What Is a Desert?

🕐 4 min 40 sec 👦 Ages 6–8 🌍 English
Join Owlo and Koko as they explore what makes a desert special, learning about its unique features and climate.
Understand what a desert is Learn about desert climates Recognize the Sahara as a major desert
📖 Story Script
                    Koko:
                    Owlo! Owlo! I have to tell you something really exciting. My aunt sent us a postcard from her trip!
                
                    Owlo:
                    A postcard, how wonderful! Where did she travel to, Koko?
                
                    Koko:
                    She went to a place called the Sahara. She said it was the biggest desert in the whole world. But Owlo, what even is a desert?
                
                    Owlo:
                    What a perfect question. Let's head to the library and find out together.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Here we go. I know just the book for this. It's called "Lands of the Earth," and it has a whole chapter on deserts.
                
                    Koko:
                    Ooh, there are pictures! It looks so dry and empty. And the sand goes on forever and ever.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That's a great observation, Koko. A desert is a place that gets very little rain. Less than 25 centimetres of rain per year, to be exact.
                
                    Koko:
                    25 centimetres? That's not very much at all. My garden gets way more than that!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Exactly right. Because there is so little water, it is very hard for plants and animals to survive there. Only special ones can manage.
                
                    Koko:
                    So a desert is basically a really, really thirsty place?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is honestly the best way I have ever heard it described. Yes, a very thirsty place indeed.
                
                    Koko:
                    But wait, I thought deserts were always super hot with sand dunes. This picture shows snow and ice. Is that a mistake in the book?
                
                    Owlo:
                    No mistake at all! That is one of the most surprising things about deserts. Not all deserts are hot. Antarctica is actually the largest cold desert on Earth.
                
                    Koko:
                    Antarctica? But that's all ice and snow! How can it be a desert if it has all that frozen stuff?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Because almost no rain or snow falls there as precipitation. The water is locked away as ice, so the land is still incredibly dry.
                
                    Koko:
                    Whoa. So a desert is about being dry, not about being hot. That is so surprising!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Precisely. Now, the hot sandy deserts like your aunt visited, those are called subtropical deserts. The Sahara is the biggest one.
                
                    Koko:
                    What makes the Sahara so hot? Is it just because it's close to the sun?
                
                    Owlo:
                    The sun shines very strongly there, and there are no clouds or trees to give shade. The sand also heats up very quickly and holds that heat.
                
                    Koko:
                    So the sand makes it even hotter? That sounds really uncomfortable. How do animals even live there?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Desert animals are incredibly clever. Camels store energy in their humps. Fennec foxes have huge ears to release body heat and keep cool.
                
                    Koko:
                    Fennec foxes! They are so fluffy and cute. So their big ears are like little fans for their body?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Exactly like that. And many desert animals are nocturnal, meaning they sleep during the hot day and come out only at night when it is cooler.
                
                    Koko:
                    That's so smart. Sleep through the hot part and wake up when it's nice. I kind of want to try that on summer days.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Desert plants have clever tricks too. The cactus stores water inside its thick stem, so it can survive for months without any rain.
                
                    Koko:
                    So the cactus is basically carrying its own water bottle around. That is genius.
                
                    Owlo:
                    A very genius water bottle, yes. Now Koko, we have learned quite a lot today. Can you try to pull it all together for me?
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay, let me think. A desert is a place that gets very little rain, less than 25 centimetres a year. That makes it really dry.
                
                    Koko:
                    Deserts can be hot and sandy, like the Sahara where my aunt went, or freezing cold, like Antarctica. Both are deserts because they are dry, not because of the temperature.
                
                    Koko:
                    Animals and plants have super cool tricks to survive there. Camels store energy, fennec foxes use their ears to stay cool, and cacti hold water inside them.
                
                    Koko:
                    And next time I want to learn about how people actually live in deserts, and maybe what a sand dune really is. Because those wavy sand hills look really fun to roll down.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is a wonderful summary, Koko. And yes, sand dunes are a story all on their own. I think your aunt's postcard started something very big today.
                
                    Koko:
                    I'm going to write her back and tell her everything I learned. She is going to be so impressed with me!
                
                    Owlo:
                    I have no doubt about that at all. Now, shall we go water the school garden? I think it needs a little drink after all this desert talk.
                
                    Koko:
                    Yes! And I will never take water for granted again. Poor thirsty deserts.