Key learning points

1. The desert has extreme heat and little rainfall.
2. The Bedouin live nomadic lifestyles, using camels for transport and relying on oases for water and farming.
3. Plants and animals have adptations that help them survive in the desert.
4. Camels store fat in their humps, fennec foxes have large ears to release heat, and oryx get moisture from plants.
5. Date palms have deep roots, cacti store water in thick stems, and acacia trees have small leaves to reduce water loss.

Keywords

• Arid - a place that recieves less than 250 mm of precipitation a year

• Nomadic - moving from place to place for resources or survival

• Adaptation - special features that organisms have to help them survive in an environment

• Oasis - a spot of fertile land in a desert, where water is found

• Evaporation - the process whereby water turns into vapour

Common misconception