Desert+Creatures

** At any point, begin or return to the PBS LearningMedia Tasks ** ** To review or revise ideas, visit Padlet or the Google Doc ** ** The White Desert ** ** ReadWorks Reading Tasks ** ** Graphic Organizer for Desert Creatures Writing ** = What I KNOW about how plants and animals live in the desert. =
 * Desert Tasks: **
 * 1 || **Begin with a KWL Chart. Complete the first 2 columns:**

= What I WANT TO KNOW about how plants and animals live in the desert: = || = What kinds of plants and animals live in the desert? = = What makes the desert a difficult place for living things to survive in? = || decomposes spiny habitat topple brush teeming || =Why is the saguaro cactus so important to life in the Sonoran Desert?= || Be sure to identify the source of your research. Your writing must be IN YOUR OWN WORDS, not the words of your research. ||
 * 2 || **Quick Write/Brainstorm:**
 * Select one of the following questions to write for 5 minutes.**
 * 3 || **Preview the vocabulary for the Saguaro Cactus story:**
 * 4 || Responding to literature using the Expository Pillar
 * 5 || **Begin your research for your DESERT CREATURE?**
 * What is your desert creature?
 * What is its appearance? What does it look like? What is its average height, length, weight?
 * What is your desert creature's life span?
 * What are its predators and prey?
 * What adaptations does your desert creature have in order to live in its habitat.
 * BE SURE TO RECORD THE SOURCE OF YOUR RESEARCH.** ||
 * 6 || Take home book: **//The Land of Little// Water**
 * CLOSE READING and Main Idea**
 * Make connections to Saguaro Cactus
 * Add to K/W/L chart
 * Write "big fat questions" ||
 * 7 || Easy reader ||
 * 8 || Short passage: //**Dreams on a**// **Mesa:** Response to Literature ||
 * 9 || Comprehension story: //**Cactus Hotel**// ||
 * 10 || **Desert Creature Research Paper:**
 * Use the Expository Pillar to include an introduction of your main idea, three details, and a conclusion.**
 * 10 || Return to your KWL Chart. Add the following information:

= What I LEARNED about how plants and animals live in the desert: = || ** Close Readings ~ Desert ** ** Saguaro Cactus **

= how plants and animals live in the desert: = || = What I WANT TO KNOW about = = how plants and animals live in the desert: = || = What I LEARNED about = = how plants and animals live in the desert: = || = What kinds of plants and animals live in the desert? = = What makes the desert a difficult place for living things to survive in? =
 * = What I KNOW about =

** Meaningful Sentences Using ** ** Vocabulary for //__Saguaro Cactus__// **

A sea urchin rests in a tide pool. Stepping on its @@@ spikes with a bare foot is not a good idea!

Many small animals make their homes in the thick, tangled @@@ growing just beyond the sand dunes.

Beyond the hills, a pond is one source of fresh water, its banks are @@@ with life.

Seaweed@@@ on the beach. The leaves dry up and crumble.

Mudslides can @@@ trees, which may be washed out to sea. Years later, the trees may return as driftwood.

The dry hills to the east make a fine @@@ for several kinds of lizards. Two kinds of rattlesnakes live there too.


 * decomposes || habitat || brush ||
 * spiny || topple || teeming ||

= Which word is related to INHABIT and INHABITANT? = = Which word has a prefix that can mean "do the opposite of"? = = Which word means the opposite of EMPTY? = = What might cause a tall tree to TOPPLE over? = = When someone hits a baseball into some BRUSH, is the ball easy or hard to find? Why? = = What would you expect the skin of a SPINY anteater to feel like? =

In your notebook, write a paragraph describing an environment TEEMING with life (such as a pond, a forest or an ants' next). Tell what you might feel, see, hear, or smell.

What clues tell you that this is a nonfiction selection? What is EXPOSITORY TEXT? What do you think is the AUTHOR'S PURPOSE? Let's read and look for the MAIN IDEA and DETAILS. Let's look for a SEQUENCE OF EVENTS.
 * Elements of Nonfiction **

What do you notice as you do a picture walk through the pages of the text?

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=Why is the saguaro cactus so important to life in the Sonoran Desert?= =Why is the saguaro cactus so important to life in the Sonoran Desert?= || (Juliana's quote, page 332) ||
 * Introduction || Look at the question. Use words from the question.
 * Main Idea || Look at the details. Choose the big idea from each of the details to identify here. Write one sentence to briefly tell all of them. ||
 * Detail #1 || Would it interest you that the center of life is the saguaro cactus and it is a habitat for desert creatures? It is teeming with life as there are hundreds of animals that come to the cactus. The text states that "It is more like a crowded village than a plant." When birds make a hole in the saguaro the boot keeps it from drying out, so it doesn't die and the bird has a home. Surprisingly, the saguaro grows food -- prickly pears -- for animals and humans. ||
 * Detail #2 || It's certain, the saguaro cactus makes a fruit called prickly pears, which provides a food source for animals and humans and also helps the cactus reproduce. They grow in summer when the warm rain comes. The prickly pears can be a delicasy to animals and humans. Sometimes when the fruit falls from the cactus and breaks or opens, the animals know it's time to eat. Mice and rabbits eat the fruit and the juicy pulp, and seeds drop in their scat. This helps to fertilize a new saguaro cactus. ||
 * Detail #3 || Incredibly, the saguaro flower only blooms for one day each year; but when it does, animals from all over the desert come and drink nectar, which pollinates the plant. Birds, bats, and insects come to drink the sweet nectar of the saguaro flower. When there is no more nectar to drink, many creature leave, but some animals stay to make homes in the cactus, which helps the saguaro. In the text it says, "As the creatures drink, bits of flower dust called pollen, stick to their bodies." This also helps the cactus to reproduce. ||
 * Detail #4 || In the Sonoran Desert, after the cactus is dead, it is still teeming with life, but with different animals -- insects and javelinas and other plants. In the text it says, "When the cactus falls, the javelinas eat it. But the javelinas mostly feed on its roots." In addition, the book says people used the ribs for fences, roofs, and firewood. People also take the boots to use as bowls and cups. The text also states, "For a hundred fifty years or more, the saguaro provides an important habitat for many desert creatures." ||
 * Conclusion || Wrap up your details/ideas. Look back to the question/introduction and choose some of these words.

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= = Green Screen Projects of our Desert Creatures media type="file" key="Nick.mov" align="left" width="300" height="300"media type="file" key="Kevin.mov" width="300" height="300"

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