TEACHER'S GUIDE ON HOW TO TEACH GRASSLAND HABITAT

Subject:- Biology

Class:- SS2

Topic:- Grassland

Duration:- 45 minutes

Date:- 4th, May, 2020

Behavioural Objectives:-

At the end if the lesson the students should be able to:-
1.Define grassland;
2. List and define the types of grassland; and
3. List the characteristics of grassland.

Instructional Materials:-

A chart showing diagrams of a piece of land with short shrubs or tree.

Introduction:-

Presentation:-

Step 1:- Definition of grassland habitat:-

A grassland or savanna is a plant community in which grass species are dominant with short but scattered tress and shrubs. The grassland or savanna lies between the forest and the deserts arid land.

Step 2:- Types of Grasslands:-

There are two major types of grassland. These are the tropical grassland (savanna) and the temperature grassland.

(a). Tropical grassland or savanna:-

The tropical grassland is located around the equator, is between 5 degree and 20 degree North and south of the equator. Areas where this grassland is found include Africa where It is called savanna, in Brazil where it is called Campos, and in south America where it is called ilanos.
In Nigeria the savanna has three major belts. These are Guinea savanna, Sudan savanna and Sahel savanna.
The luxuriant nature of the grassland decreases northwords from guinea to sudan and finally to sahel savanna.

(b). Temperate Grassland:-

The temperature grassland is found in the interior Continents in Asia, North America, South Africa where the grasses appear to be uniform.

Step 3:- Characteristics of Grassland.

The grassland or savanna possesses the following characteristics.

1. Presence of trees with modified leaves:-
Most plant modified their leaves in such a wag to enable them sfapt to the environment.

2. Presence of fire resistant trees:-
The savanna also has trees with thick bark, which makes them resistant to fire.

3. Small size of leaves:-
Leaves of plants in the grassland are tiny and small in size to aid the plants in reducing the rate of transpiration.

4. Predominance of grasses:-
Grasses remain the dominant plant species in the savanna as they form over 70% of the vegetation.

5. Presence of short but scattered trees:-
Most trees found in savanna are short and few. In mist cases the trees are scattered within the savanna.

6. Absence of stratified canopies:-
Due to the presence of grasses and few trees, stratified canopies found in rain forest are absent in savanna.

7. Presence of deciduous plants:-
Most plants in the savanna are deciduous in nature, that is they shed their leaves during the dry season to prevent excessive loss of water through transpiration

8. Presence of deep rooted plants:-
Most plants in the savanna have deep roots which enable them to reach out for water in the soil.

Evaluation:-

The teacher ask the students question to ascertain the level of their understanding:-

1.Define grassland;
2. List and define the types of grassland; and
3. List the characteristics of grassland.

Homework:-

1. List three plants that can be found in the grassland habitat.
2. Most three animals that can be found in the grassland habitat.
3. Draw one plant and one animal found in the grassland habitat.