Biome Activity: Build Your Own Beautiful Biome

Oceans, forests, sand and more! Our planet has many different environments suitable for many different types of plants and animals. Welcome to planet earth’s biomes! This biome activity will exercise both sides of your little’s brain, applying science to artistic expression. Let’s explore the planet together in and build our own biome!

WHAT IS A BIOME?

A biome covers any large area on earth that has specific animals, climate and plants growing there. Plants and animals adapt to survive and thrive in the specific conditions of their biome. Each of earth’s biomes are made up of many different ecosystems. Ecosystems include all living organisms and the way they interact with their nonliving environment.

WHAT ARE THE FIVE MAJOR TYPES OF BIOMES?

While there are so many different types of biomes, they can all be sorted into these five categories:

• Grassland
• Tundra
• Desert
• Aquatic
• Forest

These five categories can be further broken down, for example freshwater and saltwater biomes both fall under aquatic biomes, while forest biomes may be divided into temperate forests and tropical rainforests.

Let’s take a journey through each of these five biomes. Learning about each biome will help your little decide which biome they want to create in this activity!

GRASSLAND

Grasslands may be divided into two categories: temperate grasslands and savannas. Both have a dry and warm climate with lots and lots of grass. Temperate grasslands are far away from the equator. One temperate grassland you may already be familiar with is a prairie. Some common animals found in temperate grasslands are bison, deer, mountain lions, coyotes and birds of prey. Savannas are close to the equator and have a few more trees than temperate grasslands. The Serengeti National Park is a famous savanna located in Tanzania, Africa. Some common animals found in the savanna are giraffes, elephants, zebras, and hippos.

TUNDRA

Tundras are also divided into two categories: alpine and arctic. These are the harshest and coldest biomes, with temperatures barely reaching above freezing. Alpine tundra is found above the treeline in mountain ranges around the world. The treeline is where the altitude becomes too high for trees to be able to survive! Brrrrr, that’s chilly! The arctic tundra is located in the farthest northern regions of the world. In both types of tundra, animals have major adaptations to survive there! Some animals that live in the tundra include arctic fox, arctic hare, caribou and polar bear.

DESERT

Desert biomes are very dry and receive very little rainfall throughout the year. There are many reptiles that have adapted to living in the desert, including many different types of lizards and snakes. Many insects and spiders also call the desert their home.

AQUATIC

There are two different types of aquatic biomes: freshwater biomes and saltwater biomes. Freshwater biomes take up much less space on the earth and manifest as our rivers, lakes and streams. Freshwater dolphins, beavers, turtles and frogs have all adapted to live in freshwater biomes. Saltwater biomes make up our oceans and cover 71% of our planet. The oceans are teeming with life, such as clown fish, blue whales, octopus, plankton and coral.

FOREST

The three main types of forest biomes are temperate forests, tropical rainforests, and boreal forests. Temperate forests have all four seasons. One famous example of a temperate forest is the redwood national forests in Northern California. Raccoons, bobcats and deer all call the redwoods their home. Tropical rainforests are close to the equator and are hot and humid. The Amazon Rainforest in South America is a tropical rainforest, with some astounding animals, such as the poison dart frog, electric eel, and jaguar. Boreal forests are in colder parts of the planet and the only precipitation they get is snow! Moose, beavers and brown bears all make their homes in boreal forests.

CREATE YOUR OWN BIOME ACTIVITY

YOU WILL NEED:

• shoe box, tissue box, cereal box, or any other box of a similar size
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pipe cleaners
• Pom poms
• Old nature magazines
• Sand, leaves, rocks, pine cones, seeds, grasses, twigs, or any other naturally occurring materials
• paint 
• Paintbrushes
• Cotton balls

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Gather your supplies.

STEP 2: Talk to your little about biomes. What do they already know about biomes? What questions do they have? How can they use their knowledge and questions to build their own biome model? Here are a few great questions to guide them through the process:

• What is your favorite animal? What biome does that animal live in?
• Are you creating a biome for a dinosaur that you created from our Engineer a Dinosaur activity? If so, which biome do you think your dinosaur would fit into best?
• Which biome do we live in?
• Which biome would you like to visit the most?

STEP 3: Help your little decide which biome model to create. Introduce all the supplies and watch their creative juices flow! I think you will be amazed at what your little comes up with.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

• Build LEGO animals to go in your biome.
• Check out our other earth science and animals activities
• Share your biome model with a friend
• Share your little’s biome model on social media @littlehandsonscience. I would LOVE to see what masterpieces they create!