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Tundra 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 Tundra 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. By
viewing this program, students can develop a fundamental appreciation for the world’s arctic and alpine biomes.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After viewing the program, students will be able to:
● Describe a tundra biome and how life-forms develop within this biome.
● Identify the two main types of tundra biomes and the regions they encompass.
● Differentiate between the arctic and alpine tundras by studying the climates, conditions, and locations of each.
● Identify the animals unique to each tundra and learn how they have adapted to their environments.
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 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 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 the earth’s 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.
● Understand how physical systems affect human systems.
● Understand how human actions modify the physical environment.
● Understand the characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface.
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.
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.
About a fifth of Earth’s land surface is tundra: cold, dry, treeless, and home to a diverse range of inhabitants,
including lichens and lemmings, sedges and snowy owls, dwarf willow bushes and musk oxen. By viewing this
program, students can develop a fundamental appreciation for the world’s arctic and alpine biomes. The plants
and animals that populate tundra environments are clearly identified, along with the adaptations that enable
them to live in places where the temperature can drop to 70 degrees below zero.
MAIN TOPICS
Topic 1: The Basics
This section includes general facts about the tundra’s environment, including weather, animal life, plant life, and
the seasons.
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Topic 2: Climate
This section describes the climate of the tundra as cold and frozen. The warming season only lasts between two
and four months, and may only reach a high temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Topic 3: Types of Tundra
This section describes the arctic and alpine tundras.
Topic 4: Defining Characteristics
This section reviews the low biotic diversity of the tundra, the short growing season, the annual precipitation,
and the overall climate.
Topic 5: Flora
This section describes the different plant life in the tundra, including lichen, cotton grass, ground willow, and
legumes.
Topic 6: Fauna
This section describes the different animal life found in the tundra, such as brown bear, polar bear, the arctic fox,
salmon, lemmings, musk ox, and other members of the food web.
Topic 7: The Human Factor
This section explains how humans have influenced life in the tundra, and how the tundra contributed to the
survival of its natives.
FAST FACTS
● The word tundra comes from the Finnish word “tunturia,” meaning “treeless heights.”
● Tundra covers one-fifth of the land surface of the Earth.
● There are two classifications of tundra—arctic and alpine.
● Arctic tundra can be found at latitudes north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle.
● Alpine tundra can be found at altitudes that place it above the “tree line,” the altitude at which trees will no
longer grow.
● Energy and nutrients for the life-forms of the tundra come from dead organic material.
● The soil of the tundra is divided into two “zones”—the active layer and the permafrost.
● The tundra subsoil, or permafrost, is permanently frozen to depths as far as 2,000 feet.
● Lichens are actually two separate organisms—an alga and a fungus—living together as one.
● Some tundra plants, such as arctic cotton grass, create their own form of “insulation” to protect them from
the bitter cold.
VOCABULARY TERMS
active layer: The top layer of tundra which thaws during the summer season, sometimes down to several feet
below the surface.
alpine: Of or relating to high mountains.
arctic: Of or pertaining to a geographic area ranging from the north pole to roughly 66 degrees north latitude,
the beginning of the northern temperate zone.
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.
carnivore: A flesh-eating or predatory animal or organism.
herbivore: An animal that feeds on plants.
lichen: Any of numerous organisms consisting of a fungus in a mutually-dependent relationship with an alga.
peat: Partially carbonized vegetable matter, usually mosses, found in wetlands and used as fertilizer and fuel.
permafrost: Permanently frozen subsoil.
tundra: A level or rolling treeless plain that is characteristic of arctic and subarctic regions, consisting of black
mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil, and with a dominant vegetation of mosses, lichens, herbs, and
dwarf shrubs. Also, a similar region confined to mountainous areas above the timberline.
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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 the tundra is like?
5. What types of organisms inhabit the tundra?
6. If humans evolved to be better adapted to very cold weather, how might we look or behave differently?
POST-PROGRAM DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is there so little biodiversity in regions of tundra?
2. Would it be possible to grow crops in tundra? Why or why not? What effect would the type of soil have? What
effect would the amount of sunlight have?
3. Are plants more or less affected by the harsh environment than animals?
4. Are herbivores more or less affected than carnivores?
5. What special abilities or talents do you think the native peoples of the tundra need in order to survive there?
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?
• 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
Creature Feature
Write a short story or poem about the life of a creature that inhabits an “extreme” environment. Incorporate factual information about environmental conditions, climate, and food supply. Consider challenges and dangers the
creature faces, its survival techniques, and its instinctive behavior.
INTERNET ACTIVITIES
Uninhabitable?
