Lesson video

Hello, my name's Miss Gilyeat, and I'm going to be our geography teacher for today.

In today's lesson, we are going to be learning about the biomes of Russia.

So our lesson outcome for today is that you can describe the distribution of Russia's main biomes and explain how vegetation is adapted to the climate and soil conditions in each.

We've got four keywords.

So the first one is biome, which is a large region of the world with places that have similar climates, vegetation, and animals.

Distribution is the way something is spread out or arranged over a specific geographic area.

Tundra is a cold, treeless area with frozen ground and low plants like mosses and grasses.

And taiga is a cold, northern forest of mainly pine and spruce trees.

So we've got two learning cycles.

First of all, we're gonna look at how are Russia's biomes distributed, and then we're going to look at what those biomes are like.

Now, the world's land surface is divided into biomes, okay? So we've got a world map of the the different biomes, okay? So looking at the key, you can see the major ones are savannah, desert, temperate deciduous forest, tropical rainforest, boreal forest, and tundra.

So looking at that map, what biomes are found in Russia? Now, there are four major biomes that are found in Russia, and they are tundra, taiga, temperate forest and temperate grasslands, known as steppe.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

Which of the four major biomes of Russia is missing? That is taiga, well done if you got that right.

Now, geographers describe patterns of distribution from maps using several steps.

So first of all, you look at the map that you are trying to describe and identify features of it.

So you might look at the compass directions, you might look at lines of latitude or longitude.

You then give the general pattern of what the map shows, and finally, give specific details.

So we're going to go through an example of this.

Okay, first of all, identifying map features.

So maps contain a lot of detail which can support detailed descriptions of distribution.

So if we were going to have a go at describing the biomes of Russia, what features help us to understand this map? So have a look at it.

What features might you look at to understand it? So you might look at the key, so what the different colours represent, you might look at the scale of the map to see how large some of the biomes are, look at the latitude information, the compass rose, and labels.

So you then give the general pattern of distribution.

That's the thing that you describe first, okay? So for this one you would say something like this, "Russia has four main biomes that stretch across the country and change with latitude," okay You can see there that they're in broad latitudinal bands where the biomes are located, with tundra at the top and temperate grasslands further south.

However, with a description of a distribution, you do not include an explanation of why this is the case, okay? So I've put here, "Russia's four main biomes that stretch across the country and change with latitude.

They change due to temperatures decreasing with latitude." So what part of that sentence or two sentences should I not have included? I shouldn't have included that second sentence because that's an explanation, not a description.

The final step is giving specific details.

So this describe the specific distribution of the main biomes.

Okay, I'm going to read through my answer here.

"Russia has four main biomes that stretch across the country and change with latitude." That was step two.

"Furthest north, the land is mostly tundra.

Below that is taiga, which covers most of Siberia and stretches thousands of miles from the east of the west of the country.

Further south is temperate forest, which is found in the far west and far east.

Furthest south are the temperate grasslands, which stretch across the southernmost latitudes of Russia." Okay, so you'll notice there that I've given specific locations.

So for example, I've put Siberia, and I've also given an indication of this scale there.

Okay, let's check what we have just learned.

In what order do Russia's biomes appear as you move from the south to the north? That is temperate grassland, temperate forest, taiga, and tundra.

Well done if you got that right.

What should not be included when writing a description of the distribution of something? You shouldn't include an explanation.

You absolutely should include specific details and map features, though.

Okay, we're onto to our first task for this lesson.

What I would like to do is colour in and label Russia's major biomes on your map, then colour them in on the key and label them.

So the map has been helped out a little bit for you in that the lines of the the boundaries of the major biomes are on there, okay? So colour them in, colour your key, and label them.

Okay, second task.

Alex has written a description of the distribution of Russia's biomes.

He has made nine mistakes.

Using your map to support, find each mistake and correct them.

So pause the video, find his mistakes, and correct them.

Okay, so here, we've got what your map should have looked like.

You might have used different colours and that's fine.

Okay, and here, we have got Alex with his mistakes.

So there's actually four main biomes, okay? They change with latitude.

Furthest north, the land is mostly tundra.

Below that is taiga, which covers most of Siberia, which stretches from the east of the west of the country.

Further south is temperate forest, which is found in the far west and east, and the furthest south are the temperate grasslands, which stretch across the southernmost latitudes of Russia.

