Plant and animal adaptations, issues relating to biodiversity
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain that plants and animals are well adapted to the physical conditions in hot deserts and that there are issues related to biodiversity.
Key learning points
- Hot deserts are home to a variety of plants and animals.
- Plants in hot deserts are well adapted to the physical conditions.
- Animals in hot deserts are well adapted to the physical conditions.
- There are issues related to biodiversity in hot deserts.
Keywords
Adaptation - evolutionary changes that improve an organism’s chance of survival in its environment
Nocturnal - active at night and resting during the day
Biodiversity - the variety of different types of life found in a particular area
Ecosystem - a community of living organisms and their interactions with their environment
Common misconception
A camel's hump stores water.
A camel's hump does not hold water at all – it actually stores fat. The camel uses it as nourishment when food is scarce. If a camel uses the fat inside the hump, the hump will become limp and droop, but with food and rest the hump will normalise.
Teacher tip
Short clips from wildlife programmes about animal and plant adaptations in the hot desert help reinforce learning. Episode 4 of Planet Earth 2 has several good examples.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a hot desert?
Q2.How much rainfall falls annually in hot desert environments?
Q3.Why is the soil store in hot deserts bigger than the biomass or litter stores?
Q4.Match the keywords to their definitions.
Q5.Where are hot deserts found?
Q6.Urbanisation is a key factor in the decrease of biodiversity in hot desert environments. What does the term 'urbanisation' mean?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Why do some desert plants have thick, waxy skin?
Q2.Match each adaptation with its purpose.
Q3.Which of the following is not a reason for low biodiversity in hot deserts?
Q4.Ephemeral in hot deserts rapidly complete their life cycles during brief wet periods.
Q5.Which of the following is a human threat to biodiversity in hot deserts?
Q6.Which of the following is a characteristic of xerophytes?
To help you plan your 10 geography lesson on: Plant and animal adaptations, issues relating to biodiversity, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 geography lesson on: Plant and animal adaptations, issues relating to biodiversity, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 geography lessons from the Hot deserts unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.