Science Monday: Deserts

Happy Monday everyone!  I've been neglecting my blog for the past two weeks but as we're winding down toward the end of the semester, I have finals to make, to prepare for, and other little things that crop up, including our state's Science Olympiad!

Anyways, I've been busy reading, writing, and bein' all sciency which leads me into another edition of Science Monday!


This Science Monday I'm not treating you to a link or an article.  Instead I'm going to flex my teachery muscles and talk for a moment about deserts.  Because it has come to my attention recently, from my own students actually, that many people who don't live in deserts don't actually understand them.  Which is bad, for a writer, because the less you know about a landscape the less you can incorporate it into your work.

So, deserts!

When most people think of deserts, they think of places like this:

But it might surprise you that, in reality, deserts mostly look like this:

And this:

Even this:

And this:

You see, deserts aren't defined by the fact that they are hot, or that they have sand, or cacti or anything like that.  The only thing that defines a desert is rainfall!

Rainfall.  That's it.  You can have all the grass in the world, all the plants and flowers and animals you want, but as long as it gets less than 16 inches of rainfall in a year, its a desert.   That's why Antarctica is considered a desert along side places like the Sahara and the Gobi.


In conclusion, more than dunes define a desert!  And deserts can be really diverse and amazing places.