hey guys i'm justin and i heard you you reached out you said justin please please justin
tell us about the desert well your wish
has come true today i'm inviting you to join me as we explore
the desert
deserts can be found all around the world they're some of the driest places on earth not all deserts
look the same but they all have one thing in common can you guess what that is i'll tell you
its that its that there's very little rainfall in the desert that's why it's so dry
many deserts are hot and sunny but some can be freezing and cold you might not think it but this
is a desert it's because it has such little rainfall all the water is frozen so there's
very little water for all the plants and the animals deserts only get about
10 inches of rain a year let's compare that to some other areas of the world that aren't
deserts boston has about 47 inches of rain a year while new orleans gets 64 that's a big difference
but you know what even though deserts get such little rain they are still teeming with life
everyone needs water to stay alive i remember when i was younger i would
run back into the house after a day of playing outside and be like ma i need a glass of water
so how you might ask can anything live in a desert when there's such little water there
well plants and animals have developed all sorts of ways to survive in the desert despite how dry
it is so let's take a look at some of the other living things that you might see in the desert
and how they're able to do so oh before we get into it i should warn you you're not taking your
shoes off in the desert and running through some soft thick grass no no no you keep your shoes on
in the desert the ground can be rocky or covered in dirt or sand can you guess why that is
that's right it's because there's not enough water for grass to grow and uh of course you could
definitely leave your umbrellas at home let's get into it even though there isn't much rain in
the desert there are still plenty of plants that call it their home you've probably seen pictures
of this plant this is a cactus enjoy looking at it but don't touch it it is covered in spiny little
needles if you look at this picture you can see that a cactus has very thick walls that make it
look different from leaves of other kinds of plants these thick walls help the cactus store
water so that it's not thirsty waiting for the next rainfall some cactuses grow these beautiful
juicy fruits and these fruits are very important for birds and animals that eat them birds
reptiles insects mammals all different kinds of animals make their homes in the desert some
animals like this lizard blend in with the desert rocks to hide from enemies
look at this handsome fella it's a gila monster it has long sharp
claws that it uses to dig underground to find insects small lizards and birds eggs
coyotes hunt in the desert sometimes they group up and hunted packs but most of the
time they go off on their own looking around for little animals to hunt whoa
that's cool no really this bird is keeping cool because it's built its nest inside of a cactus
making a home in a cactus is a great way for an animal to stay cool and stay safe the great horned
owl is one of the biggest birds that you can find in the desert camels live in the deserts of africa
and asia they could go for a really long time without water you see that hump on their back
that's not water in there that's fat the camel can use its stored fat for energy when food is scarce
and snakes slither and sneak across the desert floor what's that noise it's the sound of a rattle
snake some deserts only get rain once or twice a year but when it rains it pours
but then you might not know when you're gonna get rain again and some areas of deserts that
are really hot during the day get a lot cooler at night a whole bunch of animals use this
cooler nighttime to go out and hunt or just move about it is so much cooler when the sun goes down
people live in deserts too look this is a picture of a city that was built in a desert
you know you'll find houses made out of clay or other materials that stay cool during the daytime
and a lot of people also find that it's cooler and more comfortable to do activities at night i got
a desert joke for you why don't people get hungry in the desert because of all the sandwiches there
be because of all the sand which is sandwich never mind so now you know so many more awesome things
about the desert stay tuned for more cool videos about other areas of the earth
whoa that sounds like thunder i don't live in a desert so it rains very often here and
that sound of thunder means it's gonna happen any second now
i guess i needed this after all thanks for watching and remember to always be clever
i should probably be inside for this