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!
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.
In How Plants Thrive in Extreme Conditions, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes plants that thrive in some of the harshest places on Earth. The dragon’s blood tree in Socotra uses its unique shape to catch the morning mist and water its roots, while the desert rose stores water in its thick trunk and grows right out of bare rock. Meanwhile, the red mangrove tree survives salty water by filtering out most of the salt through pores, showing how nature helps plants adapt to tough environments! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
Teaching ecosystems helps students see how every living thing is connected. That's why we've created our Ecosystems Collection. We cover six ecosystems (grasslands, desert, coral reef, tropical rainforest, mountain, and polar). After watching videos on each ecosystem, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful reports filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) There's a brochure template for each of the six ecosystems. Inside, 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 The Life of a Namaqua Chameleon, narrator Sir David Attenborough follows a determined Namaqua chameleon as it leaves tiny footprints in the sand as it treks along the desert. Its hunt for food is a game of patience — waiting for beetles to seek shade before striking with its lightning-fast tongue. Life here is tough, and even finding a mate comes with challenges, but this remarkable chameleon shows how to thrive in one of the harshest places on Earth. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Inside India’s Teak Forests: Partners in Desperate Times, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how plants and animals adapt to survive the hot, dry season. Langur monkeys and chital deer form an unlikely partnership to help them survive. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In A Meerkat Family Story, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces us to a lively family of meerkats working together like a well-organized team. At the center is their queen, who leads the family and is the main one to have pups. These pups are now learning key survival skills, like digging for food and carefully handling scorpions. For safety purposes, one meerkat always stands guard while the others rest or play, showing the power of teamwork. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
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!
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.
In How Plants Thrive in Extreme Conditions, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes plants that thrive in some of the harshest places on Earth. The dragon’s blood tree in Socotra uses its unique shape to catch the morning mist and water its roots, while the desert rose stores water in its thick trunk and grows right out of bare rock. Meanwhile, the red mangrove tree survives salty water by filtering out most of the salt through pores, showing how nature helps plants adapt to tough environments! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
Teaching ecosystems helps students see how every living thing is connected. That's why we've created our Ecosystems Collection. We cover six ecosystems (grasslands, desert, coral reef, tropical rainforest, mountain, and polar). After watching videos on each ecosystem, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful reports filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) There's a brochure template for each of the six ecosystems. Inside, 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 The Life of a Namaqua Chameleon, narrator Sir David Attenborough follows a determined Namaqua chameleon as it leaves tiny footprints in the sand as it treks along the desert. Its hunt for food is a game of patience — waiting for beetles to seek shade before striking with its lightning-fast tongue. Life here is tough, and even finding a mate comes with challenges, but this remarkable chameleon shows how to thrive in one of the harshest places on Earth. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Inside India’s Teak Forests: Partners in Desperate Times, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how plants and animals adapt to survive the hot, dry season. Langur monkeys and chital deer form an unlikely partnership to help them survive. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In A Meerkat Family Story, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces us to a lively family of meerkats working together like a well-organized team. At the center is their queen, who leads the family and is the main one to have pups. These pups are now learning key survival skills, like digging for food and carefully handling scorpions. For safety purposes, one meerkat always stands guard while the others rest or play, showing the power of teamwork. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.