World Deserts Review Questions

Lesson 1

  1. What is the feature that all deserts share, no matter where they are located?

Dryness or aridity.

  1. What are three ways the giant saguaro cactus had adapted to survive in the desert?

The cactus has a thick and fleshy stem that allows it to store water. It has no leaves that could lose moisture. It spreads its roots in a wide area near the surface of the soil.

  1. What is the primary adaptation used by the North American kangaroo rat to conserve water?

That kangaroo rats kidneys recycle water internally so that it loses very little water through natural processes.

  1. What are the 2 ways people have changed deserts?

Through irrigation, they have turned some deserts into farming areas and cities. On the other hand, people have expanded some deserts by farming nearby land and allowing overgrazing.

Lesson 2

  1. In what three ways are camels’ bodies designed for extreme desert heat?

Camels have humps that store fat, stomachs that store water and long legs designed to keep their bodies high above the burning sand.

  1. Where do most of the people of the Sahara live?

They live in the Nile river valley.

  1. Why is the Kalahari sometimes referred to as a “thirstland” rather than as a desert?

The Kalahari has a rich assortment of plants and wildlife.

  1. How do the San Store water?

The San use hollow ostrich eggs as storage containers for water and bury them in the sand along their migratory routes.

Lesson 3

  1. What are 2 methods used by the Aborigines to find water in the desert?

Aborigines tap the earth to find frogs and drink their stored water, and they use songlines passed down from generations to find reliable sources of water.

  1. Why are marsupials, such as kangaroos, well adapted to desert conditions?

Marsupials require less food than many other mammals.

  1. How much of the continent of Australia is desert terrain?

Two-thirds of the continent is arid or semiarid, with few rivers and little rain.

Lesson 4

  1. What are some of the features of the Gobi desert’s terrain?

The Gobi is surrounded almost entirely by mountains, and most of the land is covered in rock and gravel with few sand dunes.

  1. What characteristics make the Gobi “one of the most forbidding of Earth’s deserts”?

Extreme dryness and temperatures

  1. What country owns much of the land of the Arabian Peninsula, and what important mineral resources are found there?

Saudi Arabia; gas and oil

  1. How much of the Earth’s gas and oil lies beneath the desert sands of the Arabian Peninsula?

More than one-third.

Lesson 5

  1. What are some of the features of the Mojave Desert?

The Mojave is a basin, sloping upward to mountains. Two rivers wind through the region and dry out into salt flats. The basin is covered mainly with low shrubs, including The Joshua Tree.

  1. What is the most famous region in the Mojave, and what is unusual about this site?

Death Valley is the most famous region in the Mojave. It has the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere; it is the driest place in the United States; and it has the highest recorded temperature in the United States.

  1. Why was a 200-mile trail across the Sonoran Desert named Devils Highway?

The Trail crossed dusty land without dependable water. Many travelers died along the trail in the 1800’s.

  1. Where is the Chihuahuan Desert located?

To the south and east of the Sonoran Desert, on a plateau in Mexico between 2 mountain ranges.

Lesson 6

  1. What are the eastern and western boundaries of the Patagonia?

The Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Andes Mountains on the west.

  1. What are the main characteristics of the land and climate of Patagonia?

Patagonia is a huge plateau bounded by mountains and coastline. Temperatures can be extreme, from below freezing in July to over 100 F in summer.

  1. Why did Magellan’s crew think the inhabitants of Patagonia were giants? How were they mistaken?

Magellan’s men saw giant footprints in the snow assumed that creatures with feet that were giants; his men did not know that the Tehuelche Indians wore large boots stuffed with straw to keep their feet warm.

  1. What animal’s introduction to Patagonia changed the lives of the Tehuelche Indians? How did it change their lives?

The horse’s introduction to Patagonia enabled the Techuelche Indians to hunt guanaco and rhea on horseback.