This workshop is designed to help students assess the role of native plants within a desert ecosystem and compare them to plants in ecosystems within other biomes.

*Teacher Lesson Plan can be found at the bottom of this page*

**Links work best when signed into a Google Account. Student worksheets are forced copied so students can work directly on the respective Google Documents**

This video gives an introduction to desert plant adaptations showcasing native plants found at the Archeology Museum of El Paso and Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. Adaptation strategies that desert plants have evolved in order to survive the harsh desert climate are outlined and specific plant species are shown.

Teachers are encouraged to have students consider and discuss how plants have adapted to other biomes. Students should research the conditions in other biomes such as the tundra, eastern deciduous forests, and the tropical rainforest, and determine what adaptations help plants to survive and reproduce in those conditions. Students are encouraged to compare these different adaptations and decide/discuss whether plants from one biome could survive in another biome.

After completing this workshop, you should able to identify and interpret the different types of adaptations in desert plants. You should also be able to decipher how plant adaptations in response to desert environments differ from those in other biomes.