• During the lesson, confer with students to examine the relationships that exist between living and nonliving factors in an environment. You can gauge understanding by asking questions of the entire class or asking students individually. Listen for misconceptions during group discussion.
• At the beginning of this lesson, assess whether students understand the influence abiotic factors have on living things in different parts of the Earth.
• As a prior-knowledge probe, give students a list of biomes and non-biomes such as beach, field, park, etc., and have students identify which are biomes. Use this probe when discussing biomes with the class.

Step 1: Introduce the lesson by showing students an image of a world map depicting the world’s biomes (S-B-1-2_Biome Map.doc). If the map you choose doesn’t have the equator drawn on it, have students draw it on, following a demonstration. This provides an opportunity to encourage students to pay attention to accuracy.

Step 2: After maps are color-coded, begin conceptual development of what a biome is and assess students’ prior knowledge. Direct students’ attention to noticing how the planet is zoned according to temperature, and make sure they notice the relationship to precipitation.

Step 3: Depending on the math skills of students, students could measure, in centimeters, the distance of each temperate zone from the Earth’s equator and record the data in a table. Then you can compile class data and facilitate class discussion of patterns in the data.

Step 4: Divide students into groups of three or four and have them research all the biomes using a textbook or the Internet. The following biomes should be researched:

• tundra
• coniferous forest (taiga)
• temperate deciduous forest
• tropical rain forest
• grasslands (temperate, savanna)
• desert
• freshwater ecosystems
• saltwater ecosystems

For each biome, students should research the following, recording the information in their science notebooks:

• dominant animals and plants
• select one dominant animal and one plant, and investigate adaptations
• climate and weather patterns (e.g., precipitation, temperature range)
• location of biome

Step 5: Students create a concept map of one randomly assigned biome. Note: tell students to keep their research information because they will use it in their final project.

Extension:

• For students requiring extra practice with the standards, they can create a list of common abiotic and biotic factors in their local community to use as a resource throughout the lesson.
• Students could create a list of criteria they would use to search for extraterrestrial life forms on distant planets. Provide students with hypothetical data on planets and have students discuss the possibility for life on that planet.
• Suggested data:

o   atmospheric composition

o   mineral composition of the crust

o   distance to the nearest star

o   available energy and food chains

o   seasons