Video: What is the tundra?

﻿Hi everyone, I'm Miss Reid and welcome to another geography lesson on biomes. Let's have a look at our lesson question. So our lesson question for today is, what is the tundra? Well, in this lesson, we are going to be learning about the climatic features and factors and about the location of the tundra. We'll also learn about the flora, the plants, and the fauna, the animals that are present there. So in this lesson, you will need an exercise book or a piece of paper. You'll also need a pencil and you'll need your brain. Please take a moment now to clear away any distractions, including turning off any notifications or apps or conversations that you have running in the background, if you know how to. Finally, if you can, try to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed during the lesson. Pause the video now, so you can go and get the things you need. Great, now you have everything you need, let's move on. So, we are geographers. Well, geographers are types of scientists who study the earth. That means that they study the land, the physical features and they study the people who live within the land, that's the human features. In today's lesson, we're going to be asking, where can we find the tundra? We will also be asking, what are the features of the tundra? And then we'll go on to consider what flora and fauna can be found in the tundra. So let's recap on the names and locations of the seven continents before we get started. I'm going to ask you where a continent is and I want you to put your finger on it. Where is North America? Put your finger on the continent that is North America. Did you put your finger on the light green continent? Very good, you can see its name popped up next to it. Where is South America? This should be easier, now that we know where North America is. Put your finger on South America. Did you put your finger on the dark green continent? Well done, okay, where is Europe? Put your finger on Europe. Did you put your finger on the dark red continent? Fantastic work everyone. Put your finger on Africa. Did you put your finger on the yellow continent? Fantastic work, where is Antarctica? Put your finger on Antarctica. Did you put your finger on the dark blue continent down at the bottom? Fantastic work, put your finger on Asia. Did you put your finger on the light red continent? Fantastic work, that is Asia. And finally put your finger on Oceania. It's the purple continent. Very good everyone. Now a recap. Why isn't the Arctic a continent? Why doesn't it feature on our map of continents here? You can shout out your answer. That's absolutely right, because there is no landmass under the Arctic ice sheet. Technically it is not a continent. Here's a quick task for you. Can you name all seven continents? Pause the video now and I want you to shout out the name of all seven continents. Let's run through them, North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania. Give yourself a pat on the back if you've got all seven, well done. Let's move on. So here is the map that we've been studying, showing us the location of the biomes across the world. We have learned that there is huge biodiversity across continental biomes, due to that proximity to the Equator and biodiversity is the diversity in the flora, the plants and the fauna, the animals. Today, we are focusing on the tundra and I've included the Alpine tundra in this category, as this is a tundra that is found in high mountainous regions. Have a closer look at the key. I've underlined the tundra and the Alpine tundra. Can you put your finger on those two biomes now? Let's have a look from my pointer. So you can see that this is the tundra and it's this colour and I can find it up here and the Alpine tundra is down here and it's this light purple colour. And I can find that light purple colour for example, here in South America. So now we're familiar with the key and you're familiar with the colours associated with the tundra and the Alpine tundra. I'm going to give you a task. Let's focus in again. Can you find the places on the map where we can find the tundra? You're just looking at the tundra, you're not looking at the Alpine tundra yet. Pause the video now and put your finger on all the places on the map, where we can find the tundra. Great work having a go. Let's zoom back in and I'm going to show you where we can find the tundra. So, up to the North of North America in Canada, you might have said North America. We can also find the tundra in Greenland, which is also part of North America. We can find the tundra in Iceland, which is part of Europe. We can find the tundra in Norway, which is part of Europe and we can find the tundra across Russia. Now Russia spans two continents, it spans Europe and Asia. Give yourself a pat on the back if you found all the locations of the tundra. Second question, point to the places on the map, where you would find the Alpine tundra. Remember now you're looking for that light purple colour. Pause the video now and put your finger on all the places on the map where you'll find the Alpine tundra. Can you also say the name of the continents as you point to the Alpine tundra? Well done having a go. Let's zoom back in and have a look at where we find the Alpine tundra. So again, we find the Alpine tundra in Canada. We can also find the Alpine tundra in Chile, which is in South America. We can also find the Alpine tundra on the border of Nepal and China. We can also find the Alpine tundra in Russia and we can find the Alpine tundra in Norway. Well done, if you found all of those locations. It's quite difficult to look at them map with all of the different biomes, because this one has all 18 biomes on it and find each of those locations, so well done if you did that. Let's move on. Now, we've seen this image before and it's important to understand that the further away a landmass is from the Equator, the colder the climate will be. This is because of the Earth's curved shape. At the equator, the sun's light hits the surface directly. However, the further we go from the Equator, the more the sun's light is distributed and the less heat energy the land receives. Now, this is an explanation for why the tundra has a lower average temperature than landmasses near the equator. Here's a question for you. Why does the tundra have a low average temperature? Let's zoom in