PO3 Use margins and spacing to enhance the final product S1C5: PO4 Write legibly S2C1: PO1 Express ideas that are clear and directly related to the topic S2C2: PO6 Construct a paragraph that groups sentences around a topic S2C4: PO3 Apply vocabulary appropriate to the type of writing S3C2: PO2 Write an expository paragraph that contains a topic sentence, supporting details, and relevant information S3C5: PO1 Write a reflection to a literature selection Language Arts VP-F3 Access, view, and respond to visual forms such as computer programs, videos, artifacts, drawings, pictures, and collages continued 21.

22 What is a Desert Tutorial Arizona State Standards Science S1C2: PO3 Conduct simple investigations in life, physical, and Earth and space sciences S2C2: PO1 Describe how, in a system with many components, the components usually influence one another S2C2: PO2 Explain why a system may not work if a component is defective or missing S4C3: PO3 Explain the interrelationships among plants and animals in different environments; producers, consumers, decomposers S4C3: PO5 Describe how environmental factors in the ecosystem may affect a member organisms ability to grow, reproduce, and thrive S4C4: PO1 Identify adaptations of plants and animals that allow them to live in specific environments S6C1: PO6 Describe ways that humans use Earth materials Technology Education 1T-F2: PO2 Use multimedia resources 1T-F3: PO1 Operate keyboard and other common input and output devices 2T-F1: PO1 Describe and practice respect for other students while using technology Workplace Skills 1WP-F3: PO1 Listen effectively 1WP-F3: PO2 Analyze/ evaluate orally received information 1WP-F3: PO3 Respond appropriately 1WP-F5: PO1 Participate in groups 1WP-F5: PO2 Speak to a group 1WP-F5: PO3 Share writing with a group 22.

23 What is a Desert virtual habitat Arizona State Standards Writing S1C2: PO2 Organize writing into a logical sequence that is clear to the audience S1C5: PO1 Prepare writing in a format appropriate to audience and purpose S1C5: PO2 Share the writing with the intended audience S1C5: PO3 Use margins and spacing to enhance the final product S1C5: PO4 Write legibly S2C1: PO1 Express ideas that are clear and directly related to the topic S2C2: PO6 Construct a paragraph that groups sentences around a topic S2C4: PO3 Apply vocabulary appropriate to the type of writing S3C2: PO2 Write an expository paragraph that contains a topic sentence, supporting details, and relevant information S3C5: PO1 Write a reflection to a literature selection Language Arts VP-F3 Access, view, and respond to visual forms such as computer programs, videos, artifacts, drawings, pictures, and collages continued 23.

24 AMENDMENT TO STANDARDS 3rd Grade VIRTUAL HABITAT EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY S6C1: PO4 Demonstrate knowledge of ergonomics and electrical safety when using computers. 24.