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Grassland Biomes
Teacher’s Guide
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FILMS MEDIA GROUP
INTRODUCTION
This Teacher’s Guide provides information to help you get the most out of Grassland Biomes, one program in
the five-part series Biomes. The contents of this guide allow you to prepare your students before viewing the
program, and to present follow-up activities to reinforce the program’s key learning points.
The series is designed to give students a clear understanding of the definition of a biome—a distinct ecological
community of plants and animals that live together in, and are well adapted to, a particular physical environment—as it applies to five different types of biomes and their subcategories.
This engaging video encourages students to move beyond a simplified view of the environment to a deeper
level of understanding: that the global ecosystem is made up of interdependent ecological communities populated with their own particular life forms and vulnerable to damage by both natural forces and human activity. This
program can help students learn to identify the climates, life-forms, and behavioral adaptations that go with
each type of grassland biome.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After viewing the program, students will be able to:
● Describe a grassland biome and how life-forms develop within this biome.
● Identify the different types of grassland biomes and the regions they encompass.
● Identify the climates, life-forms, and behavioral adaptations unique to each type of grassland.
● Recognize factors that threaten the survival of life-forms in the grasslands and of the biome itself.
EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS
National Standards
This program correlates with the National Science Education Standards developed by the National Academies of
Sciences, Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy from the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, and the National Geography Standards from the National Geographic Society. The content has been
aligned with the following educational standards and benchmarks from these organizations.
● Understand the behavior of organisms.
● Understand the diversity and adaptations of organisms.
● Understand matter, energy, and organization in living systems.
● Identify populations and ecosystems.
● Understand the interdependence of organisms.
● Understand the structure and function in living systems.
● Describe populations, resources, and environments.
● Understand the characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface.
● Understand the physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface.
● Understand how to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface.
● Understand how physical systems affect human systems.
● Understand how human actions modify the physical environment.
● Understand that in all environments—freshwater, marine, forest, desert, grassland, mountain, and others—
organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for resources, including food, space, water, air,
and shelter.
● Understand that ecosystems can be reasonably stable over hundreds or thousands of years.
● Understand that as any population of organisms grows, it is held in check by one or more environmental
factors: depletion of food or nesting sites, increased loss to increased numbers of predators, or parasites
● Understand that like many complex systems, ecosystems tend to have cyclic fluctuations around a state of
rough equilibrium. In the long run, however, ecosystems always change when climate changes or when one
or more new species appear as a result of migration or local evolution.
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● Understand that human beings are part of Ecosystems. Human activities can, deliberately or inadvertently,
alter the equilibrium in ecosystems.
● Understand the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
Reprinted with permission from National Science Education Standards © 1999 by the National Academy of Sciences, courtesy of the National
Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
Reprinted with permission from Benchmarks for Science Literacy © 1993 by Project 2061 and the American Association for Advancement of
Science, courtesy of Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
The National Geography Standards reprinted with permission from the National Geographic Society.
Standards’ correlations were done independently by Curriculum Media Group.
English Language Arts Standards
The activities in this Teacher’s Guide were created in compliance with the following National Standards for the
English Language Arts from the National Council of Teachers of English.
● Use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment,
persuasion, and the exchange of information).
● Adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate
effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
● Employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to
communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
● Use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video)
to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
● Conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They
gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts,
people) to communicate their discoveries.
● Read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of
the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and
demands of society and the workplace.
Standards for the English Language Arts, by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, copyright
1996 by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. Reprinted with permission.
Technology Standards
The activities in this Teacher’s Guide were created in compliance with the following National Education
Technology Standards from the National Education Technology Standards Project.
● Develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal
pursuits, and productivity.
● Practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
● Use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
The National Education Technology Standards reprinted with permission from the International Society of Technology Education.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
This video is designed to raise and refine a student’s awareness of the environment. More specifically, it is
designed to help students understand that “the environment” is not a monolithic whole. Rather, it is a collection
of biomes—unique ecological communities, each populated with its own life forms and each vulnerable to
unique stresses, whether natural or man-made.
The prairies of the American west, the pampas of Argentina, the steppes of Russia, and the veldt of South Africa
all share at least one thing in common: they are covered with miles of grass. This program can help students
learn to identify the climates, life-forms, and behavioral adaptations that go with each type of grassland biome.
Factors that threaten the survival of these habitats’ distinctive animal communities—and of the ecosystems
themselves—are also addressed.
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MAIN TOPICS
Topic 1: The Basics
This section provides an overview of the grassland biome. The grassland biome is dominated by a single layer
of grasses.