and have a look at the answers or possible answers. A, the Equater is closer to the sun. B, the land above 30 degrees North takes longer to heat up than the land near the Equator. Or C, the sun's light is more distributed above 30 degrees North, so the land receives less heat energy. Pause the video now and write A, B or C as your answer. Let's have a look at the answer on the next slide. The answer was C. Pause the video now, so that you can tick or fix your response. Great work if you got that right and well done for correcting it. Give yourself a pat on the back. Let's move on. Now, have a look at the Alpine tundra that's situated on the Nepal, China border. There you can see it highlighted on the map. Now this land is not as far North as the tundras of Northern Russia and Canada. Why do you think there is a tundra here when this land is located closer to the Equator? Well, this is where the mountain range called the Himalayas is situated. Did you know that? Well done if you did it. It is very cold here, because above a certain level or sea level, the atmosphere loses heat to space faster than the land can be warmed, either directly by sunlight or indirectly from the ground. So it gets colder and colder, the higher you go in altitude. So, let's think about the features of the tundra. So the temperature ranges from minus 34 degrees Celsius to six degrees Celsius, so it's always very cold. It's the coldest of all the biomes. There is little rain, which means it's very dry. There's lots of frost and permafrost. Now permafrost is a thick subsurface layer of soil that remains below freezing throughout the year and it occurs mainly in the polar regions and in tundras. No trees grow and only a few small plants. There's long winters and short summers. Now, winters in the tundra are long and the summers are short. In winter, the temperature can reach as low as minus 34 degrees Celsius and there are months on end with little to no sunlight. In the summer, the temperature rises, which causes the snow to melt. The moisture from the melted snow sinks into the ground, which is called permafrost. Here's a question for you, let's take a closer look. Why does so little flora, remember that means plants, grow in the tundra? Here are some key words to help you, permafrost, below freezing, grow. Pause the video now and answer the question. Well done for having a go. Let's compare your answer with my own answer. So I wrote, so little flora grows in the tundra, because there is a thick layer of permafrost that remains below freezing, which means very few plants can grow. Pause the video now and compare your answer to my answer and tick or fix it. Let's move on. So, what flora can be found in the tundra? Now, although the tundra biome is very cold, plants do live and survive here. There is low diversity in organisms that live here and that means there are very few species, but many do still flourish. Tundra plants get their energy in the same way that other plants around the world do, from the sun through photosynthesis. And photosynthesis is a chemical reaction that takes place inside a plant, producing food for the plant to survive. The plants in the tundra have adapted to low temperatures and low light strength. Some plants that grow in the tundra include short shrubs, sedges, grasses and flowers. Cushion plants also grow in the tundra and they are types of plants that grow low to the ground and in tight places and they are called cushion plants, because they are soft and cushiony. Here is a sentence that I'd like you to complete. I'd like you to write your answer down. Tundra plants have adapted to temperatures and light strength. You've got two words to choose from, high and low. Here's a clue, you might not need to use both of those words. I'd like you to complete the sentence, filling in the correct words to the blank spaces. Pause the video now and complete that task. Let's check the answer. Tundra plants have adapted to low temperatures and low light strength. Pause the video now, so you can tick or fix your answer. Great work everyone, let's move on. So what fauna can be found in the tundra? Remember fauna are the animals. So, the tundra is also home to a large number of animals and the largest and most dangerous animals to live there is the polar bear. This image actually looks like the polar bear is been quite friendly and waving, but of course we know that's just an image that was captured in a moment. Polar bears love to eat fresh fatty meats. Now fatty foods might not be good for humans, but polar bears need the energy from the fat to survive the cold tundra. Seals and walruses, which are trapped in open water surrounded by ice are some of the polar bears favourite meals. And they have thick layers of blubber that protect them from the cold oceans. That is the fat that the polar bear thrives off of. Other animals include, but are not limited to, caribou and Arctic foxes. Here's a task for you. I want you to sketch one of the animals that you saw in that previous slide and label it with how it has adapted to living in a tundra. For example, I've got a picture here of an Arctic fox and I would label it with white fur for camouflage and thick fur for warmth. Choose one of the animals on this slide and label it with features of how it's adapted to living in the cold tundra. Pause the video now and complete that task. Great work everyone. I wonder which animal you sketched and how you labelled it. For example, did you pick a seal and label it with thick layer of blubber to keep warm in the ocean? That brings us to the end of today's lesson. A really big well done on all the fantastic learning you've achieved today. If you're able to, please take a picture of your work and ask your parents or carer to share it with your teacher, so that they can see all the fantastic things that you've learned today. And if you'd like ask your parents or carer to send a picture of your work to @OakNational on Twitter, so that I can see all your lovely work too. That's all that's left for me today. Thank you so much for working so hard and take care.

Exit Quiz: What is the tundra?

Completed: What is the tundra?

In this lesson, we are going to be learning about the climatic factors and location of the tundra. We will also learn about the flora and fauna that are present there.

Geography

What is the tundra?

Video

Final Quiz

Lesson Complete