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Sonoran Desert For Families

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 1 person)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

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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.

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 Photos 

desert view 1 by HarmonyArtMom

desert view 1

tall saguaro by HarmonyArtMom

tall saguaro

close up saguaro by HarmonyArtMom

close up saguaro

saguaro with bird nest holes by HarmonyArtMom

saguaro with bird ne...

saguaro and woodpecker by HarmonyArtMom

saguaro and woodpeck...

saguaro at sunrise by HarmonyArtMom

saguaro at sunrise

barrel cactus fruit by HarmonyArtMom

barrel cactus fruit

brittle bush by HarmonyArtMom

brittle bush

cactus bloom by HarmonyArtMom

cactus bloom

creosote bush by HarmonyArtMom

creosote bush

light pink cactus bloom by HarmonyArtMom

light pink cactus bl...

poppy by HarmonyArtMom

poppy

chollo bloom by HarmonyArtMom

chollo bloom

fairy duster with hummingbird by HarmonyArtMom

fairy duster with hu...

ocotillo flower by HarmonyArtMom

ocotillo flower

scarlet monkey flower by HarmonyArtMom

scarlet monkey flowe...

paper flower by HarmonyArtMom

paper flower

little white daisy like flowers by HarmonyArtMom

little white daisy l...

lupine 1 by HarmonyArtMom

lupine 1

paper flower by HarmonyArtMom

paper flower

white flower by HarmonyArtMom

white flower

yellow flower in the wash by HarmonyArtMom

yellow flower in the...

yellow wildflower 1 by HarmonyArtMom

yellow wildflower 1

cactus plant yellow flower by HarmonyArtMom

cactus plant yellow...

ocotillo good one by HarmonyArtMom

ocotillo good one

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: $7.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

Cactus Cafe: A Story of the Sonoran Desert

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus (Tree Tales)

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

The Sonoran Desert by Day and Night (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Amazon Price: $3.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonoran Desert

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 07/25/2008)

Sonoran Desert Notebooking Pages 

Here are some pages we have completed so far for our desert notebook.

desert title by HarmonyArtMom

desert title

desert cover A by HarmonyArtMom

desert cover A

No Amer desert info by HarmonyArtMom

No Amer desert info

No Amer desert map by HarmonyArtMom

No Amer desert map

owls by HarmonyArtMom

owls

snakes by HarmonyArtMom

snakes

peccary by HarmonyArtMom

peccary

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.

More Sonoran Desert Books for Children 

Who Pooped in the Sonoran Desert? Scat and Tracks for Kids

Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

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 07/25/2008)

Creatures of the Desert World

Amazon Price: $12.00 (as of 07/25/2008)

Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book)

Amazon Price: $6.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

A Walk in the Desert (Biomes of North America)

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

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.

More Desert Books to Enjoy 

How about some drawing and art? Also some other really great books!

Draw Desert Animals (Draw)

Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad's Tale

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

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: $10.88 (as of 07/25/2008)

Cactus

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

New Guestbook 

Sheri @ The Shades of Pink

Wow! What a great resource! Thanks for sharing

Posted April 22, 2008

Valerie

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

Posted April 20, 2008

Jimmie

Like I said before, you can made even the desert come alive! Wonderful resources here! Thanks, Barb!

Posted April 18, 2008

Lisa@ Koinonia Academy

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

Posted April 18, 2008

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HarmonyArtMom

About 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 Mason and classical styles of homeschooling.

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