Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. March and I'm here today to teach you all about the biomes of China.

So grab everything that you need for today's lesson and let's get going.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to list some of China's biomes and user geographic information system or GIS to investigate one of these biomes.

There are four keywords for today's lesson, and those are biome, temperate, tropical and GIS.

Biome refers to a large region of the world with places that have similar climates, vegetation and animals that have adapted to live there.

Temperate refers to the region between the tropics and the polar areas.

Tropical refers to the region between the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south.

GIS refers to a GIS, which is geographic information system.

It is a computer system that captures and displays geographic data to help understand spatial patterns.

There are two learning cycles for today's lesson.

We're gonna start with learning cycle one, which is types of biomes in China.

Now, biomes are regions of the world with places that have similar climates, vegetation, meaning plants, and animals that have adapted over millions of years to live there.

So Lucas says, we learned about biomes at primary school and Sam says, major world biomes include tropical forest, desert and tundra.

And both of these pupils are absolutely correct in what they say.

Now, what type of biome do you think are found in China? You may like to pause the video at this point whilst you consider your own answer to that question or perhaps even discuss it with someone near you.

So China has a real diverse range of biomes owe to the fact that it's such a vast, vast country and covers many different climate zones.

These include the following, desert, grassland and savannas.

You can see on the screen in front of you.

Mountain or as we call it, alpine in geography, temperate forest, tropical forest and finally, wetlands.

It's the time now for our learning check, it says, what are biomes? And you need to select just one answer.

So what I want you to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through those three options and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was B.

Now a biome refers to regions of the world which have similar climates, landscapes, plants and animals.

Really, really well done if you've got that correct.

So if we just look at one biome for a moment, and it's grassland or its other name is savanna, and it's an open area of land with grasses, shrubs, and sometimes tree as the image in front of you does a really good job in actually illustrating.

Now more than 40% of China's land areas actually covered in this type of biome.

Hulunbuir Grassland in northeastern China is actually one of the largest grasslands in the world, and we can see that on the map in front of you.

So it is home to hundreds of different plant and animal species.

Temperate forest, meanwhile, are located in the temperate region between the polar and tropical regions, and I suppose looks a little bit like the UK's biome here.

Temperate forests are mostly found in the northeastern parts and central parts of China, again, as indicated on the map.

Some of China's temperate forests are the only remaining places in the world where giant pandas live in the wild.

So we begin to get an idea about just how important this biome actually is in a global perspective.

Tropical forests are also found in China and they're found between the two tropics, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

And this is where the climate is both hot and humid.

Now we can see where it's located this time in the southern part of China, the tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna in southwestern China is one of the largest forests in Asia.

The tropical forests here are really rich in biodiversity and they're home to many different plant and animal species, including elephants, tigers, and even green peacocks.

So a quick learning check.

It says, what type of biome is home to the giant panda? I would like you to pause the video whilst you read through those four options and then select the answer.

And the correct answer is temperate forest.

Really, really well done if you're able to select that as the correct answer.

Deserts are also a type of biome that we find in China and they have very little rainfall and vegetation as the image illustrates really, really well.

In fact, for an area to be classified as a desert, it needs to receive less than 250 millimetres of precipitation through the air.

As a result, both hot and cold deserts are found in China.

If we look at this map, we can identify where the Gobi Desert is found.

It's found in northern China and southern Mongolia and is actually one of the largest deserts in the entire world.

It actually covers an area of 1.

3 million kilometres squared, and that's more than five times the size of the UK, thereby giving you a sense of just how large the desert is there.

Mountain or alpine biomes are found at high altitudes and this type of biome is found in mountainous regions of Western China.

These are usually cold and very windy and very few plants and animals can actually survive there, only the ones which are really, really well adapted to those conditions.

Wetlands are areas of land that are underwater for most of the time and they can be formed naturally or made artificially by people.

So several large and important wetlands are found in China, as we can see by the map in that eastern area of China, such as the Yellow River Delta wetland.

Wetlands provide again a great home for biodiversity.

They're also able to help tackle climate change because they absorb a vast amount of carbon dioxide and store it as well.

So a quick learning check.

True or false.

Most of China is covered in forest.

You need to pause the video here whilst you debate and decide your answer for this question.

And the correct answer is false.

Now, once again, I'd like you to pause the video whilst you consider as to why the statement is false.

And the reason it's false is because China is a huge and diverse country with a range of biomes including desert, grassland, tropical forest, as well as temperate forest.

Really, really well done if you're able to get those two answers correct.

We're on now to our practise question for the first learning cycle and it says to complete the table.

For each type of biome, write a brief description of what it is like.

Now you can see you've got the type of biome on the left and then you need to try and fill in that brief description of each bio.

So what I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you attempt this practise question.

Best of luck.

And now some feedback.

So here is an example of a completed table.

You may have included some of the information in front of you.

So in terms of the desert, well, we needed to say that it has little rainfall, you know, less than 250 millimetres of rainfall per year and very little vegetation, very little plant life, and it can be either hot or cold.

Grassland and savanna then.

So it is an area of open land with grasses, shrubs, and sometimes trees.

So mountain or alpine, those are found at higher altitudes and can be cold and windy.

Next, we have temperate forest, and these are located in the temperate regions between the polar and tropical regions.

The tropical forest is located between the tropics where the climate is both hot and humid.

And finally the wetland biome are areas of land that are underwater for most of the time and can be formed both naturally and artificially by people.

