Forest and Desert Habitats

Core Idea

Forests are habitats with many trees, plenty of rain, and lots of shade. Deserts are habitats that get very little rain and can be extremely hot or cold. Each habitat has plants and animals that are specially suited to live there. Forest animals need shade and moisture; desert animals need to survive with very little water.

How It's Best Learned

Compare pictures of forests and deserts side by side. Make a list of animals and plants found in each. Build a Venn diagram showing what is the same and different. Discuss why a forest animal would struggle in a desert and vice versa.

Common Misconceptions

• Children may think deserts are always hot (some deserts, like the Gobi, are very cold).
• Some children think nothing lives in deserts (many animals and plants are adapted to desert life).
• Children may think all forests look the same (tropical rainforests and snowy pine forests are very different).

Explainer

Two of the most different habitats on Earth are forests and deserts. They look completely different, have different weather, and support very different communities of living things. Let's explore what makes each one special.

A forest is full of trees — sometimes so many that their branches and leaves create a roof overhead called a canopy. Forests get a lot of rain, which is why so many plants can grow. The floor of a forest is covered with fallen leaves, ferns, mushrooms, and mosses. Animals are everywhere: squirrels and birds live in the trees, deer and rabbits move through the undergrowth, insects buzz in the air, and worms and beetles live in the soil. Forests can be warm and tropical (like a rainforest) or cool and snowy (like a pine forest in the mountains).

A desert is the opposite in many ways. Deserts get very little rain — some get less than 10 inches per year. The land is often sandy or rocky, and plants are spread far apart. But do not think deserts are empty! Cactuses store water inside their thick, waxy stems so they can survive months without rain. Lizards and snakes have scaly skin that keeps moisture in. Many desert animals, like foxes and mice, stay underground in cool burrows during the hottest part of the day and come out at night when it is cooler.

One surprising fact: not all deserts are hot. The Gobi Desert in Asia gets extremely cold in winter, and Antarctica is technically a desert because it gets so little precipitation. What makes a desert a desert is the dryness, not the heat.

Both forests and deserts show the same important idea: living things adapt to their habitat. Forest animals have traits that help them thrive in wet, shady places. Desert animals have traits that help them survive heat and dryness. Put a forest frog in a desert, and it would dry out. Put a desert lizard in a soggy rainforest, and it would struggle too. Every creature belongs where its habitat provides what it needs.