Well done if you spotted all of those and managed to correct them.

Okay, we're now moving on to what Russia's biomes are actually like.

Now, biomes have distinct characteristics, with variation in climate, soil, which accounts for differences in their vegetation, okay? So when you're thinking about climate, you're thinking about how temperature and precipitation vary in the area, such as Andeep has just questioned, the soil, so how the soil type can differ, and both those two things together affect what vegetation you have there, okay? So Alex has asked a good question here, "What types of plants grow in the biomes?" Okay, so we've got some information on the table here.

So first of all, we're thinking about the climate of these biomes.

So we've got tundra, taiga, temperate forest, temperate grasslands, and you can notice there, I've put them in the order from moving further south.

So first of all, I've given you the January average of the tundra, which is -30 degrees.

So as you move further south through those biomes, do you think the January average temperature gets higher or lower? What do you reckon? Okay, so the January temperature gets warmer.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, so now, we're thinking about the July average.

Now, I've given you the temperate grasslands July average there, which is quite warm at 30 degrees.

So as you move further north up to the tundra, what do you reckon happens to that July average? Okay, it gets cooler.

Okay, so the July average of the tundra area is eight degrees C, quite cold still.

Okay, so now, I want us to have a think about some of the annual precipitation, so how much rain or snowfall there is in the area.

So for a tundra environment, okay, the average annual precipitation is 270 millimetres, which is quite low, but it tends to actually be snowfall, which is what the little snowflakes represent.

So taiga and temperate forest, you think they've got higher or lower rainfall precipitation levels, and what do you reckon for grasslands? Okay, so taiga and temperate forests have relatively high annual precipitation levels.

So taiga, they have snow and rain, whereas temperate forests tend to just be rainfall, and temperate grasslands have a relatively low annual precipitation level.

It's 390 millimetres, okay? But that is higher than the tundra.

So tundra and taiga have long, cold winters and short summers.

Temperate forests have four seasons.

Temperate grasslands have hot summers and cold winters.

Okay, we've got three statements from Jacob, Aisha, and Jun here.

Who of these three is correct? Okay, Jacob is correct here.

So, "Average temperatures are coldest in the tundra and warmest in the temperate grasslands." Well done if you got that right.

Okay, so which two of the biomes have the lowest average annual precipitation? That's tundra and temperate grasslands.

Well done if you got that right.

So remember, temperate forest and taiga are forest environments.

Forests need rainfall or snowfall to grow.

Which two biomes have the longest winters and the shortest summers? That's taiga and tundra, okay? They're the furthest north.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, so we're gonna look at the soil type and how that varies between each of the biomes.

So in tundra environments, much of the soil remains frozen year round, and this is a condition known as permafrost.

So if you imagine, if you've got frozen soil, that's then gonna make it quite difficult for vegetation to grow.

In taiga environments, there's a lot of heavy rainfall, and this washes nutrients deep into the soil, leaving the soil in that area quite nutrient poor.

In temperate forests, fertile soils from abundant organic matter and good conditions for it decompose and release nutrients, so they're quite fertile.

And in temperate grasslands, these are some of the world's most fertile soil, as nutrients accumulate towards the top of the soil.

So which of those four biomes has the most fertile soil? That's the temperate grassland.

Well done if you got that right.

Which biome soil is affected by a condition known as permafrost? That's tundra.

Well done if you got that correct.

Okay, we're now gonna look at the vegetation.

So the dominant type of vegetation varies between the different biomes, okay?.

So we've got an example of what each kind of biome might look like on here.

So in tundra environments, the vegetation tends to be quite low growing, so it doesn't grow high up into the atmosphere.

There's not many trees and there's lots of low-growing shrubs.

In taiga environments, the trees tend to be coniferous trees, okay? So they don't lose their leaves in the winter.

So they often are evergreen trees, such as pine, pine forests or pine trees.

In temperate forests, these are deciduous trees, such as oak, so these lose their leaves in the autumn.

And in temperate grasslands, you have a lot of grass, okay? So there's lots of low-lying vegetation, such as grass and shrublands.

Now, climate and soil determine the dominant vegetation type, okay? So in tundras, there are long, cold winters and short, cool summers.

