Sahara+Desert

=Sahara Desert- Bridget, Shannon and Drew. =

==**ZOOLOGIST BY SHA** ﻿ **NNON BOND.** == **1. What are the main animals found in the Sahara? List as many animal species as you can.** **Rattlesnake**- Habitat: Deserts. Adaption: Picks up animal scents & heat with it's forked tongue; shakes it's rattle to warn it's enemies; fangs are "folded" back into it's mouth when not in use. Diet: birds, amphibians, mice and rats. Predators: king snake, road runner, birds of prey & man.
 * Moths.
 * Flies.
 * Dragonflies.
 * Leaf bugs.
 * Mosquitoes.
 * Vultures.
 * Crows.
 * Hawks.
 * Rattle snake.
 * Desert Sparrow.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Rattlesnake.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Mongoose.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Baboons.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Barbary Sheep.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hedgehogs.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Barbary Sheep**- stands 80 to 100 cm (2.6 to 3.3 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 40 to 140 kg (88 to 310 lb.). They are a sandy-brown colour, darkening with age, with a slightly lighter underbelly and a darker line along the back. Upper parts and the outer parts of the legs are a uniform reddish-brown or greyish- brown. There is some shaggy hair on the throat (extending down to the chest in males) and a sparse mane. Their horns have a triangular cross section. The horns curve outwards, backwards then inwards, and reach up to 50 cm (20 in). The horns are smooth, but wrinkled at the base.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Mongooses**- live in southern Asia, Africa, and southern Europe, as well as some Caribbean and Hawaiian islands, where they are an introduced species. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There are more than thirty species, ranging from 1–4 feet (0.30–1.2 m) in length. Mongoose range in weight from the squirrel-sized Common Dwarf Mongoose, at 10 oz (280 g), to the cat-sized White Tailed Mongoose, at 9 lb. (4.1 kg). <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Some species lead predominantly solitary lives, seeking out food only for themselves, while others travel in groups, sharing food among group members.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">//**2. Describe ways that the chosen animals adapt to the desert conditions.**// <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Mongoose-** Keeps cool by digging and staying in it's burrow with all of it's family.


 * Rattlesnake-** Keeps cool by digging in under the ground.


 * Barbary Sheep-** Does not keep cool just stays in the heat.


 * 3. Describe the diet of the chosen animals and if they have any predators.**
 * Rattlesnake-** Birds, mice, amphibians and rats. Predators- king snake, road runner, birds of prey and man.


 * Mongoose-**rodents, birds, reptiles, frogs, insects and worms. Predator- Cobra.


 * Barbary Sheep-** Grass, herbaceous plants and stunted bushes. Predators- The natural predators of a barcary sheep is man, coyotes and mountian lions.

**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">BOTANIST BY DR﻿EW McKAY **
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">1.**What are the main plant species found in your desert area**?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">the herb ** // thyme // **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">cactus
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">gourds
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">halophytes
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">oleander
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">doum palm
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">peyote
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">fig trees
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">orange trees
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">magaria
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">mulberry
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">date
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">lotus
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">papyrus

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Oat Grass**:Tall Green grass that the animals eat to survive death in the desert. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Fig tree:** Big and wide with No leaves with very small branches <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Thorny Palms**: Thorny and Spiky As Tall as trees <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Cactus:** Can be big or small depending on what type of cactus it is. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Orange trees:** A lot smaller then our because lack of water

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2. Describe ways that your 5 chosen plant/tree/shrub adapt or survive in desert conditions. IE They are able to retain water, they don't require much water, they have deep root systems.** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Oat grass:** get it's water by having a very large root system. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Fig tree:** It's roots go as far as 50 meters in to the ground to get water. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Thorny Palms:** Deep roots as well. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Cactus:** The cactus holds up to 250lts of water every time it rains. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Orange Tree:** 50 meters into the earth.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**3.** **List and explain any animals or species that use your plant/tree/shrub for habitat or survival.** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Oat grass**:The camels eat the grass to Survive in the desert. The Arabian Hare eats the grass to get its water from it. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The red deer eats the grass as well. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Fig tree:** Nothing <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Thorny palms:** Small birds and other animals <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Cactus:** Birds eat it's cacti to survive. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Orange tree:** Birds


 * Q 4 Identify and describe any threats to your plant/tree/shrub in your desert area. IE Climate change, human interaction.**
 * Oat grass:** if it did not rain as much or at all the oat grass would not survive in the desert for the animals to survive.
 * Fig tree:** If human interaction was there the fig tree would not survive.
 * Thorny palms:** If there was no rain the thorny palms would die
 * Cactus:** All the birds that eat the cacti would die if there was no cactus
 * Orange tree:**If it got hotter it would not rain enough There for the trees would die and so will the birds>

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**GEOLOGY by Bridget Brooks.**
//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Q.1 List and describe the type of terrain found in your desert. IE rock, sand, stone, mountainous, flat, icy.** // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The parched, foreboding landscape of the Sahara has taken shape over thousands, possibly millions, of years but even today, the harsh desert is constantly changing. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sand dunes make up only about 15 percent of the Sahara, but the desert is so huge (about 5.63 million sq km) that even a single dune may be enormous, some reaching over 500 ft (152 m) in height. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">About 70 percent of the Sahara consists of rocky plains covered with stones and gravel. Shale and limestone plateaus or mountain ranges make up the rest.

//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Q.2 What are the key landforms found in your desert area? Provide a description of each.** // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sand dunes: Mountains of sand, shaped over time by wind and sand storms. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The largest sand dune known is the Libyan Erga, which is as big as France. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sand seas: Vast expanses of sandy landscapes, sometimes stretching for hundreds of kilometers.

//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Q.3 Describe the specific climate conditions found in your desert and discuss how this works to create a desert region in this location. IE Temperatures, wind, rainfall.** // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Many thousands of years ago, the Sahara was a green home to water-loving animals, like hippos. Then the climate changed. Today rising and falling winds pull moisture away from the desert, but they rarely bring rain. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Temperatures in the Sahara may vary from below zero in the night to the mid fifties during the day. The Sahara is one of the hottest places on Earth. Even though temperatures there may rise to 136 F (57.7 C), its dryness, not heat, that makes a place like the Sahara a desert. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Sahara receives less than three inches of rain a year; even in the Sahara's wettest areas, it may rain twice one week and not rain again for years.

//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Q.4 Choose one landform and describe how the environmental conditions and climate have helped create it. IE Wind, rain torrents, erosions, weathering.** // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">__**Sand dune:**__ Sand dunes are caused by constant winds. A sand dune often starts as a small mound of sand that collect around a small object like a rock or small plant. As they grow in size, the dunes are moved and shaped by the wind.

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