Navigation
Learn how plants and animals survive in places with very little water.
What if you had to live in a place where it only rained a few times a year? How would you find a drink of water if there were no taps or bottles?
A desert is a special kind of habitat. A habitat is a place where plants and animals live. Deserts are very dry because they get very little rain. Some deserts are covered in soft, golden sand that moves in the wind. Others are filled with hard, jagged rocks. During the day, the sun shines very brightly, making the ground hot enough to bake a cookie! Because there is so little water, only special living things can call the desert home.
Quick Check
Is a desert always made of sand?
Answer
No, some deserts are rocky instead of sandy.
Plants need water to grow, but the desert doesn't have much. The cactus is a desert superstar! Instead of thin leaves, many cacti have thick, waxy skin. This skin helps keep water inside so it doesn't dry up in the sun. Inside their stems, they have a sponge-like middle that holds onto water for a long time. They also have sharp spines to protect their water from thirsty animals.
Imagine a cactus is like a giant water bottle. 1. When it rains for day, the cactus drinks up as much as it can through its roots. 2. It stores that water in its thick stem. 3. It can then use that water to stay alive for days or more without another drop of rain!
Quick Check
Where does a cactus keep its water?
Answer
Inside its thick, sponge-like stem.
How do animals stay cool when the sun is so hot? Many desert animals are nocturnal. This means they sleep during the hot day and come out at night when it is cool. Other animals, like the desert tortoise, dig holes called burrows deep underground. The dirt stays much cooler than the air above. Some animals even have big ears to help heat leave their bodies!
The Fennec Fox is a tiny animal with ears that are inches long! 1. The fox walks on the hot sand. 2. Its large ears act like fans. 3. Heat moves out of the blood in the ears and into the air, keeping the fox's body at a safe temperature.
If a desert gets only inches of rain in a whole year, but a forest gets inches, how much more rain does the forest get?
The forest gets inches more rain! This shows why desert animals must be very good at saving every drop they find.
What is a habitat?
Why does a cactus have thick, waxy skin?
Nocturnal animals are most active during the hottest part of the day.
Review Tomorrow
In 24 hours, try to remember the name of the holes animals dig to stay cool (burrows) and how a cactus stores water.
Practice Activity
Draw a picture of a desert. Include one cactus with spines and one animal hiding in the shade or in a burrow!