Curriculum Portal

neurologyYou need to know

• Geography is the study of the physical and human interactions within our world.
• A biome is a large geographical region characterised by its climate, soil, plants, and animals.
• The six key global biomes are tropical rainforest, desert, tundra, grassland, savanna, and temperate forest.
• The tropical rainforest is typically found near the equator, while deserts are often found around the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
• The savanna biome is found between the tropics, mainly between 10° and 20° north and south of the Equator.
• Large areas of savanna are located in Africa, particularly in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria.
• Tundra is located further north, mainly between 60°N and 75°N latitude, around the Arctic Circle. It is found in northern Russia, Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia.
• Taiga (Boreal Forest) is found between approximately 50°N and 70°N latitude across Russia, Canada, Scandinavia and Alaska. It is the world's largest land biome and covers much of northern Russia.
• Russia contains large areas of both the taiga and tundra biomes, making it an important country for studying cold environments.
• The four layers of the tropical rainforest are emergent, canopy, understorey, and forest floor.
• The tropical rainforest climate is hot and wet all year, with average temperatures around 26–28°C and annual rainfall often exceeding 2,000 mm.
• Interdependence means that organisms depend on one another and on abiotic components, and that a change to one ecosystem component can affect others.
• Warmth and moisture in tropical rainforests promote rapid decomposition of dead plant and animal material.
• Rainforest plants quickly absorb nutrients released into the soil by decomposition.
• Heavy rainfall leaches nutrients from rainforest soils by dissolving them and carrying them deeper into the ground.
• Adaptation is a feature or behaviour that helps an organism survive in its environment.
• Key plant adaptations in the rainforest include drip tips to shed water, buttress roots for support, and large leaves to capture sunlight.
• Lianas are rainforest plants with a climbing growth habit that helps them reach light.
• Rainforest plant adaptations are essential for survival because of competition for light, high rainfall, and poor soils.
• Key animal adaptations in the rainforest include camouflage for blending in, an arboreal lifestyle for living in trees, mimicry for copying other species, and nocturnality for being active at night.
• High biodiversity in the rainforest is due to stable climate, high productivity, and complex habitats.
• Indigenous communities in the rainforest often live sustainably by using traditional knowledge, shifting cultivation, and practices that have minimal impact on the environment.
• Commercial uses of the rainforest include logging, cattle ranching, soya farming, and tourism.
• There is conflict between conservation, which is protecting the rainforest, and economic development, which is using resources for income.
• Key causes of deforestation in the Amazon include cattle ranching, mining, road building, and logging.
• Rainforest vegetation is a major nutrient store, so clearing it removes stored nutrients and exposes the soil to erosion.
• Rainforest destruction has local impacts such as loss of habitat and soil erosion, and global impacts such as climate change and loss of biodiversity.
• Protected areas restrict rainforest clearance, but these restrictions need enforcement to be effective.
• Selective logging removes selected trees and reduces damage compared with clear-felling, which removes all trees, but it requires monitoring.
• Sustainable resource use, such as harvesting rainforest fruits and nuts without clearing trees, can protect habitats while providing local people with income.
• Hot deserts are characterised by very low rainfall, less than 250 mm per year, high daytime temperatures, and large temperature ranges between day and night.
• Major hot deserts include the Sahara, Arabian, Kalahari, and Australian deserts.
• Deserts are considered extreme environments due to harsh climate, scarce water, and limited vegetation.
• Many desert soils have little moisture and organic matter, so decomposition is slower than in warm, moist rainforests.
• Plants such as cacti and animals such as camels and lizards have special adaptations to survive in deserts, such as water storage, nocturnal behaviour, and heat tolerance.
• Nomadic desert groups are people who move from place to place in search of water and grazing for livestock, such as the Tuareg or Bedouin.
• Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions because of climatic variation and human activity.
• Causes of desertification include overgrazing, deforestation, climate change, and unsustainable farming.
• Desertification has social impacts such as migration and food insecurity, economic impacts such as loss of income, and environmental impacts such as loss of biodiversity and soil degradation, as seen in the Sahel region.
• Strategies to prevent or reverse desertification include afforestation, sustainable land management, and water conservation techniques.
• Stone lines in the Sahel slow surface runoff and retain soil moisture, but they require labour to build and maintain.

• Locate and label the six key biomes and major hot deserts on a world map.
• Describe and compare the climate characteristics of the six main biomes using specific data.
• Identify and label the four layers of the tropical rainforest on a diagram.
• Explain and give examples of plant and animal adaptations in the rainforest and desert, and how these help survival.
• Interpret and analyse deforestation and desertification data and maps.
• Explain the main causes and impacts of deforestation and desertification, using the Amazon and Sahel as examples.
• Evaluate strategies to conserve rainforests and prevent or reverse desertification.