Unit Study for the Sonoran Desert of Arizona
Our family recently took a trip to Tucson, Arizona to see the Sonoran Desert. One of our goals for the trip was to learn as much as possible about this unique habitat.
We visited Saguaro National Park for hiking and birdwatching. The visitor's center there was very informative and there was a lot of literature available there to help us know more about the plants, animals, and rocks that we were seeing.
Whether or not you can go to the Sonoran Desert in person or not, I hope this lens will help you in a study of the desert.
Update: We recently took a trip to Southern California to spend time in a different desert and we found many comparisons. Joshua Tree National Park is at the border of the Colorado and the Mojave Deserts. Many of the same types of plants and animals live here as well. If you live near this area, you have access to a great desert resource.
We visited Saguaro National Park for hiking and birdwatching. The visitor's center there was very informative and there was a lot of literature available there to help us know more about the plants, animals, and rocks that we were seeing.
Whether or not you can go to the Sonoran Desert in person or not, I hope this lens will help you in a study of the desert.
Update: We recently took a trip to Southern California to spend time in a different desert and we found many comparisons. Joshua Tree National Park is at the border of the Colorado and the Mojave Deserts. Many of the same types of plants and animals live here as well. If you live near this area, you have access to a great desert resource.
Table of Contents
- Sonoran Desert Animals and Plants
- Learning Resources
- Websites with Information for your Study
- Sonoran Desert Photos
- Desert Video Clips Online
- Sonoran Desert Books
- Sonoran Desert Notebooking Pages
- Premade Units or Notebooking Pages
- Desert Images for Personal Use
- More Sonoran Desert Books for Children
- Ultimate Field Trip Destinations
- More Desert Books to Enjoy
Sonoran Desert Animals and Plants
List of animals and birds to study:Javelina or peccary
Coyote
Gila Woodpecker
Elf Owl
Great Horned Owl
Bats
Kangaroo Rat
Deer
Turkey vulture
Gambel's quail
Cactus wren
Desert Plants:
Cholla cactus
Organ pipe cactus
Saguaro cactus
Barrel cactus
Purple prickly pear
Desert globe mallow
Mesquite tree
Creosote bush
Mexican gold poppy
Mariposa lily
Beavertail cactus
Desert Arthropods
Tarantula
Scorpion
Desert Reptiles
Gila monster
Desert iguana
Whiptail lizards
Rattlesnakes
King snakes
Learning Resources
I am going to accumulate the links to put together your own unit study on the Sonoran Desert.
- Saguaro National Park-PDF brochures
- The national park has numerous brochures that you can print out that give concise information about the Sonoran desert plants, animals, and habitat.
- Saguaro National Park-Lesson plans
- This link has a whole list of lesson plans and teacher's guides to help plan a unit study for the Sonoran desert. It also has a student's journal that can be adapted as a nature journal.
- Arizona Coloring Book-PDF
- This link takes you to a coloring book that you can print out and use as a supplement to your study of the Sonoran desert.
- Sonoran Desert Fact Sheets
- From the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Fact sheets for:
People of the Desert
Animals
* Coyote
* Elf Owl
* Gila Woodpecker
* Kangaroo Rat
* Lesser Long Nose Bat
* Tarantula
* White-Winged Dove
Plants
* Flowers and Fruit
* Saguaro Cactus
Websites with Information for your Study
I always like to browse websites for tips and facts about an area we are traveling to. Here are a few websites I enjoyed reading.
- www.desertusa.com
- The rocks, plants, animals, and people of the desert are pictured and described on this site. This site includes maps.
- Center for Sonoran Desert Study
- This page has information about different biomes along with photos.
- What's It Like Where You Live?
- This website has information about desert plants that we enjoyed reading.
- Sonoran Desert plant and animal fact sheets
- This page from the Sonoran Desert Museum has a whole list of animals and plants to learn about. Each animal or plant has its own fact sheet and many of the animals include a link to hear how the animal sounds. We love this page!
Sonoran Desert Photos
desert view 1
tall saguaro
close up saguaro
saguaro with bird ne...
saguaro and woodpeck...
saguaro at sunrise
barrel cactus fruit
brittle bush
cactus bloom
creosote bush
light pink cactus bl...
Mallow family
chollo bloom
fairy duster with hu...
ocotillo flower
scarlet monkey flowe...
paper flower
little white daisy l...
lupine 1
paper flower
white flower
yellow flower in the...
yellow wildflower 1
cactus plant yellow...
ocotillo good one
curated content from Flickr
Desert Video Clips Online
Short videos to watch with your children about the desert.
- Desert Food Chain
- Two and a half minute video.
- Saguaro Cactus
- One and a half minutes long.
- Prickly Pear Cactus
- Two and a half minutes long.
- Rattlesnakes
- One and a half minutes long.
