APES Biome Webquest
Your Mission on this quest for knowledge is to learn about the earth’s diverse ecological regions. The
biomes are distinct ecological regions based on their dominant plant life, latitude, altitude, annual
precipitation and average monthly temperatures. This assignment has 3 parts, be sure to complete
all parts for full credit. Point values are given for each part.
I. Becoming Familiar with Earth’s major Biomes: (25 points each)
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm
Although there is some disagreement as to exactly how many biomes exist on the earth, most
sources agree that all of the biomes on this page are valid biome classifications, For each of the 10
biomes listed, you will need to collect the following information. You may cut & paste as long as
you include quotation marks around copied text and references to websites you used.
1. Where is the biome located? Answer this question with a labeled map and / or list of the areas of
the world where found.
2. Biotic factors: include at least one labeled picture for each
a. Dominant plant life
b. Dominant animal life
3. Abiotic Factors:
a. Average yearly precipitation
b. Average yearly range of temperature
c. Primary soil type(s)
d. Climatogram
4. Human interactions with the environment:
a. How / whether humans live in the region / special adaptations humans have made to survive /
thrive in the climate
b. Human exploitation, ecological impacts of human presence & resource use, environmental
damage, remediation / protection.
You will need to use more sites than merely the link listed above, that is intended as your starting
point. Below is a list of further links that you may find helpful. You may also do your own web
search. As usual, plagarism is NOT acceptable! Anything that you cut & paste must
include proper citation!
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/294.html
http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/intro.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/terrestrial.html
http://www.mbgnet.net/
Climatograms
http://www.worldclimate.com/
II. Play “Match the Biome” Game (10 points)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome/graphindex.php
1. Report your results. How many climatograms / photographs did you get correct?
2. Reflect: Was this easy or difficult? Is it a helpful exercise for testing your familiarity with biomes
& ability to interpret a climatogram?
III. Construct a Climatogram using data. (20 points)
Complete the climatograms for the four cities included in this document.
Graph the climate figures for precipitation and temperature for two of the four locales (yonto
your blank climatogram sheets. For each climatogram calculate and add the average
temperature and precipitation. Be sure that you label each with its biome name. Also be
extremely careful as to how you record the information. All temperature readings are measured
on the right side of the climatogram. All precipitation measurements are on the left side of the
climatogram. Be sure to draw a line graph for temperature and a bar graph for precipitation.
Go to the following website, read the discussion on biomes as indicated on the Whittaker
diagram.
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/biome_main.htm
Cuiaba, Brazil: Tropical Deciduous Forest
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P: 24.9 21.1 21.1 10.2 5.3 0.8 0.5 2.8 5.1 11.4 15
D
20.6
T: 27.2 27.2 27.2 26.6 25.6 23.9 24.4 25.6 27.8 27.8 27.8 27.2
Santa Monica, California: Chaparral
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P: 8.9 7.6 7.4 1.3 1.3 0
0
0
0.3 1.5 3.5 5.8
T: 11.7 11.7 12.8 14.4 15.6 17.2 18.9 18.3 18.3 16.7 14.4 12.8
Moshi, Tanganyika: Tropical Grassland
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P: 3.6 6.1 9.2 40.1 30.2 5.1 5.1 2.5 2
3
8.1 6.4
T: 23.3 23.2 22.2 21.1 19.8 18.4 17.9 18.4 19.8 21.4 22 22.4
Aden, Aden: Tropical Dessert
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P: 0.8 0.5 1.3 0.45 0.3 0.3 0
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0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
T: 24.6 25.1 26.4 28.5 30.6 31.9 31.1 30.3 31.1 28.8 26.5 25.1