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

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1 Biome Bags - Student Guide In this activity, you will explore ecology and biodiversity will be to work cooperatively to: in seven terrestrial biomes. Your task 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 endangered species in your biome; c) some of the non-endangered species of that biome as represented 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 by your teacher. One excellent website for this information is 4. When the information is due, form "expert groups" with the other students assigned to the same biomes, as instructed by your teacher. Spend 10 minutes sharing the information you have gathered. The point of this step is to learn as much about your biomes as possible, since, in the rest of this activity, you will be the resident "expert" who provides information on the biomes you researched to students representing other biomes. Listen to the other "experts" in your group, and fill in any information you may be missing, or change any 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 columns. DO NOT JUST COPY EACH OTHER'S INFORMATION. Talk with your team members about their information and yours too. At the end of this step, you and all of your team members should have filled in all of the spaces in your "Biome Jigsaw Ghart." p.s1

2 BlOME LOCATION CLIMATE FLORA (plants) FAUNA (animals) 6 examples 6 examples TUNDRA TAIGA (Coniferous Forest) TROPICAL RAIN FOREST TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST GRASSLAND DESERT. I. CHAPARRAL \ p.s2 ~.,

3 1. Listen carefully while your teacher assigns one biome to each student. NOTE: Even though you are an "expert" on a particular biome, your teacher may assign you a different biome. 3. Write a newspaper feature article about your assigned biome. Treat this assignment like an English writing assignment. First, write a rough draft (your teacher may ask you to write this IN PENCIL). Your final draft should be written IN INK or TYPEWRITIEN, using as many 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 the information 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 encouraging people to visit or move to the biome. p.s3

4 In this activity, you will work as part of a team. Each member of your team will be from a different "expert group". Your team will receive a bag of 30 cards. Twenty-eight (28) of the cards in the bag represent the types of organisms found in approximately one square mile of a particular biome. The number on the front of each card represents the total number of different species of that type of organism in the biome. Two cards represent the amount of human involvement in the biome. Higher numbers on these cards indicate more human impact on or human population in the biome. Materials Bag of 30 cards Drawing paper Map of the world Lined paper Colored 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 which terrestrial 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 more than two team members, select researchers as well. Check with your teacher to find how much research your team is responsible for. Scribe: On the lined paper, write a defense of your team's biome selection. team's rationale and supporting evidence from the cards in the team's bag. Include the 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 those lists 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) assigned to you. 7. Answer whichever Think: Apply and Synthesize questions (on pages S6-S7) are assigned to you as an individual or a team. p.s4 SK0490B-OO

5 BlOME: Number Number Number Tall Deciduous Trees Small Birds Herbivorous Arthropods Tall Broad-Leafed Medium Birds Predatory Evergreen Trees Arthropods Tall Coniferous Trees Birds of Prey Social Insects Medium Deciduous Large Herbivorous Beneficial! Trees Mammals Other Arthropods Medium Broad-Leafed Medium Herbivorous Herbivorous Evergreen Trees Mammals Arthropods Medium Coniferous Trees Burrowing Rodents Shori/Dwarf Non-burrowing Human Impact Deciduous Trees Rodents Short/Dwarf Predatory Human Coniferous Trees Mammals Population Bushy Shrubs Vines Grasses Other Plants Amphibians Large Reptiles Medium Reptiles Small Reptiles Data Table 3. Fill in the data table, above. Include the numbers of different species for each type of organism found on your cards. Do not use the human involvement cards In this step. What is the total number of different species for your biome? p.s5

6 4. Compare your data table with another group's data table. Explain why the two biggest differences between these two biomes exist. ~ What is the number on your human population card? List three physical factors of this biome that make it easy for humans to live in the biome or three factors that make it hard for humans to live there. These answers should be different from your answers to question On a separate sheet of paper, make a bar graph, showing the number of different species for each type of organism in your biome. 8. Consolidate your "types" of organisms into 3 groups: plants, vertebrates, invertebrates. Do not 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 organism with a "0" card in your biome, and explain why it is not found in this biome. p.s6

7 3. Explain why the group of organisms in your answer to question #8 outnumbers plants when plants are the only autotrophic organisms in the biome. 4. Draw a food chain for your biome, using specific examples of organisms from the research you 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 biome be found only where it is? 6. What would happen to your biome if all the herbivorous arthropods were eliminated from the biome? Why? p.s7

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