What Are Grasslands?

What Are Grasslands? — page 1 — Fields oF Green When you look around the area you live in what do you see that makes it different from other places on Earth This map shows Earth’s major biomes 4

What Are Grasslands? — page 2 — Vocabulary You might notice that you live in an area with lots of hills or maybe your town is very flat It might be hot and dry most of the time or the area might get lots of rain There might be certain animals that live in your area that aren’t found other places Your hometown has natural features that are unique and it is part of a larger area called a biome A biome is a large region of Earth that has a certain climate and certain types of living things One of the major biomes on Earth is the grasslands Grasslands are places that get enough rain for grasses to grow but not enough to support forests Oglala National Grassland seen here is in northwestern Nebraska 5 Things that are unique are special or one of-a-kind They have qualities that set them apart from others

What Are Grasslands? — page 3 — the Formation oF Grasslands Grasslands once covered about 20 percent of the land on Earth They stretch between forests and deserts Grasslands near forests are wetter and have some trees Those near deserts are drier and have less plant life The grasslands began to form millions of years ago when Earth’s climate was The Mitchell Grass Downs in Australia shown here hosts a variety of plant life 6

What Are Grasslands? — page 4 — Think About It As the climate of Earth changes how might grasslands be affected becoming cooler and drier Over time grasslands sprung up in different parts of the world Some were formed as tropical rainforests began to dry out Others were formed as the result of cold dry periods known as ice ages Grasslands were also formed by what people would call natural disasters such as wildfires floods and droughts These events would clear an area of larger plants and change the soil conditions From these cleared spaces grasses would grow and take over the land Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota is part of North America’s Great Plains 7

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