STAGE
Janet Hardy-Gould
Deserts
Look at a desert, and what do you see?
Nothing much – just a hot, flat, dry
place, with lots of sand, and no animals
or people.
Introduction
Deserts
DESERTS Janet Hardy-Gould
1
Deserts
But look again. There are deserts with mountains, and
deserts with snow. There are millions of people – some
live in towns, and some move across the desert all the
time. There are plants that live for hundreds of years, and
animals that can sleep for months under the ground. When
you look closely, the desert is a wonderful place, full of
exciting things . . . (Word count 5,519)
JA N E T H A R DY � G O U L D
f
FACTFILES
Cover image by Getty Images
(Namib desert/Franck Guiziou/hemis.fr)
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are different from the way we imagine them.
Deserts
every year but they are not always hot and sandy.
1
are extremely dry with less than 25 centimetres
of rain
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BOOKWORMS
1
Chapter 1 (What is a desert?) looks at how deserts
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BOOKWORMS
Chapter summary
There are three main types: hot (the Sahara), cool (the
9780194236270 Deserts Cover.indd 1
Atacama), and cold (the Gobi), and they can have very
different landscapes.
Chapter 2 (Rocks, wind and water) describes
features of the desert landscape. People often think
that deserts are flat but across many of the world’s
deserts you can find huge mountains, deep ravines,
and large sand dunes. These dunes can sometimes be
very high and can be blown across the desert by
strong winds. There are also underground rivers and
these can rise to the surface to form an oasis.
Chapter 3 (Desert life) looks at the different
desert people around the world and how they manage
to survive in such difficult climates. Many traditional
desert people, such as the Tuaregs and the Bedouins,
are nomads. They wear special clothes and move
across the desert in search of food and water.
Chapter 4 (Desert plants) describes the range of
plants that can be found across the world’s deserts. All
desert plants are adapted so that they can survive in
extreme temperatures and with little water. They often
have special leaves and huge root systems.
Chapter 5 (Desert animals) looks at the different
insects, birds, and animals that are adapted to the
harsh, dry conditions of the desert. Many desert
animals such as the small jerboa and the fennec fox
come out at night when temperatures are much
cooler. Other creatures such as lizards or vultures cope
with the hot daytime in deserts in different ways.
Chapter 6 (A desert people) focuses on the
Bedouin people who live in the Arabian Desert and parts
of the Sahara. In the past, these people lived a nomadic
lifestyle, with each Bedouin tribe living in and moving
around a particular part of the desert. They earned money
by allowing people to cross their area. Nowadays, many
Bedouins live in houses near the desert in countries such
as Egypt or Saudi Arabia. But they still continue with
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Chapter 7 (Desert treasures) describes treasures
that can be found in deserts around the world. These
include salt, oil, copper, and sand. Salt has been taken
from deserts for thousands of years. Around a quarter
of the world’s oil is found under the Arabian Desert
and a large proportion of the world’s copper is taken
from a huge open mine in the Atacama Desert.
Chapter 8 (A desert city) looks at the legendary
city of Timbuktu in the Sahara Desert in Mali. Timbuktu
was once very rich because it was at the centre of
trade routes across the Sahara. Many beautiful
buildings were constructed there from mud and some
of these still exist today.
Chapter 9 (Four deserts) describes key features
of the Sahara, Gobi, Mojave, and Atacama deserts. The
Sahara is the world’s biggest desert and it overlaps ten
different countries in North Africa. The Gobi in China
and Mongolia is a cold desert and it is the best place
to see snow in the desert landscape. The smaller
Mojave Desert in California is a hot desert. You can find
both the city of Las Vegas and the famous Death Valley
here. The cool Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the
driest places in the world and in some parts there is
only rain every 100 years.
Chapter 10 (Changes in the desert) looks at the
future of deserts around the world. A big problem in
dry areas is that of desertification. Desertification
happens when places next to deserts or in other
areas, lose their plants, trees, and water. The wind
then blows away the soil leaving bare rocks or sand.
Deserts are also increasingly used for leisure
activities including safaris, marathons and car races.
Many people also think that deserts will become more
important to the world economy as a place to grow
food and generate solar energy.
many aspects of their traditional Bedouin lifestyle.
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STAGE
1
Deserts
Janet Hardy-Gould
Pre-reading activity
Answer these questions about deserts. Then discuss your answers with a partner.
1 What are the names of some famous deserts?
2 What do you think a desert looks like?
3 What types of animals and plants do you find in a desert?
4 Are there any deserts in your country?
5 Have you ever visited a desert? If, no, would you like to visit one?
Can you guess the correct answers to these questions?
1 How much rain does a desert have every year? a Under 15 centimetres. b Under 20 centimetres.
c Under 25 centimetres. d Under 30 centimetres.
