Lesson video

Hi everyone, I'M Miss Reid and welcome to another geography lesson on the biomes.

Let's have a look at our key question for today.

So our key question for today is : What are the grasslands? So in this lesson, we're going to be learning about the climatic factors and the location of the grasslands.

We'll also learn about the flora and the fauna that are present there.

So for today's lesson all you'll need is an exercise book or a piece of paper, need a pencil and you'll need your brain.

Please take a moment now to clear away any distractions, including turning off the notifications or any apps or conversations that you have running in the background if you know how to.

Finally if you can try to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed during the lesson.

Pause the video now so you can get the things that you need.

Now you have everything you need.

Let's carry on.

So we are geographers.

Now geographers are a type of scientist who studied the Earth; that includes the land, the physical features and the people who live within it.

The the human features.

So, the key questions for today's lesson are, where can we find the grasslands? What are the features of the grasslands? What flora and fauna can be found in the grasslands? Let's recap the names and locations for seven continents.

We've done this a few times now, so you should be really good at it.

Put your finger on North America.

That's right.

It's the light green continent.

Put your finger on South America.

That's right.

It's the dark green continent well done.

Put your finger on Europe.

Absolutely.

It's that dark red continent.

Put your finger on Africa.

Indeed, it's the yellow continent.

Put your finger on Antarctica.

Well done.

Is the dark blue continent.

Put your finger on.

Asia.

Absolutely.

It's that light, red or even orange continent.

Put your finger on Oceania.

Well done.

It's that purple continent.

Great work everyone.

Now a recap.

Why isn't the Arctic a continent? Shout it out.

That's right.

Because there's no land under the Arctic ice sheet.

Now you're familiar with the location of the continents.

I would like you to name all seven continents.

I want you to pause the video and shout out the names of all seven continents.

Did you remember all of them? Let's recap them together.

North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania.

Well done everyone.

So here's the map that we've been studying, showing us the location of the biomes across the world.

And we have learned that there's huge diversity across the Continental biomes due to their proximity to the equator.

Today we're focusing on the grasslands.

Now grasslands have many names.

They're the Prairies in North America, Asian steppes, savannas and Velds in Africa, Australian range lands, and Pampas Llanos and Cerrados in South America.

But, they are all places where there is too little rain for trees to grow in great numbers.

On this map, the grasslands are labelled as the grass Savanna on the key.

Can you find it? I've underlined it to help you.

Put your finger on the grass Savanna on the key.

Have you found it? Right here.

It's this light green slash yellow colour.

So, now you know which colour we're using to identify the grass Savanna, or the grasslands.

I'd like you to put your finger on all the continents in which you can see the grasslands.

Shout out the name of the continent as you read it.

Pause the video now and put your finger on all the grasslands.

Have you managed to do that? Let's see if you managed to find all of them.

Let's zoom in again.

So we can find the grasslands in.

North America.

Well done if you've got that right.

We can find them in.

South America.

We can also find them in.

Africa.

We can find the grasslands in.

Asia and we can find the grasslands in.

Oceania.

Which continents can we not find the grasslands in? You can shout your answer out.

That's right, we can't find the grasslands in Europe and we can't find grasslands in Antarctica.

I know Antarctica is not technically on our map, but well done if you said that too.

So it's important for us to recap and understand about this particular diagram.

We've seen it a few times now.

Now, the further away are landmasses from the equator.

The colder the climate will be, and this is because of the Earth's curved shape.

At the equator, the sun's light hits the earth surface directly.

You can follow that light or that line of light towards the equator.

However, the further we go from the equator, the more the sun's light is distributed, and the less heat energy the land receives.

Now looking at our map here, we can see that the grasslands are generally located fairly close to the equator.

So the sun's light isn't as distributed as it would be as you go further north or further south towards the poles.

That's why it's still very hot in the grasslands during the day.

So, here's a question for you.

In which five continents can we find the grasslands? There's four options.

We'll read them together.

A.

North America, South America, Europe and Asia and Oceania.

B.

North America, South America, Europe and Africa and Asia.

C.

North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

D.

Europe, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Pause the video now and choose the correct answer.

Were you sure about which of the five continents the grasslands can be found in? Let's check our answer.

The answer is C.

It can be found in North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Those are the five continents.

Well done if you remember that.

Before we move on, you can tick or fix your answer.

great work.

So now let's think about the features of the grasslands.

Well, the grasslands have a long dry season and a short rainy season.

During the rainy season, rivers appear where they don't lie during the dry season.

The temperature ranges from minus 40 degrees Celsius to above 40 degrees Celsius.

Now these disparities generally show us the temperature during the nighttime when it gets very cold because there's little clouds cover to keep in the sun's heat or the heat energy from the sun.

And during the day, it gets very, very, very hot, because again, there is little clouds cover, which means that there is little shelter, there are a few trees to protect the land from with a canopy, and that means it gets very, very hot.

There's mostly grass that grows and the occasional individual tree.

There's not enough rain for there to be an abundance of trees.

So, now we know the features.

Let's move on and think about the flora and fauna.

So what Flora can be found in the grasslands? Well, plants and animals had to adapt to the long dry periods in the savanna.

As a result, there is low diversity.

Now you'll remember that low diversity means very few species.

Vegetation includes scrub, grasses and occasional trees, such as the acacia tree.

Now this acacia tree generally can be found in the savannas` of Africa.

The acacia tree, or trees across the grasslands generally grow near waterholes, rivers that appear in the rainy season, or aquifers.

And these are underground stores of water.

Answer the question.

Why are there so few trees in the grasslands? Here's some key words to help you.

Long dry season, little to no rain, low diversity.

Pause the video now and complete that question.

Well don't happy ago.

Let's compare your answer to the answer that I`ll right.

There are so few trees in the grasslands because it has a long dry season with little to no rain, which means there is low diversity.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answer.

Well done everyone.

So now we're thinking about fauna of the grasslands.

I thought specifically about the African savanna.

Now the grasslands in Africa specifically are known as the savanna.

And they're home to many large land mammals including elephants, giraffes, zebras, rhinoceroses, Buffalo, lions, leopards, and cheetahs.

Other animals include baboons, crocodiles, antelope, meerkats ants, termites, kangaroos, ostriches and snakes.

Now you can, you might be thinking, gosh, there's low diversity of plant life, but there seems to be high diversity of animal life.

And you'd be totally right.

I've got one more task for you.

I want you to look at the images on this screen, or you might have an image of another animal that I said, and I'd like you to sketch one of these animals in the savanna.

I'd like you to label the features such as grass or shrub, or freestanding tree.

Pause the video now and sketch one of the images of these animals or an animal you know lives in the grasslands and label your image.

Great work everyone.

That brings us to the end of today's lesson.

A really big well done and all the fantastic learning you've achieved today.

If you're able to please take a picture of your work and ask your parent or To share it with your teacher, so that they can see all of the fantastic things you've learned today.

And if you'd like, ask your parent or carer to send a picture of your work to @Oak National on Twitter, so I can see your lovely work too.

Well, that's all that's left for me to say.

Thank you, take care, and enjoy the rest of your learning for today.