Use a fish tank, a glass box, or even a large plastic bottle cut in half to create your mini desert biome. In addition to the soil, add elements to represent the flora and fauna. You can cut pictures of desert plants and animals from old magazines, glue them on cardboard, and place them in your biome. Alternatively, you can draw them. Finally, write the characteristics of the desert biome, such as temperature and precipitation levels, on a card and tape it on the box.
Make a desert biome by recycling materials, such as cardboard rolls, plastic bottles, wine corks, leftover fabric, felt and yarn, wire, plastic pots, Styrofoam pieces and small cardboard boxes. Use a large piece of cardboard as a base to assemble your desert. You can also model your biome entirely out of clay or mixed with other materials. Show the food chain interactions by adding vegetation, prey and predators.
After studying the characteristics and location of the Sonora, Mojave, Chihuahua and other deserts, organize games to help children memorize what they have learned. Make a memory game with the main features of each desert. Ask children to mark the location of the deserts on cardboard map, and then cut it in pieces to make a jigsaw puzzle. Alternatively, organize children in groups to create a comparative table with the similarities and differences between the deserts.
Ask children to imagine an animal or plant of the desert they would like to be and explain why. Ask them to write an autobiography as that animal or plant. They should write about their daily routine, life cycle, diet and interaction with other animals and plants. Children should swap stories with their classmates, read them, and discuss if they are a real representation of life in the desert. Alternatively, they can make a comic strip.