Ways to use this list
- Shoebox diorama: each pupil spins a biome and builds it in a box, with the plants and animals that really live there and a label for the climate.
- Invent a creature: spin a biome and design an animal that could survive in it. Think of the camel's wide feet for desert sand or the Arctic fox's thick winter coat.
- Map work: shade each biome you spin on a blank world map. Pupils soon notice that the big hot deserts sit roughly 30 degrees north and south of the equator.
- Worldbuilding for stories and board games: spin the land where your adventure starts, then spin again for the place the heroes must reach.
- Packing challenge: spin, and each child lists five things they would pack for a week there. Sun cream is no use in the deep sea.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (22 entries)
- Tropical rainforest – Amazon, Congo Basin
- Temperate rainforest – Pacific coast of Canada and the USA
- Deciduous forest – eastern USA, much of Europe
- Taiga – Canada, Scandinavia, Siberia
- Tundra – Arctic Alaska, Canada and Russia
- Hot desert – Sahara, Arabian Desert
- Cold desert – Gobi Desert, Patagonia
- Savanna – East African plains, northern Australia
- Temperate grassland – North American prairie, Eurasian steppe
- Mediterranean scrubland – Mediterranean coasts, California
- Mountains – Himalayas, Andes, Alps
- Polar ice – Antarctica, Greenland ice sheet
- Wetland – Everglades, Pantanal
- Mangrove forest – Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh
- Lakes and ponds – still fresh water
- Rivers and streams – flowing fresh water
- Estuary – where a river meets the sea
- Rocky shore – rock pools between the tides
- Coral reef – Great Barrier Reef
- Kelp forest – coasts of California and South Africa
- Open ocean – the sunlit surface waters far from land
- Deep sea – cold, dark water far below the surface
Questions people ask
How many biomes are there?
There is no single agreed number. Many school books teach five big groups (forest, grassland, desert, tundra and water), while one widely used world map splits the land alone into 14. This wheel uses 22 that are easy to tell apart.
What is the difference between a biome, a habitat and an ecosystem?
A biome is a huge region shaped by its climate and main plants, such as the taiga. An ecosystem is the living things in one place plus their surroundings, such as a pond. A habitat is the home of one particular species.
Which biome is home to the most kinds of living things?
Tropical rainforests hold around half of all known land species while covering only a small part of the Earth. In the sea, coral reefs cover well under 1% of the ocean floor yet shelter about a quarter of all ocean species.
Which is the largest biome on Earth?
The open ocean, by far, since oceans cover about 71% of the planet. On land, the taiga is the largest forest biome, stretching right across Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. Deserts cover even more ground if cold and polar deserts are counted together.