Building a Biome Model

Bell Ringer1. What are the two factors that define a biome?

Provide specific examples of biomes.2. What is the difference between deciduous and

coniferous forests?

Groups of four (or three) assigned one biome.

Why are we doing this project?

• Open the student guide document that I emailed you.

• In groups of 4, you will each read an assigned portion of the Overview.– Student 1: paragraphs 1-2– Student 2: paragraphs 3-4– Student 3: paragraphs 5-6– Student 4: paragraphs 7-9

• Each student will have 1 minute to share the most relevant information from their assigned paragraphs with the rest of the group.

Learning Objectives

• Design an experiment to answer a specific question and test a hypothesis

• Differentiate independent and dependent variables • Evaluate the results and suggest modifications to an

experiment • Explain a conceptual relationship between

temperature, energy inputs and surface features • Describe strengths and limitations of physical

models

Relevance

People all around the globe are concerned with current events and the impact they have on our daily lives. We are also interested in how events will change and affect our future lives and generations. This is especially true for events related to the earth system that is our shared habitat. In order to make predictions about such a complicated system, we have to develop models. Only if we can improve what we know about the relative importance of specific factors/variables, can we understand the delicate balance that regulates Earth’s habitable temperature.

What are the characteristics of your assigned biome?

• Tropical rainforest and Tropical seasonal forest/savanna• Subtropical desert & Temperate grassland/cold desert• Woodland/shrubland• Temperate seasonal forest (deciduous) & Temperate

rainforest• Boreal (coniferous) forest• Tundra & Polar Ice Cap

1. What are the geographic locations of your biome?2. What is the temperature range for this biome?3. How much precipitation does this biome receive annually?4. What kind of vegetation (plants) are found in this biome?

Bell Ringer

How could the color of Earth’s surface features impact the temperature of the biome?

BONUS QUESTIONWhat is the term for this

phenomenon?

AlbedoAlbedo is the fraction of solar energy (shortwave radiation)

reflected from the Earth back into space. It is a measure of the reflectivity of Earth’s surface.

World Vegetation (Biome) Map

What are the characteristics of your assigned biome?

• Tropical rainforest and Tropical seasonal forest/savanna• Subtropical desert & Temperate grassland/cold desert• Woodland/shrubland• Temperate seasonal forest (deciduous) & Temperate

rainforest• Boreal (coniferous) forest• Tundra & Polar Ice Cap

1. What are the geographic locations of your biome?2. What is the temperature range for this biome?3. How much precipitation does this biome receive annually?4. What kind of vegetation (plants) are found in this biome?

Introducing your Biome

• Trace all of the areas where your biome is located onto the transparency.

• Be prepared to present and justify the following information about your biome:1. What are the geographic locations of your biome?2. What is the temperature range for this biome?3. How much precipitation does this biome receive

annually?4. What kind of vegetation (plants) are found in this

biome?

Biome Precipitation v. Temperature

Bell Ringer

• What are the two factors that define a CLIMATE?

• What are the two factors that define a BIOME?

• What term refers to the measure of the reflectivity of Earth’s surface?

• How do dark and light surface features change the amount of reflectivity?

Planning Your Biome ConstructionReview Methods, student guide page 4

You will build models that represent the same amount of different colored areas that are on the Biome Vegetation Map.Refer to the list of available materials and consider the following questions:• Which materials will be appropriate for your

biome? • Is the color of the materials that you choose

important for your model?• How much of each color will you use in your

model?

Experimental Design Question:How much of each colored material should be used to

represent your biome?

Review the list of responsibilities for each team member (student guide page 8). Take two minutes and decide who will be the:

• Lead Researcher• Materials and Data Manager• Experimental Communicator

How much of each colored material should be used to represent your biome?

1. Overlay the outline you made from the global vegetation map with the transparent grid boxes sheet. 2. Trace the outline onto the grid boxes sheet. 3. Count the total number of boxes in the circled areas (combine/estimate box parts as whole boxes). This is an estimate of the total area of Earth that represents your biome. This number is 100% of your biome’s Earth surface. 4. Within your biome there are probably more than one color represented. You can see this by looking at colors on the world vegetation map. Count the numbers of boxes of each different color within your outlines. 5. Calculate the percentage of each color by separately dividing the number of boxes of each color by the total number of boxes you counted and then multiplying this number by 100. This number estimates the amount of surface in your model that will be covered by each material.

Research Proposal

A good experiment is guided by a well thought out plan. What is your plan?

• Prepare your team’s research proposal by completing Data Sheet 2: Experimental Design Proposal

• Complete handout pages 9 - 10

Bell Ringer

1. Does is matter if a planet has an atmosphere or has no atmosphere?

2. What kind of effect might an atmosphere have on surface temperature? Why? Write it down.

3. Once you have written your thoughts down discuss them with a partner. Be prepared to discuss your thoughts with the class.

In today’s activity you will test how the presence of a simulated atmosphere affects planet surface temperature

for an area with the characteristics of your biome.

Your teams will conduct experiments to test these two questions: 1) Does an atmosphere influence the

temperature of a planet system? 2) How do the different biomes influence the

temperature of a planet system? You will create a physical model for your biome, one with an atmosphere and one without on which to conduct your experiment.

Construct your physical small-scale model, but do it twice.

1. Since you are testing the effect of an atmosphere on surface temperature, you will need to have two models. One of the models will have an atmosphere and one will not have an atmosphere. Use your experimental protocol that you wrote during last class as methods to construct your biome model and set up the experiment.

2. Use clear plastic wrapping to represent an atmosphere. After you have built your biome models you can simply place the plastic wrapping over the top of your box. Be sure that you have placed all material, including a thermometer inside the model before placing the plastic wrapping on.

Bell Ringer

Welcome Back!!!

Complete your graph from the Biome Lab experiment.

Was there anything surprising about your results? Explain, using specific evidence from your graph.

These graphs represent the data for an experiment. Compare the data for the two model situations (atmosphere/no atmosphere).

How does an atmosphere seem to have affected the temperature in the models? Are the results

similar to yours? Explain.

Individual Assessment Questions (15 minutes)

Working with your group, complete the questions on the last page (p. 14) of your

lab.

Examining Physical ModelsPrepare responses for these questions for the quiz tomorrow.

1. What are the strengths and limitations of physical models?

2. How well do you think physical models simulate the actual temperature differences found on planets with a thin atmosphere compared to those with a thick atmosphere?

3. What could be changed in the physical models so that they could better simulate the Earth?

Building a Biome Quiz

1. How did the presence of an atmosphere on the models influence the temperature of the biomes represented?

2. In what ways does a thick atmosphere affect the Earth system?

3. In what ways do the world’s biomes effect Earth’s temperature? Be specific.

4. What is the term that describes the reflectivity of Earth’s surface features?

5. Why should we not solely rely on physical models to understand a certain aspect of the environment?