A Visit to the Desert

hi welcome to learn with me mrs sullivan today we're going to be hearing some realistic fiction visit to the desert it's fiction because it's not in fact true but it's realistic because nothing in this story is fantastical or fantasy so the story could be true however it is still fiction story visit to the desert essential question how do animals survive survive means to stay alive right read about how animals survive in desert climate the climate is the weather that is kind of always there it's not just one day it's the weather over long period of time and desert has very dry or the science word arid climate there is not lot of rainfall and that's what makes it be called desert so animals there have special adaptations that help them survive let's see if we hear about some of these in this story tim was looking forward to his vacation then his parents told him the family would be visiting grandma in nevada tim was unhappy he wanted to be with his friends this summer grandma is eager to see you mom said she can't wait to take you on desert hike the next morning grandma met them at the airport then they drove to the desert as they hiked grandma explained that animals enjoy the open desert space it gives them freedom to move from place to place tim learned that the animals find ways to adapt to the hot desert weather he wondered if he could get used to the desert climate wow tim said look at that the turtle carries its home on its back grandma smiled at tim's excitement actually she said that is desert tortoise it looks for the shade made by the shadows of rocks that's how it cools off he burrows underground to get away from the heat the tortoise disappeared into its burrow tim leaned over the hole he could not hear sound i'll bet it likes the silence of its burrow tim whispered think it likes its sense of safety too grandma added if you didn't know what burrow is you could infer from the words around the sentence that it is hole in the ground and when you burrow you're digging hole also this page made sure to point out that this is not turtle this is tortoise grandma and tim continue to talk about the feeling that the tortoise has in its burrow the silence and the that's safety same feeling get at home tim said just then large rabbit hopped by grandma explained that the jackrabbit's large ears help it stay cool these animals are so unlike the animals at home tim said he had forgotten about the desert heat some animals stay cool by sleeping during the day then they hunt at night said grandma great horned owl hooted above them grandma said it will soon be time for the owl to hunt now the owl on this page that's pictured is actually burrowing owl it does live in the desert and it's one of the few else that doesn't make nest in tree but instead digs home underground lot like the tortoise animals that sleep during the day and hunt at night are called nocturnal nocturnal so they've been talking about night time coming and the owl is coming out which means it's time for us to head back dad added this vacation is going by too fast tim said they asked him about the heat what heat tim asked feel as fresh and cool as new flower i've adapted everyone laughed and here we could see the blossom on the cactus lot of cactus flowers blossom at night when it's cooler and they don't get so dried out they have to blossom so they can get pollinated the questions included in this story are about making connections the essential question is how does the desert tortoise survive in the heat because we're looking at one of the ways animals adapt you may be able to think of other ways they've adapted as well and if you can great job for your text to self think of another animal you know how does it survive in its climate so this is desert climate you might think about mountain or rainforest climate there's so many different types of climates it could even be the climate where we live which is kind of desert-ish but not completely