Taiga

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/taiga

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the latitudinal range?Approximately 50 to 70 degrees North latitude
2. What is the primary soil type?Podzols, formed under coniferous litter with significant leaching
3. What is the taiga and where does it grow?The taiga is Earth's biggest forest, made of tall conifer trees. It stretches across the high northern parts of North America and Eurasia, from Canada and Alaska to Russia and Siberia.
4. Why are the trees in the taiga shaped like cones?The trees have a cone shape so that heavy snow slides off easily. This keeps the branches from breaking when the snow falls.

Permafrost: Ground that remains frozen for two or more consecutive years, found in the northernmost parts of the taiga.
Transpiration: The process where moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere.
Anthropogenic: Originating in human activity.
Evapotranspiration: The sum of evaporation from the land surface plus transpiration from plants.