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Show 0 B6 Wednesday, April 11, 2007 Vernal Express By: Jennifer Petty You might think of a desert as a hot place, but actually a desert can be cold too. So what determines if an area is a desert? des-ert? A desert by definition, receives less than 10 inches of precipitation (e.g. rain, snow, sleet, hail) in a year. Scientists call this an arid region. "Arid" is another word for dry. In the Uintah Basin, the average year ly rainfall is about 8.5 inches. Some of the deserts in Utah and around the world are hot deserts. The temperature in hot deserts can reach up to 136 degrees during the day, but they cool off during the night. The hottest temperature recorded in a Utah hot desert was 117 degrees. Cold deserts on the other hand often have freezing temperatures. Because some of the deserts in Utah are so high in elevation, they are considered cold deserts. Other deserts in the southern part of the state are considered hot deserts. 1 Major Deserts on Earth American y t.r TaWaMmam.CoM Vkr Saharan ZhC V Th" S Nan S ustt atari sp -Gr OEnchantedl.8amirifl.com active at night are called nocturnal. noc-turnal. Some of the most common com-mon animals that make their home in the desert include: snakes, wolves, foxes, lizards, bats, birds, scorpions, rabbits and spiders. the world. Subtropical deserts are the hottest deserts and often the most well known. The Sahara desert covers much of northern Africa. It is the world's largest desert. The Arabian desert covers countries coun-tries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. One-fourth of the Arabian desert des-ert is called the "Rub al-Khali" which means the "empty quarter." quar-ter." The Kalahari is also a subtropical desert. It covers much of the southeastern part of Africa. Australia has several deserts that combine across western and central Australia. Sonoran Desert There are four major des erts in North America: The Chihuahuan Desert (mostly in Texas and New Mexico), The Great Basin Desert (mostly in Nevada and Utah), the Mojave Desert (mostly in Nevada and California), and the Sonoran Desert (mostly in Arizona and California). The Uintah Basin is part of the Colorado Plateau and is sometimes included in the Great Basin Desert. There are deserts all over Namib Desert There are two major coastal deserts in the world: the Namib that goes down the southwestern southwest-ern coast of Africa and the Atacama in Chile. These deserts des-erts have cooler temperatures than the subtropical deserts because of the ocean currents that cool the land. There are several cold winter win-ter deserts around the world too. These deserts are very hot during the summer and very cold in the winter. Some of the more well-known cold winter win-ter deserts include: The Great Basin (western United States), Patagonian (southeastern South America), Iranian, and Gobi (ChinaMongolia) deserts. des-erts. The polar regions (Antarctica and the Arctic) are also considered to be deserts because most of the moisture at the poles is frozen. When you think about deserts, des-erts, you might think of a few plants that live there like cactus, cac-tus, but you might wonder if there are any animals that can live where there is so little water. There is actually a big variety of animals that can live in the desert. They have learned to adapt to the heat (or cold) and lack of water. To handle the heat, most desert animals are active during the dawn and evening or at night when it is cooler. During the day they sleep in the shade provided pro-vided by plants and rocks or burrow underneath the sand to keep cool. The fancy word for animals that are active at dawn and in the evening is crepuscular. crepus-cular. Animals that are only Camel Besides becoming active during dur-ing the cooler parts of the day and at night, animals that live in the desert have also learned how to find water. Many desert animals get the moisture they need from the food they eat. For example, if an animal eats plants, they get some of the water the plant has stored. Desert plants conserve water by having few or no leaves. Other plants get hard to reach water by growing long roots. Still other desert plants become dormant (they rest) during the hot dry months and then "wake up" during the months that are more moist. Can you imagine what you would do if you got lost in the desert? Because it is so dry, water is very important. It is also important to conserve energy. The more energy you use, the more water you will need. When you go hiking it might be a good idea to take along a few things in your pocket in case you do get separated sepa-rated from your group. Some things that are great are: identification iden-tification (in case you are unconscious when you are found), a loud whistle that can be carried around your neck, l or 2 large garbage bags (these can be used for many purposes including shade and collect ing water), l or 2 canteens of water, a pocket flashlight and a brightly colored bandana. If you get lost anywhere it is usually best to stay where you are (unless you are in danger). Remember the word "STOP. "S" means stop and relax, "T stands for think about the situ ation, "0" stands for observe your surroundings, and "P1 stands for plan out a strategy. leteseift Grafts Sandpaper pictures: Cut out shapes like a cactus or coyote from sand paper. Place a piece of paper on top and rub over the sand paper until the shapes appear. . Sand painting: With the help of mom or dad, color some sand with food coloring. Make a design with glue on cardboard and sprinkle with sand or cover the whole piece of card board with glue and use the different dif-ferent colors of sand to paint a picture. Create your own cactus from play-doh. You can carefully put toothpicks into your cactus for the prickles. Draw a three-dimensional desert scene. Glue some sand at the bottom, make a cactus with prickles, etc. 18 Desert Snadis (tVemd.ildiun.eoni) Tarantula Crunchy Cacti Ingredients: 1 12 oz. package butterscotch (or other) chips 2 tablespoons peanut butter 1 6 oz. can chow mein noodles noo-dles Green food coloring Directions: melt chips, stir in peanut butter and food coloring. col-oring. Add noodles and coat well. Remove from heat. Take a golf-ball sized portion of the mixture and mold into a cactus. UHS alum wins at BYU iOscar night Christopher John, 2002 UHS graduate and son of David and Patty John, won 3rd place at BYU's recent iOscar night. The competition, held April 5 at the Wilkinson Center Ballroom, was open to anyone creating creat-ing a three-minute film using Apple's iMovie software. The theme for this year's competition was "Three, The Magic Number." John's movie, "The Three Masters," was chosen cho-sen by judges as the Judges' Choice winner out of 27 entries. It was also awarded third place in the audience popularity category. cat-egory. John is majoring in film and English at BYU, with a projected project-ed graduation date of August 2008. The Uintah Arts Council Proudly Presents Live in Concert me SfamdlaDircfe i? ir , I $ Saturday, April 14, 2007 Vernal Middle School Auditorium 721 West 100 South, Vernal, UT 7:30 pm (Doors open at 7:00 pm) Purchase & Print Tickets right from your computer on our website. Powered by em www.MyArtsCouncil.org or ... Purchase Tickets at Vernal Davis Jubilee, Bitter Creek Books or at the door Aults:$8 Seniors 62: $7 Youth 3-17: $6 Call 1 -888-240-2080 for more info Concert Series XII 20062007 Sponsored by: Uintah County. Vernal City. Parks & Recreation. Western Park, Uintah School District. KVELKLCY. X94, Vernal Express. National Endowment for the Arts through the Utah Am Council Ge popping 20 OFF THROUGH THE MONTH OF APRIL! We do laser hair removal, vein therapy & skin rejuvination CJ3 Basin Clinic Lasercare 379 North 500 West (Suite 1C) 789-1 165 JUL BASIN CLINIC Central Utah Water Conservancy District is sponsoring an essay contest for students in grades 4-12 within its io-county boundaries, Essays are to address this topic: Water Conservation: What Can I Do? Cash prizes will be given to winners in the following categories: Grades 4-6 Grades 7-9 Grades 10-12 Entries will be due at the CUWCD office May 4, 2007 For additional information about the contest, entry form, and prize details, please contact your local school, call 801-226-7187, or visit . our website, www.cuwcd.comessays a conservation education program of Central Utah Water Conservancy District Your Partner in Wise Water Use |