Topic 2: Climate
This section defines grassland biomes as environments that get more than 10 inches but less than 40 inches of
rainfall per year. There are two types of grassland biome: temperate and tropical.
Topic 3: Extreme Weather
This section explains that uneven rainfall, drought, and flood keep the grasslands in balance. In addition, fire
helps control the grasslands in tropical grasslands and extreme cold in temperate grasslands.
Topic 4: Flora and Fauna
This section describes how plants and animals have adapted to the environment in order to survive. Plants and
animals native to the grasslands and food webs are also discussed.
Topic 5: The Human Factor
This section reviews how the cultivation of grasslands helped humans with food, shelter, and art. Human settlement and the farming of grasslands changed the crops, plants, and animals native to the grasslands.
FAST FACTS
● Grasslands cover twenty-five percent of the Earth’s land mass.
● Seventy percent of all crops cultivated by humans are categorized as grasses.
● A grassland receives more than 10 and less than 40 inches of rain per year.
● A few names given to grasslands around the world include prairie, savanna, pampas, veldt, and steppes.
● The grassland biomes support more than 10,000 varieties of grass and another 12,000 varieties of legumes
such as peas and beans.
● The two primary divisions of grassland are temperate and tropical.
● Fire and flood play a vital role in keeping grasslands healthy.
● The savanna of Africa supports the world’s largest diversity of herbivores.
● As many as 1,000 insects may inhabit a single square yard of grassland.
● Of all the biomes, grasslands have been most vital to human survival and advancement, and have been most
affected by human beings in return.
VOCABULARY TERMS
biodiversity: The variety of organisms found within a specific geographic region.
biome: A distinct ecological community of plants and animals that live together in, and are well adapted to,
a particular physical environment.
biotic soil crust: Small forms of plant life, such as algae and lichens, that stabilize the soil and hold in nitrogen.
carnivore: A flesh-eating or predatory animal or organism.
herbivore: An animal that feeds on plants.
perennial: Active through the year or through many years.
rhizome: A root-like stem, usually horizontal, growing under or along the ground that sends out roots from its
lower surface and leaves or shoots from its upper surface.
temperate: Either of two middle latitudes of the Earth, lying between 23 and 66 degrees north of the equator,
and 23 and 66 degrees south of the equator.
tropical: Existing in the region of Earth’s surface lying between roughly 23 degrees north of the equator and 23
degrees south of the equator.
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PRE-PROGRAM DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why are there more types of plants and animals in some places than in others?
2. Is there any place on Earth where no plants or animals can survive?
3. What’s the most important factor in determining what kind of life an area of our planet can support?
4. What do you think the environment of a grassland is like?
5. What types of organisms inhabit grassland?
POST-PROGRAM DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is there so much biodiversity in regions of grassland?
2. What do you know about the first humans who turned to farming to produce food?
3. How might everyday life be different if farming of grains were not possible?
4. How do grasslands benefit from fire? From flood?
5. In what ways do humans interrupt the natural cycle of flood and fire? Why? Is this interference good or bad?
Why?
GROUP ACTIVITIES
Local Biomes
Contact a national, state, or local park agency (such as a watershed, nature reserve, or ecology center) or a
group like the Audubon Society and find out if they have naturalist programs for students. Visit a local habitat
(e.g., wetland, forest, or meadow) with a professional or volunteer naturalist. Find out what plants and animals
form the ecosystem and how they interact with each other. Ask questions such as:
• Have there been surveys of the area to inventory the species? (For example, for a wetland area, do they know
what amphibians live there and how abundant they are?)
• Are there any threatened or endangered species in the area?
• What are the main threats to the area?
• What is being done to conserve the ecosystem?
INDIVIDUAL STUDENT PROJECTS
Recovering Species
Support the recovery process for an endangered species in the United States by using media. Contact the federal and state agencies in charge of recovery of endangered species. (For most species, the federal agency is the
Fish and Wildlife Service and the state agency is the Department of Wildlife or the Department of Game. For
marine species, the federal agency is the National Marine Fisheries Service. The federal agencies, and some state
agencies, have websites on the Internet.)
a) Find out what threatened or endangered species live in your state and select one of these species.
b) Ask for a copy of the recovery plan for the species. If there is no recovery plan, ask why. (Not all listed species
have a plan, even though the Endangered Species Act requires one for every listed species.)
c) Find out what programs the agency has initiated to help the species recover and what the status of these
programs is.
d) Make a list of ways citizens can support recovery efforts for this species.
e) Try to get your list published in a local or school newspaper.
