AIM:  What is a biome?

MOTIVATION:   Show students pictures of the tundra, desert, taiga, rain forest, temperate forest, ocean, and grasslands from the website http://www.richmond.edu/~ed344/webunits/biomes

MATERIALS:  web site listed above for pictures of different biomes, books on different biomes (Troll books publishes various books on the different biomes)

PROCEDURE:
    1.  Ask students to describe characteristics of each area.
    2.  Ask them to compare each area.
    3.  Ask questions like:
        a.  How are these regions different from each other?
        b.  How are the characteristics of the same regions like one another?
    4.  Explain and define biome as an area on the earth's surface that has a certain set of physical
    characteristics.
    5.  Identify and name the seven different biomes on earth- a) desert b) grassland c) ocean d) taiga e) temperate forest f) rain forest g) tundra.

  SAMPLE PICTURES FROM THE WEBSITE:
 
 FOLLOW-UP: Continue to Lesson 2, What are some vocabulary words associated with biomes?