What elements do you think are essential to life? Begin the activity by making a list of these elements. Then
consider the following question: “Is there any natural environment on earth where life cannot exist at all?”
Use the Internet to explore the answer to this question. Can you think of any places on earth where all these
elements might not exist? What do these environments have in common? What factors might limit or exclude
the existence of living organisms? Create a chart to illustrate your findings.
ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
Q: The word tundra comes from the Finnish word “tunturia,” meaning
(a) treeless heights
(b) flat grassland
(c) two mountains
(d) cold land
A: (a) treeless heights
Feedback: The Finnish word “tunturia” means treeless heights, which describes the terrain of the tundra as
being mountainous with only small shrubs and low ground plants.
Q: What is a “vertical migration pattern”?
Answer/Feedback: When a mountain-dwelling animal spends colder months at lower altitudes, moving to
higher altitudes when the weather warms.
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Q: How much of Earth’s land surface is covered by tundra?
(a) one-half
(b) one-third
(c) one-fifth
(d) one-tenth
A: (c) one-fifth
Feedback: Tundra covers one fifth of Earth’s land surface.
Q: How does having dark color help plants survive in the tundra?
Answer/Feedback: Darker leaves allow the plant to absorb and retain more heat from sunlight.
Q: The two classifications of tundra are ____________ .
(a) arctic and antarctic
(b) arctic and alpine
(c) arctic and sub-arctic
(d) antarctic and alpine
A: (b) arctic and alpine
Feedback: Arctic tundra can be found at latitudes north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle,
and the alpine tundra can be found at altitudes above the tree line at any latitude, most often sub-arctic.
Q: What are the two forms of life that combine to form lichen?
Answer/Feedback: Algae and fungi combine to form three different types of lichen in the tundra.
Q: There is low biotic diversity in the tundra. (True or False)
A: True
Feedback: Because of the harsh conditions and short growing season, there is limited biotic diversity in the
tundra.
Q: What is the layer below the active layer called?
(a) frostfield
(b) permacold
(c) permafrost
(d) frosted
A: (c) permafrost
Feedback: The layer below the active layer is called “permafrost” because it never thaws.
Q: How deep is the layer below the active layer?
Answer/Feedback: The permafrost layer can be between 300 and 2,000 feet deep.
Q: Name some of the mammals that call tundra home.
Answer/Feedback: Caribou, musk oxen, polar bears, brown bears, arctic fox, lemmings, humans.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
WorldBiomes
www.worldbiomes.com
WWF - Local to Global Environmental Conservation
www.panda.org
Government Science Portal
www.science.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
www.savearcticrefuge.org
A Walk in the Tundra, by Rebecca L. Johnson & Phyllis V. Saroff. Carolrhoda Books, 2000. ISBN: 1575051575
Arctic Tundra and Polar Deserts, by Chris Woodford. Raintree/Steck Vaughn, 2002. ISBN: 0739852469
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OTHER PRODUCTS
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
Way Out West: An Introduction to Ecological Science
With its diversity of biomes, the Southwest is an ideal natural laboratory for the study of ecological science.
This outstanding 10-part series, developed by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science using
state and national standards as guidelines, emphasizes a field-based approach to understanding the region’s
forests, grasslands, deserts, and aquatic habitats. Filmed on location, each program combines commentary by
a wildlife ecologist with peer instruction to give students a solid understanding of both the environment and
research techniques. The cycling of nutrients, energy, and water through ecosystems and the adaptations of
organisms to their surroundings are stressed. The series includes Aquatic Environments: Streams and Rivers;
Aquatic Environments: Riparian Areas, Lakes, and Marshes; Forest Environments: Xeric Forest Types; Forest
Environments: Mesic Forest Types; Grassland Environments: Fire and Its Effects; Grassland Environments:
Animals in the Grasslands; Warm Desert Environments: Chihuahuan and Sonoran Animals and Plants; Cool
Desert Environments: Great Basin Animals and Plants; Geologic Past of the Southwest; Extreme Environments:
Sand Dunes, Hot Springs, and Tundra
Item no: 11657, www.films.com,1-800-257-5126
Global Climate Regions
As visually spectacular as it is informative, this program thoroughly surveys the world’s varied climate systems.
Using simple color-coded maps based on the Köppen classification system, the video identifies the characteristics of the following zones: humid tropical climates, wet-dry tropics, dry climates, subtropical and mid-latitude
deserts and steppes, humid mid-latitude climates, humid subtropics, summer dry subtropics, marine west
coasts, humid continentals, sub-arctic climates, polar climates, tundra, and highland climates.
(24 minutes) © 2003
Item no: 32643, www.films.com, 1-800-257-5126
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