Indiana Science HS-ENV1-6

ScienceGrades 9–12Environmental Science

The Standard

Use a model to locate and describe the major Earth biomes. Analyze data to assess how biomes are determined by climate (temperature and precipitation patterns) that support specific kinds of plants.

Indiana Academic Standards for Science (2023) · Environmental Systems

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students locate major biomes on a world map. They use temperature and rainfall patterns to explain which plants can grow in each place.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can place deserts, grasslands, forests, and tundra in likely regions on a map. Given monthly climate data, they can identify a likely biome and name plants suited to it.
Common Misconceptions: Students may call any hot place a desert, even when it rains year-round. Some use one day's weather instead of long-term climate or think tundra has no plants.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A place stays near 25°C all year and gets less than 2 cm of rain each month. Name its likely biome and describe a plant that could survive there.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs a blank world map and biome labels; have them place each label, then check their choices against a climate map.
Show two warm-city climate graphs, one wet and one dry; ask why different plants grow in each place.
Run a match-up game with four monthly climate graphs and plant photos for rainforest, desert, grassland, and tundra.
Give students a monthly climate chart for a nearby city and a photo of local plants; have them identify its biome.

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