biomes & habitats resources

We recently wrapped up a study of the world’s biomes and habitats. Do you know the difference between a biome, ecosystem, and habitat? I didn’t, but now I do! 

Biome: defined by climate (temperature, precipitation, and sunlight) and classified according to its plants and animals 

Ecosystem: the community and intersections of living and nonliving things in an area

Habitat: an environment where an organism lives throughout the year or for shorter periods of time.

Spines

A “spine” is a book used as the main resource for a given study. It is what guides your learning and teaching. 

• Nomad Press Biomes (learn more about Nomad Press with this YouTube video) 

• DK Habitats of the World

Additional Resources

• DK Habitats: From Ocean Trench to Tropical Forest (this would be a great spine for middle to highschool age students) 

• Whose Habitat is That? 

• About Habitats Series (good for early elementary students) 

• Ecosystems Game 

• Biomes YouTube Playlist 

We also pulled in a variety of habitat-specific picture books. 

Notebooking 

My kids did a lot of drawing and writing throughout their biomes study.

My 3rd grader worked in his science notebook for daily learning and in his science journal for a weekly, formal notebooking page. 

My 1st grader studied habitats through a unit in Nancy Larson Science 1st grade and completed science journal pages as part of her learning. 

For more on notebooking, check out my notebooking guide.