Introduction
Greetings adventurers,
We live in a wonderful world. People live next to oceans, in forests, in cities and towns. You have been chosen to explore how people live in a desert. This is a wonderful opportunity. You must carefully collect data to figure out how people can survive in the desert and how to make a good life.
Enjoy the journey, and remember to bring your sunscreen!
Task
Task 1
You have just been given a map with all the deserts on the planet. Study the map in the link below and answer the questions showing that you can identify all the different deserts.
List the deserts with the continent it is on.
Task 2
As you continue your research on deserts, you will begin to notice that there are four different types of deserts: hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts.
Watch the video below and answer the following questions using evidence from the viewing.
Where would you find a hot and dry desert?
Where would you find a semi-arid desert?
Where would you find a coastal desert?
Finally, where would you find a cold desert?
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/desert-biome/
Task 3
Now that you have learned more about deserts, you have decided to go on a desert camping trip.
1. Choose a desert to visit.
2. Make a list of what you need to prepare before you go on your desert adventure.
https://eremlife.com/blogs/blog/how-to-plan-a-desert-camping-trip
Process
Deserts are areas that receive very little precipitation. People often use the adjectives “hot,” “dry,” and “empty” to describe deserts, but these words do not tell the whole story. Although some deserts are very hot, with daytime temperatures as high as 54°C, other deserts have cold winters or are cold year-round. And most deserts, far from being empty and lifeless, are home to a variety of plants, animals, and other organisms. People have adapted to life in the desert for thousands of years.
One thing all deserts have in common is that they are arid, or dry. Most experts agree that a desert is an area of land that receives no more than 25 centimetres of precipitation a year. The amount of evaporation in a desert often greatly exceeds the annual rainfall. In all deserts, there is little water available for plants and other organisms.
Deserts are found on every continent and cover about one-fifth of Earth’s land area. They are home to around 1 billion people—one-sixth of the Earth’s population.
Although the word “desert” may bring to mind a sea of shifting sand, dunes cover only about 10 per cent of the world’s deserts. Some deserts are mountainous. Others are dry expanses of rock, sand, or salt flats.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/desert/
Evaluation
During your camping trip, something happened. Your GPS broke down and you are lost. You only have water for two days. You need to find out how to get out of the desert. What will you do?
Research ways of finding your way out of a desert, and choose the best one for the desert where you are camping.
Explain how you can find directions without a GPS.
Describe how you will get out of the situation.
Conclusion
Great work, adventurers! I hope you enjoyed your journey to the desert and it made you think about how big our world is and how much is out there. Happy camping!
Credits
- https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/desert/
- http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/desert_operations/map-of-the-main-desert-ar.shtml
- https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/desert-biome/
- https://eremlife.com/blogs/blog/how-to-plan-a-desert-camping-trip
Teacher Page
At the end of this quest, students should have more knowledge about different deserts, they would also be able to think about planning a desert trip and how to get out of danger when in a desert.