- More Desert Animal Videos
- I am going to give you the link to more animal videos that you can choose from to fit in with your interests.
Sonoran Desert Books
Cactus Desert (One Small Square)
Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 11/27/2009) 
Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus (Tree Tales)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
The Sonoran Desert by Day and Night (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Amazon Price: $3.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonoran Desert
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 11/27/2009)
Cactus Cafe: A Story of the Sonoran Desert
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
Sonoran Desert Notebooking Pages
Here are some pages we have completed so far for our desert notebook.
desert title
desert cover A
No Amer desert info
No Amer desert map
owls
snakes
peccary
curated content from Flickr
Premade Units or Notebooking Pages
I have found that sometimes it is easier to use pre-made pages rather than start from scratch. Here are some links to desert resources you might want to try.
- Nature Study of North American Desert Wildlife
- This set of notebooking pages are fantastic for using with your study of desert animals. Make sure to check out the table of contents and the sample pages.
- Desert Unit-Hands on Activities
- This unit study comes with ideas for making a desert lapbook. I haven't used it but it looks very well done. You might want to give this one a try.
- The Sonoran Desert by Day and Night
- This is a coloring book that could easily be used as notebooking pages or as a supplement for a younger child's unit study.
Desert Images for Personal Use
Need a photo of a specific desert animal for your notebook or lapbook? The Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum has a whole catalog of images that they make available for personal and educational use. This is a treasure trove of images.
- Image Library at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum
- Animals, plants, minerals, biotic communities
More Sonoran Desert Books for Children
Who Pooped in the Sonoran Desert? Scat and Tracks for Kids
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
Watching Desert Wildlife (Watching Wildlife With Jim Arnosky)
This is a fantastic book with beautiful paintings and a lot of very useful information. A must read!
Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
Creatures of the Desert World
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 11/27/2009)
Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book)
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 11/27/2009)
A Walk in the Desert (Biomes of North America)
Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
Ultimate Field Trip Destinations
We are going to be visiting this area and we have these places on our itinerary.
- Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
- From their website:
"The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and more. Within the Museum grounds, you will see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert." - Colossal Cave Mountain Park
- The tour route is a half mile long and takes about 45-50 minutes to complete. As your guide relates the Cave's history, legends, and geology, you walk down and back up about six and a half stories and see beautiful cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites.
- Mt. Lemmon Scenic Drive
- This drive takes you from the desert floor to a little over 9,000 feet. The views are fantastic, the rock formations are incredible, and it is a very refreshing 27 mile drive. Take a picnic to eat at any one of the many picnic areas along the way. There is also a visitor's center to learn more about the area.
- Joshua Tree National Park
- This is not in the Sonoran Desert but it is on the border of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. If this is closer to your home, I highly recommend a visit to the Visitor's Center at 29 Palms.
- The Living Desert Museum
- This museum is not strictly about the Sonoran Desert but it does have loads of information about Sonoran Desert animals and plants. There is a complete outdoor garden dedicated to the Sonoran Desert.
I highly recommend this "museum" to those that live in the area of Southern California or if you are traveling through the area on your way to California.
More Desert Books to Enjoy
How about some drawing and art? Also some other really great books!
Draw Desert Animals
Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 11/27/2009)
Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad's Tale
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
My Name Is Georgia: A Portrait by Jeanette Winter
This is a fantastic book at the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. *Please note that there is one page with illustrations of nude statues on it.
Amazon Price: $13.26 (as of 11/27/2009)
Cactus
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
Field Guide Coloring Book DESERTS (Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books)
Rather sophisticated coloring book field guide with stickers too. 198 plants and animals of the deserts of North Amerca.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
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- love4free love4free Nov 21, 2008 @ 6:20 am
- it really is great
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- StephenC StephenC Oct 6, 2008 @ 11:52 pm
- Nice lens! Good stuff, enjoyed the visit!
Fun Facts about San Bernardino
StephenC
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- Sheri @ The Shades of Pink Sheri @ The Shades of Pink Apr 22, 2008 @ 8:49 am
- Wow! What a great resource! Thanks for sharing
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- Valerie Valerie Apr 20, 2008 @ 11:17 am
- Barb, this looks amazing! Reading Rainbow has an episode that uses the Desert Giant book. It also has some wonderful pictures of desert life. I put this in my favorites for when we study this biome. :)
Val
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- Jimmie Jimmie Apr 18, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
- Like I said before, you can made even the desert come alive! Wonderful resources here! Thanks, Barb!
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- Lisa@ Koinonia Academy Lisa@ Koinonia Academy Apr 18, 2008 @ 2:29 pm
- This is great! I book marked it so I can come back and visit a little longer! This is so nice of you to share! It looks like a lot of work went into this....
Lisa
by HarmonyArtMom
Mom of four, twelve years of homeschooling and now two children in college, passionate about art, music, and nature study.
We use a mix of Charlotte...
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