AP Environmental Science -- presentations on biome types | check out the presentations from 2004 and 2005 and 2006 | due date: Tues 11/14 | grading rubric

Introduction:

Biomes are the second highest level of organization that we describe for living systems. A biome is a major ecosystem type covering a large area. They are characterized by a particular climate, including soil and moisture conditions, which permit the life of specific organisms. These organisms can be described in terms of their adaptations to life in that particular biome. Each biome type faces specific (and overlapping) threats to its existence - threats created by those with whom have been placed the responsibility of their care.

Requirements:

In order to understand the many types of biomes that can be found around the world, you will be creating a presentation on one type of biome. The presentation should cover the following specifics:

1. In what part of North America is your biome found? Where in world do you find similar biomes?

2. Climate characteristics.  Use specific statistics.
3. Soil and moisture conditions, including nutrient content and soil types

4. For aquatic ecosystems, (2) and (3) are not relevant. Instead, you should discuss the physical and chemical water factors that are relevant, such as salinity, depth, flow, layering in lakes, currents in oceans, etc.

5. Typical plant species and their structure/arrangement (such as layers in the forests, etc)

6. Several characteristic animals and their adaptations to their situation.

7. One endangered species found in your biome (should come from the U.S. Endangered Species List - follow the link)
8. Distinctive features of one "sub-biome" type you are focusing on (e.g. beach-maple forest, sonoran desert, etc).  For those not clearly indicated on the map, you can select a specific example (e.g. Lake Superior as an example of a lake)
9. The presentation must be done using power point.  We will post them on the class web site after you are finished.

* include your references

I encourage you to make this report interesting by sharing any experiences you may have had while visiting the an example of the biome - the information becomes much more interesting when it is personal.

For research beyond the book, check out these links

Following is a list of the biomes that we will choose from.  Indicated in parenthesis are the relevant sub-types from the map

1. rain forest (9)

2. temperate deciduous forest (3a through h and 5)

3. taiga and boreal forest (2, 4 and 10)

4. temperate grassland (6a-e)

5. deserts (7a-d)

6. lakes and ponds

7. rivers/streams

8. swamps/wetlands and estuaries

9. tundra (alpine and artic; 1a and b, 4, and 10)

10. barrier islands

Possible "sub-biome" types are listed on the handout you received - Flora of North America