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When you think of
grasslands, what do think about? Do you picture grass, trees
and flowers everywhere? There are many different types of
grasslands. Let's learn about grasslands! |
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What are
grasslands?
Grasslands are large open regions on Earth that
have a lot of grass. Not many bushes grow in grasslands and trees
are usually found only by rivers.
Grasslands make up 1/4 of the Earth's land
surface.
It rains between 10 to 30 inches per year in a
grasslands region. More rain would produce trees and the land
would become a forest. If there was less rain, the land would become a
desert. Often, grasslands are located between deserts and
forests.
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Where in the world
are grasslands located?
As you can see below on the
map, grasslands are located on every continent except
Antarctica.
There are two types of grasslands,
tropical grasslands and temperate grasslands.
- Tropical grasslands
are closest to the equator and hot all year.
- Temperate grasslands
are farther from the equator and
usually have hot summers and cold winters.
- Grasslands are referred to by
different names in different parts of the world.
- United States - prairies or plains
- South America - pampas
- Africa - savannas
- Europe - steppes
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Where in the
United States are grasslands located?
Look on the map and you can see that grasslands
are located in the central part of the United States.
In the United States, grasslands are called
prairies or plains. There are three types of plains.
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Tall grass (1) prairies -
grass grows to five feet tall and rainfall is often 30" per year.
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Mixed grass (2) prairies
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mainly in the middle of the Midwest - grasses 2' - 3' tall
and rainfall is usually 15" - 25" per year.
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Short
grass (3) prairies - mainly in
western portion of Midwest - grasses are no more that 2' tall and
rainfall is usually a little more than 10" per year.
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Key points to remember about
grasslands:
- Open regions with lots of grass
- Receive 10" - 30" rainfall per year
- 1/4 of Earth's land are grasslands
- Two types of grasslands
- Located in central part of USA
- Grasslands called different names in different parts of the
worlds
- prairies or plains - USA
- savannas - Africa
- steppes - Europe
- pampas - South America
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Click on the picture to take a
quiz and see what you've learned!
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