Hello class,
We are zooming through the world with our climatic zone shades on. (Insert: weird Geoffrey comment). So, you have a bit of homework this weekend, so sorry, but as that one kinda annoying "hill-billy" comedian says, "get 'er done".
So, first, check out this video about the Namib Desert.
Comment on the diversity of this desert. Discuss your travel experiences through deserts, any crazy tales - do share.
Then, check this out on the Kalahari Desert.
How is this desert different from the Namib Desert?
Finally, check out this on the Sahara Desert.
Think about the adaptations that these beetles make and comment on other animals that adapt according to the climate in which they live. How do humans adapt?
Have a good weekend!
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13 comments:
The first video won't load for me..
The Kalahari Desert is more like a giant savanna that crosses though many different countries. I'm guessing that the Namibian Desert is more of a sandy one than the Kalahari, but I really can't make any observations of the differences without watching the video.
Wow. The way the beetles get their water is really interesting. They must have adapted so that their bodies are able to capture moisture more efficiently. Another example of animals adapting to their environment is the wolverine that we saw in class. It has a think coat which keeps it warm, and it is able to eat...a lot whenever it can due to the scarceness of food and the rare chances of getting it.
Humans adapt to the environment by changing it. Rather than changing ourselves to fit in, we try to make our surroundings fit us instead. For example, instead of adapting to the heat here in Senegal, many of us use air conditioners to cool the temperature to our favor. Of course, not everyone does this, but many people with the resources do.
The nambian desert,for one, looks a lot more lifeless the the Kkalahari desert. like youngnak said the kalahari desert looks more like a savanna than an actual desert. the Nambian desert is just huge hunks of sand.
the most interesting thing about the nambian desert is that they a filled with diamonds. when i heard that i was suprised that the Nambian didn't looked torn up by human activity, just like evry thing else humans show interest in.
It was really cool to see how the beetles adapted to the desert and found a way to get some water. its cool to see how animals adapt to their enviroment.
To me humans don't adapt to the enviroment, we destroy the enviroment so that the enviroment can adapt with us. Not to sound like a tree hugger but if anyone has not noticed our "advancements in science and technology" are changing our world (global warming),but most of the world is too ignorant to see it!!
Man!, i thought i was going to be the first to publish a comment...
Anyway,I think, as both of these guys do, that the kalahari is not so desolate and has much more life in it than the namibian desert. I find the fact that there is some vegetation in the namibian desert very impressive because of the ridiculously small amount of water received by the desert. I find it also quite interesting how the plants are able to grab and subsist of the mist water, there must have been a pretty long time of adaption there.
About the dunes, they were awesome! Those incredibly large, tall and ancient towers lying peacefully there...
Also, those beetles were incredible! They have adapted in an extremely strange way (grabbing moisture with their back legs, come on!) to survive in an insane climate. Some examples of adaptions are cactuses, camels (colect water), etc...
Its true that humans mainly have changed climate and temperature (AC, clothes) to be able to live and haven't developed incredible features like fur or whatever. However, we must say that there has been a common adaption of humans all around the world. They have learned to live in extremely hot and cold climates, in the jungle, in USA (haha!). So we don't need to fully rely on AC.
Happy weekend...
I don't know why but the video about the Namib desert isn't loading.
I think the big difference between the Kalahri desert and the Namib desert is the vegetation level. The Namib desert is mostly sandy, but the Kalahari is grassy+dry.
It is really interesting how the beatles get their water. Cool how they can capture the moisture from the soil. An example of animal that adapts well to its environment is the Robin. They can adapt in many cold and warm temperatures because its body temperature remains constant.
Human beings adapt to their environment by changing it like Yongnak said. Even though they change it many people also adapt to temperatures. This why someone that lives in a really cold place like Russia for example would come here in January and think it is hot. meanwhile people that live in Senegal would think it is cold in January.
Whoa, the last video was pretty cool. the flower stuff. I think we should have a school field trip to Lompoul (in northern Senegal). Its a relativly small area of the sahara the permeates through the border. We can go sandsurfing and sleep in de beduine tents. The second video i like aswel, but personaly i wouldnt consider that place a desert :P. Evolution is so fascinating! Those creatures (beetles, ants and whatever) have kewl ways of getting their water :o
i wonder what kinds of things are burried under the sands.
The first desert, the Namib desert was very lifeless. there were hardly any plants except for one part where they showed some dead bush thing. It was interesting for me to see that the desert was in direct contact with the ocean at some part. I have personally never been to a desert. I only know them through the media, like the movies we watch with those cowboys and indians fighting in the deserts.
