Habitat

Where do you live? What is it like? You probably live in a community with houses, schools, cars and people. That’s how you would describe your habitat or environment. But a scientist would focus on its climate, plants, animals and land forms. Types of environments--deserts, forests, grasslands--are called “biomes.� Want a quick way to get to great sites about habitats? Use the direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site.

http://ukobiw.net./launchpoint/

LEVEL ONE

What’s It Like Where You Live: The “virtual biomes� section tells you all about deserts, grasslands, temperate deciduous forests, tundra, rain forests and taiga. In the “field reports� section, kids describe their adventures exploring different environments: a Washington rain forest, the Alaskan tundra, a Missouri prairie. Includes charts, maps, movies and class projects.

https://mbgnet.mobot.org/MBGnet/live/index.html

Ecosystems of Our World: Concise descriptions of ten different ecosystems with a picture and sound from each environment.

https://tqd.advanced.org/2988/text/ecosystemstxt.htm

Life in the California Biomes: Find out about the three main biomes of California.

https://www-tep.ucsd.edu/people/chris-halter/CaProject/CaBiomes.html

LEVEL TWO

Middle School Earth Science Explorer: Explanations and examples of different biomes. A chart explains the characteristics of each environment.

https://www.cotf.edu/ETE/scen/MSESE/earthsysflr/biomes.html

Living Things--Habitats and Ecosystems: Learn how to make your own ecosystem in an aquarium or a terrarium. Great links to other sites on biomes around the world. Includes a glossary of physical geography terms.

https://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/habitat/habitat.html

LEVEL THREE

Biomes of the World: Colorful and concise information on the world’s major biomes, with a helpful bibliography. A good overview.

https://www.snowcrest.net/freemanl/geography/slides/biomes/

World Biomes: Descriptions of the world’s biomes with images from specific regions as examples. Many links and suggested readings.

https://www.uwsp.edu/acaddept/geog/faculty/ritter/geog101/biome.htm

Southern California Natural History: Detailed information on the natural history of Southern California, including geographic features, climate and flora and fauna.

https://eco.bio.lmu.edu/WWW_Nat_History/subjects.htm

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This week’s column was designed by Larry MacPhee, Anna Manring and Stan Woo-Sam.

EXPLORER’S QUEST

Free Times T-shirt

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

What is the one continent on which grassland is not found? Clue: Use the “virtual biomes.�

How It Works: Answer three questions correctly in the Explorer’s Quest Web Challenges by Sept. 29, and you’ll get a free T-shirt. Just clip and fill out the form on Page B5, or make up your own handwritten form. You can also find the form on The Times Launch Point Web site, http://ukobiw.net./launchpoint/

Answer to last week’s Quest: You take about 5,000 breaths a day.