2 Which of these places is not the name of a desert? a Sahara. b Arabian. c Namib. d Annapurna.
3 What do people also call a big desert? a Antarctica. b The Arctic. c The north of Canada. d The west of Russia.
4 Which of these cities are in deserts? a Sydney and New York. b Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
c Las Vegas and Cairo. d Istanbul and Madrid.
5 Which of these deserts is one of the driest places in the world?
a The Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia. b The Atacama Desert in South America.
c The Simpson Desert in Australia. d The Mojave Desert in the USA.
6 In which desert can the temperature go down to -30 °C at night?
a The Gobi Desert. b The Atacama Desert. c The Simpson Desert. d The Mojave Desert.
7 How much of the world’s desert is without any sand?
a A quarter. b A third. c A half. d Three-quarters.
8 What does a lot of the world’s desert have on it?
a Rocks. b Trees. c Grass. d Rivers.
Now read the first chapter of Deserts and check your answers.
To the teacher
Aim: To encourage prediction of information in Deserts.
Time: 40–45 minutes.
Organization: Give one copy of the worksheet to each pair of students. Ask the students to read the questions in
the What do you know? section and note down their answers. They should then ask and answer the questions with
a partner. Conduct class feedback and encourage discussion about deserts. Then quickly go through the questions
as a class and check any unknown vocabulary. Students do this in pairs. Tell them that it doesn’t matter if they are
not sure – they will find the answers in the book. Then get the class to read the first chapter of Deserts to check
their answers. Finally, establish which pair had the most correct answers and were the ‘winners’ of the quiz.
Key: 1 c, 2 d, 3 a, 4 c, 5 b, 6 a, 7d, 8a.
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STAGE
1
Deserts
Janet Hardy-Gould
While reading activity
Read chapter six and look at the photos. Make notes about the Bedouin people in the grid. Then
choose another desert people such as the Tuaregs of the Sahara, the Aborigines of Australia, or
the San People of the Kalahari. Use the Deserts book, reference books, or the internet to help you
make notes about these people in the grid. Then use the information to write a short text to put
on your classroom wall.
Name of people
The Bedouins.
Where they lived in the past In the deserts – from
the Sahara to Persia.
Where they live now
Important person in the
tribe or family
What the men usually do
What the women usually
do
Which animals they keep
Traditional homes
Traditional clothes
Traditional food and drink
What they are famous for
To the teacher
Where: At the end of chapter 6.
Aim: To practise note-taking and writing a short factual text.
Time: 60 minutes.
Organization: Give a copy of the worksheet to each student. Explain that they need to read chapter 6 of the book
again and make brief notes. Paircheck. Class feedback. Then put students into small groups and ask them to choose
a desert people such as the Tuaregs, the Aborigines, or the San people. The students research this group of desert
people using information from Deserts, reference books, and the internet. They make notes about them in the
second column of the grid. Finally, ask each student to write a short text about the desert people – they can use
vocabulary and expressions from chapter 6 to help them.
Key: Bedouins – Live now: homes next to the desert in Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Important person: the Sheikh,
Men: go out and get money and food, Women: work in the house or tent, make dinner, help with animals, Animals:
camels, goats, Homes: tents, Clothes: scarves over their heads, Food and drink: hot tea, meat and bread, Famous
for: stories of desert life.
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STAGE
1
Deserts
Janet Hardy-Gould
Pre-reading activity
Read the clues and fill in the words. Find the name of the place.
CLUES
  1 A person who moves from place to place in the desert.
  2 This is one of the ‘treasures’ of the Arabian Desert; it is a thick, dark liquid.
  3 A long, deep hole that runs across deserts like the Mojave; it is made by a small, fast river.
  4 This type of camel has two humps on its back.
  5 A small animal with big eyes and strong back legs; it lives in deserts around the world.
  6 People travel a long way in the Sahara to find this place with water.
  7 This is an adapted leaf; you can find it on a cactus.
  8 When people walk across the hot desert, they sometimes see things that are not there!
  9 The world’s third biggest desert; it is famous for its snow.
10 You can sometimes hear a singing noise from inside this small hill of sand.
11 A big cactus that can take in 800 litres of water in one week.
12 A white ‘treasure’ that people take from the Sahara Desert.
To the teacher
Aim: To revise some of the key vocabulary and facts about deserts.
Time: 30 minutes.
Organization: Give each student, or pair of students, a copy of the worksheet. Ask them to read the clues and fill
in the words. They will then find the hidden place that runs down through all the words. During class feedback,
encourage students to tell you as much as they can about each word and also the hidden place.
Key: 1 nomad, 2 oil, 3 ravine, 4 Bactrian 5 jerboa, 6 oasis, 7 spine, 8 mirage, 9 Gobi, 10 dune, 11 saguaro, 12 salt.
Hidden place: Alice Springs.
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