THE TUNDRA BIOME

• Some animals have adapted to live in extremely harsh environments; places where you would not expected to find much of anything alive. Organisms that live under such difficult conditions have changed something about their behavior, or have some sort of physical characteristic that helps them survive.

• The tundra is a very cold environment. It is so cold, in fact, that snow covers the ground for most of the year. The winter season is longer than in many other places. No trees grow in the tundra biome. This does not sound like a very friendly place to live. Animals that live in the tundra need to be able to keep as much heat as possible inside their bodies.  The arctic fox is a tundra animal that has a warm fur coat to keep it warm, and tiny ears that do not let much heat escape. It is also a very short animal, which helps protect it from the wind.

• Summers in the tundra biome are very short. During the summer season, small brownish plants grow very close to the ground. Interestingly, many tundra animals have fur coats that change color with the short seasonal change. When the snow begins to melt, their white winter fur coats change into brown summer fur coats that blend with the summer plants. In this way, they are able to blend into their surroundings and hide from animals that may want to eat them.

 Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Do not forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm   your answers.

1)  What makes the tundra a harsh environment?

2)   How do many tundra animals keep warm?

3)  How does having small ears help the arctic fox?

4)  What is interesting about the fur of some tundra animals?

5)  Which season is longer in the tundra, winter or summer?