INTERNET ACTIVITIES
Get Involved in the Democratic Process
Find out if your state has its own Endangered Species Act. (The Federal ESA applies in all states, but many states
have their own law, too.) Investigate current bills related to endangered species or the environment in your state.
(This information is available on the Internet.) Find out who your state senators and representatives are and how
they have voted on similar bills in the past. Call their offices and determine their current opinions on these
issues. Investigate the likely impact of one of these bills on biological diversity and on your community.
Research the issues, form your own opinion, and write your legislators to influence their vote on the bill.
Effects of Fire on Population
Use the Internet to explore how fire has positive effects on grasslands. See if you can find the answers to the
following questions. What factors make these questions difficult to answer?
• Why do fires occur?
• How has human development affected the types and frequency of these fires?
• What happens to the biome after a fire?
• Which species are affected most?
• How are long-term conditions of the environment affected?
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ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
Q: Name three common foods that are classified as “grasses.”
Answer/Feedback: Wheat, corn, rice, sugar cane.
Q: How much of Earth’s land surface is covered by grasslands?
Answer/Feedback: About 25%.
Q: On average, how much rainfall do grasslands receive?
Answer/Feedback: Between 10 and 40 inches per year.
Q: What are three other names for grasslands?
Answer/Feedback: Prairie, savanna, pampas, veldt, steppes.
Q: What are the two types of grasslands?
Answer/Feedback: Tropical and temperate.
Q: What role does fire play in sustaining grasslands?
Answer/Feedback: It destroys heavier shrubs and trees, allowing the quick-growing grasses to remain
dominant.
Q: What is a “rhizome”?
Answer/Feedback: A root-like stem, usually horizontal, growing under or along the ground that sends out roots
from its lower surface and leaves or shoots from its upper surface.
Q: Name three large herbivores that make grasslands their home.
Answer/Feedback: Lechwes, gazelles, antelopes, zebras, pronghorn antelope, wildebeest, elephants, cape
buffalo, and giraffes.
Q: What are two ways humans have altered the world’s grasslands?
Answer/Feedback: By planting crops, by replacing native plants with selected crop plants, by irrigation, by
applying pesticides and fertilizer.
Q: What are “biotic soil crusts”?
Answer/Feedback: Small forms of plant life that stabilize the soil and hold in nitrogen.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
WorldBiomes
www.worldbiomes.com
Grassland Foundation
www.grasslandfoundation.org
Government Science Portal
www.science.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov
Dynamic World: Land-Cover and Land-Use Change, by Antoinette M. Mannion & Edward Arnold, 2002.
ISBN: 0340806796
Grassland Animals (Animals of the Biomes), by Christy Steele. Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, 2003.
ISBN: 073985688X
OTHER PRODUCTS
Grassland Environments: Fire and Its Effects
This program illustrates grassland sampling techniques and reveals why fire is crucial to the health of grassland
environments. Mimicry in snakes and the comeback of the endangered masked bobwhite quail are discussed.
Item no: 11662, www.cambridgeeducational.com, 1-800-468-4227
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Grassland Environments: Animals in the Grasslands
How do buffalo and prairie dogs impact grassland health? This program provides an answer while covering
how to take samples of grassland soils. A visit to a cave to investigate the habits of Mexican free-tailed bats
is included.
Item no: 11663, www.cambridgeeducational.com, 1-800-468-4227
Cool Desert Environments: Chihuahuan and Sonoran Animals and Plants
This program explores the factors that bring about desertification. The adaptations of bighorn sheep, kangaroo
rats, and Rocky Mountain elk to life in cool deserts, where temperatures are relatively low due to northerly
latitude and high elevation are described.
Item no: 11665, www.cambridgeeducational.com, 1-800-468-4227
Extreme Environments: Sand Dunes, Hot Springs, and Tundra
How do life forms adapt to extreme terrestrial and aquatic environments? This program answers that question
by examining plants and animals that call quartzite and gypsum sand dunes, phreatic caves, acidic geothermal
springs, and alpine tundra home.
Item no: 11667, www.cambridgeeducational.com, 1-800-468-4227
State of the Planet: Biosphere in the Balance
Deforestation, global warming, depletion of aquifers, rising sea levels, and mass extinctions—how much longer
can Earth compensate for these damaging forces? In this timely three-part series, David Attenborough and some
of the world’s leading experts on environmental matters consider probably the most important issue of the 21st
century: the future of life on this planet. A BBC Production. The series includes Is There a Crisis? Biodiversity in
Decline; Why Is There a Crisis? Environmental Exploitation; The Future of Life: Searching for Solutions
Item no: 11971, www.films.com, 1-800-257-5126
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