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World Biomes: An Introduction to Climate

What is a Biome?

A biome is a large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal groups, which are adapted to that particular environment. Most terrestrial biomes are defined by the predomintant plant life. The plant life is determined in part by the climate in a region. Climate is controled by many factors including latitude and geography.

Most textbooks define only terrestrial biomes. Technically this it the most precise definition. We have included what we call aquatic biomes here though because many students search for them. In reality, most aquatic biomes are more correctly called aquatic zones.

A Video Introduction to Climates

This short video was made for Pearson’s middle school curriculum. We’re happy to get the chance to share it with you here today.

To understand a world biome, you need to know:

• What the climate of the region is like.
• Where each biome is found on Earth and what its geography is like.
• The special adaptations of the vegetation.
• The types of animals found in the biome and their physical and behavioral adaptations to their environment.

Terrestrial Biomes

Terrestrial biomes are defined by the dominant vegetation. For example, a deciduous forest is made up primarily of non-evergreen trees. A temperate grassland is dominated by grasses. A boreal forest is made up primarily of evergreen trees such as spruce and fir. Read up on each biome to learn more. We’ve created a video for most temperate biomes. Some of these links direct you to our old biome pages at www.thewildclassroom.com, even though we’re slowly moving all the information onto our untamedscience.com site.

• Polar Icecaps
• Arctic Tundra
• Alpine Tundra
• Boreal Forests
• Temperate Deciduous Forest
• Tropical Rainforests
• Temperate Grasslands
• Tropical Savanas
• Chaparral / Mediterranean climates
• Desert Scrub
• Desert

Aquatic Biomes

Aquatic Biomes, sometimes called “zones” are often overlooked. Because many of the staff here at Untamed Science are marine biologists, we made sure to not forget them. . In fact, we teamed up with Save our Seas to produce a video for every biome. Check them out.

Ocean Aquatic Biomes / Zones

• Deep Sea
• Estuaries
• Intertidal
• Pelagic
• Coastal Oceans
• Coral Reefs

Freshwater Aquatic Biomes / Zones

• Lakes and Ponds
• Wetlands
• Streams and Rivers

Check out some of the videos we’ve created on The Wild Classrom for the BIOMES OF THE WORLD pages.