Guide your students on a journey through the desert ecosystem! From the sweeping sands of the Namib and Kalahari in southern Africa, to the dry heart of Australia’s Outback, and the rocky cold of the Gobi, deserts come in many forms.
✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the desert. (Don't miss the lions and lizards!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Wilderness With Simon Reeve, Africa, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Desert Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
Get ready to journey into some of the most extreme places on Earth — the deserts! From the towering dunes of the Namib and the sunbaked Kalahari to the rugged Australian Outback and the icy sands of the Gobi, these ecosystems are full of surprising life. After watching our videos, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful report filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) Inside the brochure, students will uncover and share:
- Location of the ecosystem on a world map
- Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
- Three animals that live in the ecosystem
- Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
- The climate of the ecosystem
- What makes the ecosystem important
- Their favorite fun facts
Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!
In Lions of the Namib, narrator Sir David Attenborough narrates the struggles of lion prides surviving in one of the harshest environments on Earth — the Namib Desert. With little water and scarce prey, these lions must use strategy and patience to hunt, but even their best efforts often end in failure. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth II, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Brown Hyenas in Search of Food, narrator Sir David Attenborough reveals how hyenas often walk over 18 miles a day in search of food. They find it in a surprising location: along the coast there are thousands of Cape fur seals. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In Brown Hyenas of the Namib Desert, narrator Sir David Attenborough observes a female brown hyena living in the Namib Desert. Her home is an abandoned diamond mine, where she has reared nine generations of cubs. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In Life in the Extreme Heat, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how animals like the golden mole, desert long-eared bat, and darkling beetle have adapted to survive life in the desert. From clever ways to gather water to unique hunting techniques, these creatures demonstrate the incredible resilience of life in the Namib and Negev deserts. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth II, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Wasp vs. the Spider, narrator Sir David Attenborough invites us to discover The Namib, the oldest and one of the driest deserts in the world, where survival is a true test of nature's creativity. Meet two fascinating insects: the pompilid wasp and the golden wheel spider. Watch as the spider escapes the wasp’s sting and a grim fate by cartwheeling down a sandy slope in an incredible display of survival! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Africa, a study of the landscape and wildlife of the world’s wildest continent, Africa.
Discover the amazing hunting techniques of cave glow worms, witness the transformation of lake fly midges, and delve into the mysteries of bioluminescence in the jungle night. Prepare for a close-up look at the miniature marvels all around us!
Guide your students on a journey through the desert ecosystem! From the sweeping sands of the Namib and Kalahari in southern Africa, to the dry heart of Australia’s Outback, and the rocky cold of the Gobi, deserts come in many forms.
✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the desert. (Don't miss the lions and lizards!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Wilderness With Simon Reeve, Africa, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Desert Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
Get ready to journey into some of the most extreme places on Earth — the deserts! From the towering dunes of the Namib and the sunbaked Kalahari to the rugged Australian Outback and the icy sands of the Gobi, these ecosystems are full of surprising life. After watching our videos, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful report filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) Inside the brochure, students will uncover and share:
- Location of the ecosystem on a world map
- Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
- Three animals that live in the ecosystem
- Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
- The climate of the ecosystem
- What makes the ecosystem important
- Their favorite fun facts
Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!
In Lions of the Namib, narrator Sir David Attenborough narrates the struggles of lion prides surviving in one of the harshest environments on Earth — the Namib Desert. With little water and scarce prey, these lions must use strategy and patience to hunt, but even their best efforts often end in failure. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth II, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Brown Hyenas in Search of Food, narrator Sir David Attenborough reveals how hyenas often walk over 18 miles a day in search of food. They find it in a surprising location: along the coast there are thousands of Cape fur seals. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In Brown Hyenas of the Namib Desert, narrator Sir David Attenborough observes a female brown hyena living in the Namib Desert. Her home is an abandoned diamond mine, where she has reared nine generations of cubs. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In Life in the Extreme Heat, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how animals like the golden mole, desert long-eared bat, and darkling beetle have adapted to survive life in the desert. From clever ways to gather water to unique hunting techniques, these creatures demonstrate the incredible resilience of life in the Namib and Negev deserts. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth II, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Wasp vs. the Spider, narrator Sir David Attenborough invites us to discover The Namib, the oldest and one of the driest deserts in the world, where survival is a true test of nature's creativity. Meet two fascinating insects: the pompilid wasp and the golden wheel spider. Watch as the spider escapes the wasp’s sting and a grim fate by cartwheeling down a sandy slope in an incredible display of survival! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Africa, a study of the landscape and wildlife of the world’s wildest continent, Africa.
Discover the amazing hunting techniques of cave glow worms, witness the transformation of lake fly midges, and delve into the mysteries of bioluminescence in the jungle night. Prepare for a close-up look at the miniature marvels all around us!