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Life Science
Animal and Biomes Basics Theme Unit

Earth's Biomes

Earth's Biomes
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.3

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    largely, steppe, year-round, temperate, direct, general, tundra, seasonal, environment, rainfall, receive, soil, therefore, result, outback, physical
     content words:    North America, South America

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Earth's Biomes
By Cindy Grigg 		  
1     There are places on earth that are unlike others. Each type of place is called a biome. A biome is a large area having a different climate and particular types of plant and animal life. There are several different types of biomes. There are deserts where there is little rainfall. There are rainforests where it rains up to one hundred fifty inches per year. The plants and animals that live in these places are very different from each other.
 
2     Physical things such as climate and geography determine what things can live in an area. Climate is the general weather of an area over a long period of time, including its seasonal changes. The climate of an area largely depends on its location on Earth. Areas close to the equator receive more direct sunlight than areas close to the poles. Therefore, areas closer to the equator are warmer year-round. Areas nearer the poles have warm, short summers and cold winters. Sometimes geography determines how much or how little rainfall an area will receive.
 
3     Biomes also have certain kinds of plants and animals that live there. That's because the climate mostly determines what plants can grow in an area. Certain animals who like to eat those kinds of plants will live in that area. The plants and animals that live in a certain type of biome are suited to living in that environment.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
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