Online games provide students with a way to virtually interact with different types of biomes. Switcheroo Zoo (switchzoo.com) allows students to play the "Build an Online Habitat" game. During the game, students choose the biome, type of plants, climate and appropriate animals. NASA’s Earth Observatory Mission: Biomes website offers the "Great Graph Match" game where students help a scientist categorize information into the proper biomes. Also from NASA, "To Plant or Not to Plant" has students study pictures and descriptions of plants to help Bill Botanist plant them in the correct biome.
Some websites offer printable word searches and other puzzles related to biomes that teachers and students have the ability to download and print. Kids Do Ecology (kids.nceas.ucsb.edu), created by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, offers a biome word search, savanna crossword puzzle and multiple riddle and secret code worksheets related to elements of biomes. With a subscription, teachers can download the "Biome Word Pieces Puzzle" or question and answer sheets related to biomes from Enchanted Learning (enchantedlearning.com).
Create index cards with words representing different elements of multiple biomes and hide them around the classroom. Give students a few minutes to scour the classroom and find a set of index cards to make a complete biome, including climate, animals and plants. Divide students into teams and read descriptions of different plants and animals. Have teams raise their hands or use a bell to chime in and be the first to identify the correct biome. Play a biome drawing game where students take turns coming to the board to draw a picture of a specific biome or one element of a biome and have other students guess what type of biome the drawing represents.
If students have a lot of vocabulary words to learn related to biomes, have them make flash cards with the word on one side and definition on the other side. Students can use the flash cards to quiz one another. Hold a classroom competition where you assign each group a different biome and have them come up with a song incorporating important facts about the biome. Reward a prize to the most successful or most creative song.