I found the second desert a lot like a savannah where the vultures and lions live. In the video they mentioned that it was more dry than a savannah. There was a lot of vegetation in the Kalahari Desert but all of those shurbs, or bushes looked dead. The last desert video, the video about the sahara desert was for me, kind of a mix between the Namib Desert and the Kalhari Desert because there was a lot of sand but also a lot of vegetation. In the Sahara desert I was impressed to know that there are living things in the desert. The litle beetles are very lucky because they don't need the same amount of water as us and since some plant's grow they can get polen. For us humans I don't think we would wait for evolution or something like that. I think that the brightest minds would get together and find something to do with technology so that we can adapt easier to the changes in our environment
The Namib Desert is sick. It looks a lot more beautiful and has a lot more diversity than the Sahara. There are beautiful dunes in this desert, but there is also some vegetation, evidenced by the shot of the one tree amidst all of the dunes. Some dunes are bigger than others. Also, there are some oases there. Me myself have traveled through deserts in Niger, Mali, and most recently, Mauritania. I don't remember the other deserts, but I went to Mauritania last year, so I remember it. We drove until we stopped near a village in the desert. Just when we were driving in to the village, we got a flat tire. Everyone from the village came out to help us fix it. After we were done with that, we went through some of the desert on camels. When night came, we stayed in an oasis. It became really cold at night, and many mosquitoes came out to torment us. The Kalahari desert has no dunes and has a huge amount of vegetation. There are roads running through the Kalahari, and it is much more dusty than the Namib. The beetles run it! One of the only animals that can survive in a desert! Speaking of desert, another animal that adapts according to the climate is a camel. Camels somehow can have one drink of water and not need any more for a month or longer. Well, some animals are just pretty amazing like that. I think humans adapt to their environment by putting on different clothes for different weather conditions. Also, if there is a battle or something, they might survey the battlegrounds before and make decisions on where their soldiers are.
P.S.: Mr. Philen, you might not know that much Lil' Wayne, but I think you will like the song "Damn I'm Cold" by him & Bun B. It's cool... just listen to it on YouTube.
-.-* Problems With the first video zZzZzZz, i tried refreshing it 1 million times.
I found that the Namibian desert is like what we picture deserts as, while the Kalahri is more savanna-like, as YONG(not young...Mohamed)-Nak said.
The thing on the beatles is so cool, i feel like those beatles i like consume everything around me to survive, even tho tahts nto what they really do but in the MUmmy they do that so wtv, I DO THAT. It is an interesting example of how animals adapt to the environmentr they are in in order to survive. isnt Adapting to the environment like on o fhte basic things that living things do?...think so. Yong-Nak's thing on humans changing the environment rather than fitting themselves to it is true, and its so cheap, man humans are so cheap, i dont do that, i mean, i dont like cook(change the environment?) i just come to school and eat other peoples food, so im like saving gas at my house, saving the world, see how i adapt to the current situation in order to preserve our species.
first of all i would like to comment on the beauty of the sight of the desert and the ocean together... wow. i also think it is cool how it is that there are flat areas with bushes, and right next to it a huge moving sand dune.
The kalahari desert is very different from the namid desert. It is grassy, and has trees.
The beetles are really cool. and i never realised the importance of several little drops in a dessert. As soon as there was a little bit of water, ants went in swarms to drink. The beetles were really cool too. It is weird, but somehow makes total sense, the way that they get water. Other animals that adapt according to the climate in which they live are camels. They have a very large capacity for storing water, and they have large flat feet so as not to sink into sand. We adapt to our climate by clothing ourselves with either thick coats or shorts and t-shirts. We also create all sorts of things to protect ourselves, such as sunscreen and sunglasses.
I really liked the second video. I knew all about evolution and how creatures have evolved but seeing it in subtle things such as the beetle and the way that it gathers its water was really cool.It's interesting the way the process of 'Natural Seletion' plays out. I remember in one of my olf schools that had a documentry on evolution and that even right now humans are evolving. It said that our small toe on our foot has been getting smaller and smaller with each generation abnd give or take 50 OOO years from now humans will only have four toes.
the first video wasn't very interesting. i was suprised to learn tho that the kalahari desert isn'ta desert at all.it's more like a savanah.which is pretty ironic when you compare it to its name.
The second video wotn load but i know that the khalahari desert has more vegetation on it then the namibian and it stretches throught more countreis then the namibian. The way the beetles get water is pretty cool aswell...i agree with yong nak that the wolverines coat helps it adapt to its sorroundings by making it's core temperture up.
the namib desert is pretty interesting, because its all sand dunes all the way until the coast. and i think that its deadly climate is the only reason it isn't rampaged by humans seeking its treasures.
the kalahari desert seems a bit dead and boring, its just a very dry savanah that doesnt seem to have any interesting wonders. there wasnt much on the sahara i didnt know about, but those bettles are pretty ingenious. many other animals adapt permantly or temporaly, like how rabbits in europe grow white fur during winter to be able to stay away from predators adn change back to their natural colors during other seasons. and this desert fox-like animal (forgot its name) that has a HUGE tail that it flaps over its body like a parasol during the day. humans dont adapt, i think thats why we stopped evolving, we just change our environment for it to fit to our lifestyle, sucking out its resources and disturbing the natural peace.
dersrets are subaried
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