So the minimum temperature be as cold as -30 with a max of about eight degrees C, okay? There's permafrost, so the soil is frozen, and that means that the vegetation that grows there has to be able to survive in frozen soil and have extremely cold conditions.

In taiga forest, there are long, cold winters and short summers, and the soil is nutrients poor.

So the trees that grow there have to be able to deal with those conditions.

In temperate forest, there's four distinct seasons, okay? And you've kind of got more suitable temperatures there of -2 degrees to 24 degrees, and the soil is quite fertile.

And in temperate grassland, you've got a cold winter and a hot summer, and the soil is very, very fertile here.

So what do you reckon, looking at that information about the temperatures and the type of soil there, how is the vegetation going to have to adapt to the climate and the soil type in each of those biomes? Pause the video and have a quick chat with your partner.

Okay, we're gonna have a look in detail at some of the adaptations of the plants in these environments.

So first of all, tundra, so low-growing shrubs, such as the arctic willow, dominate the tundra, and these are some of their adaptations.

They're low growing to protect from the wind, they grow in dense clusters to keep warm, they tend to have shallow roots to absorb limited liquid water, and they've also got fine hairs on the leaves and stems, which trap air, acting as an insulator.

Coniferous forests, such as pines, dominate the taiga.

So some of the adaptation that these trees have is that they've got really thick bark, which protects against sub-zero temperatures, they're evergreen, which means that they don't shed their leaves, so they don't use energy growing new leaves in short summers, and they've also got downward sloping branches, which encourages the snow to fall off so the branches don't break.

Okay, so in the temperate forests, deciduous trees, such as oak, dominate and some of the adaptations of these is that they shed their leaves in the autumn to conserve energy over the winter, they tend to have broad leaves to capture spring and summer sunlight to maximise photosynthesis, and also they've got thick bark to protect from the frosts.

Now, grasses dominate the temperate grasslands, such as feather grass.

Some of the main adaptations of these are that they've got deep and extensive root systems to access limited water supplies, they've got flexible stems, which bend in the wind so they don't break, and they've also got reduced leaf surface area to limit moisture loss because there tends to not be loads of rainfall in these environments.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

In which biome do plants cluster together to protect themselves from the wind? That's tundra.

Well done if you got that correct.

In which biome do plants have extensive root systems to access limited water supplies? That's the temperate grasslands.

Well done if you got that correct.

In which biome do plants shed leaves in autumn to conserve energy over winter? That's the temperate forest.

Well done if you got that correct.

In which biome do plants have downward sloping branches to encourage snow to fall off? That's the taiga.

Well done if you got that correct.

Okay, so we're on to our final tasks for this lesson.

First of all, I'd like to create a table with the four biomes as row headings and climate, vegetation, and soil as the column headings.

You're then going to sort the characteristics that I've got in this table here into the correct place on your table, okay? So pause the video, write your table up, and put those in the correct column.

Finally, I'd like you to annotate the photograph to show how the vegetation is adapted to climate and soil of the tundra.

Okay, let's have a look at these answers.

So for tundra, we've got the climate is long, cold winters and short, cool summers.

Vegetation is a low-growing shrubs, for example, reindeer moss, and the soil is in permafrost condition.

For taiga, the climate tends to be long, cold winters and short, mild summers, there are evergreen trees, for example, pine, and the soil tends to be nutrient poor.

In temperate forests, there are four distinct seasons, deciduous trees dominate, and there are fertile soils.

In the temperate grasslands, there's hot summers and cold winters.

The grasses, there's lots of grasses, including feather grass, and there's extremely fertile soil.

And here we've got some adaptations of how tundra plants adapt to live in that harsh environment.

So there tends to be shallow roots, which can absorb the limited liquid water in that frozen soil.

There are fine hairs on the leaves and stems, which trap air, acting as an insulator.

They grow in dense clusters to keep warm, and they are low growing to protect from the winds.

Okay, we've got a summary of today's lesson here.

So Russia has four main biomes, which vary with latitude.

Geographers describe the pattern of their distribution from maps.

Russia's biomes have distinct characteristics, and we've got a table there of the four biomes with the climate, soil, and vegetation, and vegetation is adapted to the soil and climate of different biomes.

Now, that's it from me today.

So fantastic job in today's lesson, and I'll see you next time.

<v ->Bye.

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