. Your group might be assigned to research and report on a biome. Read through all of the following instructions before starting to plan the report.

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2 Think About It Humans, other animals, and plants have adaptations to different climates in different biomes. For example, humans have adapted to different climates through clothing. A person living in a desert needs different types of clothes than one living in the rain forest. In the biomes of Canada and Europe, people need more changes of clothing because the weather in taiga, grassland, and temperate deciduous forest biomes varies with the seasons. Humans have made similar adaptations in shelter and transportation. Plants and animals have also adapted to conditions of extreme heat, cold, dryness, humidity, and wind. How do the characteristics of the climate in a biome determine the types of plant and animal activities found there? Which structural and behavioural adaptations can you identify? What to Do - 0 Your teacher will detenrune the fonnat that you should use to complete this assignment. For example, you might write a report, develop a multimedia presentation, make a diorama, build a computer database, or make a fonnal presentation to your class. Your teacher will also provide you with an outline that specifies the components you will include. 0 Meet with your group to decide on a plan, including how to share the tasks. Decide on the role of each member of your team. Be sure to consider everyone's ideas and encourage participation by all group members. 0 Use print, electronic, and human resources for your research. Remember to cite your sources correcdy.. Your group might be assigned to research and report on a biome. Read through all of the following instructions before starting to plan the report. I. Begin by reading through the biome descriptions on the following pages. You will notice that each description includes a climatograph of the region, a map of the biome's location, a photograph of a typical scene, and a few points regarding the biome's features. You will also find a chart of data for you to create your own climatograph for the biome. Use the chart-making capabilities of spreadsheet software to construct your climatographs. In Microsoft ExcelTM enter the data in three columns and select all of the data. Under the Custom Chait Types menu, select Line - Column on 2 Axis. Follow the prompts to construct your climatograph. ~ 410 MHR. Unit 4 Energy Flow in Global Systems

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9 Is a Biome an Open System? In Chapter 1O, you learned that an open system allows for the movement of matter and energy across the system's boundary. A closed system is one in which only energy can pass across the system's boundary. Use Figure and the description of a grassland biome to determine if a biome is an example of an open or a closed system. The following list describes the movements of matter and energy relative to a grassland biome. Energy. Incoming solar radiation passes through the atmosphere and strikes the grassland biome. Some wavelengths of solar radiation are used to warm the grassland while other wavelengths are transformed into chemical energy by green plants (photosynthesis).. Some outgoing, long-wave radiation passes through the atmosphere and back into outer space. Matter. A grassland biome is characterized by different species of grasses and small shrubs. These producers provide food and oxygen for other organisms.. Animals, such as white-tailed deer, are free to enter and leave the grassland biome.. Migrating birds can be in the grassland biome one day and then in the tundra biome several days later. These animals move matter and energy across the boundary of this biome.. Air and water can pass into and out of the grassland biome.. Disturbances, such as fire, release large quantities of matter and energy. As you can see, a biome receives a continual supply of energy from the Sun and some of this energy is released back into outer space. Some organisms can pass freely back and forth across its boundaries. Matter moves across biome boundaries. In other words, a biome is an example of an open system. The fact that biomes are open systems is one factor that shows they are dynamic and continually changing. With what other open system can a biome be compared? Find out in the next activity. ~ Chapter 11 Climate and Biomes. MHR 417

10 Cells and Biomes In this activity, you will investigate an animal cell and the tundra biome to determine if they are open or closed systems. From your work in this or previous science courses, you might be familiar with this illustration of an animal cell. The functions of a few of the organelles are provided for you. Find Out Procedure 1. Prepare a data chart similar to the one shown below. (a) Energy input (b) Energy output (c) Matter entering (d) Matter entering Materials notebook to record your observations illustration of an animal cell photograph of tundra biome (e) Matter leaving (f) Matter leaving 418 MHR. Unit 4 Energy Flow in Global Systen

11 Section 11.2 Summary In this section, you researched biomes. You discovered that all organisms have physiological, structural, and behavioural adaptations that allow them to survive and reproduce in specific climates. Many scientists arbitrarily divide the biosphere into six distinct biomes: tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, grasslands, desert, and tropical rainforests. Each biome is characterized by stable vegetation and animals adapted to survive in the biome. A biome is an open system. Matter and energy are free to cross the boundary of the biome. A cell is another example of an open system. In the next section, you will explore factors that cause climates and therefore biomes to change naturally. Check Your Understanding 1. (a) Compare the structural and behavioral adaptations animals have in order to live in a desert biome to the kinds of adaptations animals have that allow them to survive in the Arctic tundra. (b) Compare the structural and behavioral adaptations plants have that enable them to live in a desert biome to the kinds of adaptations plants have that allow them to live in the tundra. 2. How does looking at a location's climatograph provide you with clues about which biome you might find there? 3. (a) List the biomes as if you were travelling from the equator toward the Pole in the northern hemisphere. (b) Rank the six biomes in order of increasing diversity of organisms (biodiversity). How does this list compare with the one you generated in part (a)? 4. Thinking Critically There are desert biomes in North America. However, in Canada, deserts extend into only a very small portion of southern British Columbia. Why are there no major desert biomes in Canada? 5. Thinking Critically Why is there no tundra biome in the southern hemisphere? t? - Turn through the pages of this textbook, looking at the photographs. Make a list of five open systems (other than a cell or biome) and five closed systems that you find. Compare your list with that of your classmates. Challeng each other to explain why you thought each was either an open or a closed system. Chapter 11 Climate and Biomes. MHR 419