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Plants
Animals
Climate
Landscape
Famous Deserts
100
A spiny plant that stores water
What is a cactus?
100
A robust rodent with a broad, rounded head, hairy tail, and short legs
What is a prairie dog?
100
Less than 25 cm/year
How much rain falls in a desert each year?
100
Any accumulation of sand grains shaped into a mound or ridge by wind
What is a sand dune?
100
Northern Africa (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia)
Where is the Sahara Desert?
200
A dried plant that is carried across the desert by wind
What is a tumbleweed?
200
A herbivore with large, leathery, two-toed pads instead of hooves
What is a camel?
200
More than 40°C during the day in the summer; as low as freezing (0°C) at night and in the winter
What is the range of annual temperatures in a hot desert?
200
A fertile spot in a desert, where water is found
What is an oasis?
200
The Sahara Desert
What is the largest hot desert?
300
To reduce water loss
Why do cacti and other desert plants have spines and/or small leaves?
300
A wild canine that resembles a small wolf; found in Europe, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India
What is a jackal?
300
Below freezing in the winter; approximately 10°C in the summer
What is the range of annual temperatures in a cold (or polar) desert?
300
20%
What % of deserts are covered in sand?
300
The Antarctic Polar Desert
What is the largest desert?
400
To reach water far below the surface
Why do some desert plants have deep roots?
400
One of four (4) species of venomous snakes in the U.S.
What is a rattlesnake?
400
Mars
Other than on Earth, where can we find a desert?
400
The erosion and dispersal of soil by wind
What is wind erosion?
400
The Great Basin Desert, the Sonoran Desert, and the Mojave Desert
What deserts can be found in the U.S.?
500
The most common tree in the American southwest; the Spanish used its wood to construct missions
What is a mesquite tree?
500
A venomous arachnid, not a spider
What is a scorpion?
500
The atmosphere contains little humidity to block the sun's rays
Why do temperatures change drammatically from day to night in the desert?
500
A flat area of sand with sand grains that are too large to be carried by the wind (saltate)
What is a sand sheet?
500
The Atacama Desert
What is the driest desert?