Now you may have included other information in your description, which is absolutely fine, but if you did manage to include any of my information, then really, really well done.

And perhaps as a learning extension, maybe you could try and actually locate some of these examples of these biomes on a map of China.

Run now to our second and final learning cycle, and this time, we're going to be investigating the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna.

Now the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna is located in the Yunnan province in southwestern China as shown on the map in front of you.

It is one of the largest forests in Asia and it covers an area of more than 19,000 kilometres squared, and that's almost the same size as Wales.

A geographic information system or GIS can be used to investigate the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna.

The ArcGIS geography visualizer is a great way of utilising GIS.

And here, we can see an example of it.

This base map is using satellite imagery and looking at it, I have a question for you, what does it tell you about China? You may like to pause the video here whilst you study that map in front of you and come up with your own answer for that question.

Well, Lucas, Aisha and Sam have also been looking at this map just like you, and this is what they've said.

Lucas says that the area of light brown in western China looks like desert.

Aisha says, I can see snow-capped mountain ranges.

Sam says, the green shows vegetation.

And all of these pupils are once again absolutely correct in what they say.

Well, now to our learning check.

And it says, where in China is the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna located? Now you have four options there, and what I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through those options and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was D, south-west.

And Lucas says that around 24% of China's land area is covered in forest.

So really, really well done if you're able to get that first answer correct.

So zooming in using this geography visualizer is able to show Xishuangbanna's tropical rainforest in much more detail.

Furthermore, different map layers can actually be added to show different types of data.

As we can see on the right hand side, we're now looking at land cover.

So this map is then showing land cover.

And as we can see, if we start looking at the legend on the right hand side of the screen, much of this region then is showing us that it's covered in forest as shown by the green colour.

There are also those some areas of farmland and some built up areas, some urban areas as well.

So we can see how GIS can be used to really try to understand what the area looks like in much more detail.

Now this map layer then is showing global precipitation, by which I mean moisture falling from the atmosphere.

So Xishuangbanna tropical forest is located in an area of high rainfall.

As we can see when we start looking at the map, we can see that it's shown in that blue colour, which is showing us that it is receiving a huge amount of precipitation.

Now this map layer then is showing us average annual temperature.

Tropical forests have a warm and humid climate with high rainfall.

So I have a quick question for you.

How would you describe the climate of Xishuangbanna? Please refer to the map and the legend and think about your own answer to this question.

So the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna is one of the most biodiverse places in China.

It has a huge variety and quantity of both plant and animal life.

The dense forest is home to many species of plants and animals, many of which are rare and endangered.

As Sam says, most of China's wild elephants live here.

So now a learning check and it says that Izzy and Aisha are having a discussion and you need to decide who is correct.

So what I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through their two statements and then decide who you think is correct.

So pause the video here and best of luck.

And the correct answer was Izzy.

Now GIS can be used to find out a huge amount of information just as Izzy says about a place such as land cover, rainfall and temperature.

And we do that by adding those layers to the map to really a place in much more detail.

Really, really well done if you got that answer correct.

Now, a lot of the tropical forest in Xishuangbanna has now been lost due to deforestation, mostly because of the clearing of land for agriculture and rubber plantations.

Many protected areas have though been established to try and conserve the forest that is still left.

So a learning check, and it says true or false.

The tropical forest of Xishuangbanna is one of the most biodiverse places in China.

What I need you to do then is pause the video whilst you try to recall this piece of information and decide whether it is true or false.

And the answer was true.

Now, once again, I'd like you to pause the video whilst you consider as to why this statement is true.

And the reason it's true is that it is home to many species of plants and animals and many of these species are rare and endangered, such as the elephant and also the giant panda.

So really, really well done if you're able to identify those two correct answers.

We're on now to our two practise questions for this final learning cycle.

And the first one says to mark the location of the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna on the map of China.

Now, Lucas says, if you can, use a GIS, atlas or other source of information to find out more about this tropical forest.

The second question then says to complete the fact file to record what you have learned about this region.

And you can see that I've given you different criteria for things that you need to try and complete in terms of this fact file.

You've got type of biome, location, description, climate, and interesting fact.

So please now, could you pause the video whilst you attempt these two practise questions.

Best of luck.

In terms of feedback then for the first question, this was the location that you needed to mark for the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna.

For the second question, this is what the completed fact file record may have looked like for you.

Your fact file may have included some of this information in front of you.

So in terms of the tropical forest, that is the name of the biome for Xishuangbanna.

Now, in terms of location, we needed to say that perhaps it covers an area of more than 19,000 kilometres squared in Yunnan province in southwestern China.

In terms of description then it is a dense forest that is home to many planted animal species, many of which are rare and endangered.

The climate is very warm but also wet and humid.

And an interesting fact is that the tropical forests here are home to most of China's wild elephants.

Now, you may have included other information, but nevertheless, really, really well done if you managed to include any of my information in your own answer.

So we're now to our learning summary, and this is what you need to know from today's lesson.

A biome is a large community of vegetation and wildlife adapted to a specific climate.

China has a range of biomes including desert, grassland and forests.

The Gobi desert is one of the largest deserts in the world, and part of it is found in China.

The tropical forest of Xishuangbanna is one of the largest forests in Asia.

And finally, a geographical information system or GIS can be used to investigate biomes in China.

So really, really well done during today's lesson.

It was a pleasure teaching you and I will see you again on the next lesson.

Goodbye.