Deserts are areas that generally get 10 inches or less rain in a year. Deserts are characterized by a lack of water. They have dry soil, little to no surface water, and high evaporation. They are so dry that sometimes rain evaporates before it can hit the ground!
Deserts are very dry and may get very hot during the day with the sun beating down, but they don't hold the heat overnight. Many deserts can quickly get cold once the sun sets. Some deserts can reach temperatures of well over 100 degrees during the day and then drop to freezing temperatures during the night.
The largest hot and dry desert in the world is the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. The Sahara is a sandy desert with giant sand dunes. It covers over 3 million square miles of Africa. Other major deserts include the Arabian Desert in the Middle East, the Gobi Desert in Northern China and Mongolia, and the Kalahari Desert in Africa.
Questions:
1. What is a desert?
2. Give two features of a desert.
3. Why do you think the rain evaporates so quickly in the desert?
4. Explain the difference between the desert in the day and during the night.
5. Where is the Sahara Desert found?
6. How do we know that the Sahara Desert is quite large?
7. What part of speech is 'sandy' in paragraph 3?
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