Grade 6 · Social Studies · Lesson 11

World biomes in depth

In Grade 5 you met the three broad climate zones — tropical, temperate, and polar — that wrap around the Earth like belts. This year we go one level deeper. A biome is a large region of the world defined not just by climate but by the whole community of plants and animals that live there. Biomes are how ecologists carve up the planet. Two biomes can sit inside the same climate zone, and a third can stretch across two climate zones. Climate sets the stage; life fills it in.

What this lesson teaches

1Define a biome and explain how climate shapes the life found within it
2Compare the six major land biomes by temperature, rainfall, plants, and animals
3Locate each major biome on a world map
4Identify plants and animals that are characteristic of each biome

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