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A Science, Geography, Language
Arts, and Technology
WebQuest for the Upper Elementary Grades
by
Patty Engle
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INTRODUCTION
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The CLP Foundation has contacted
your organization to write a proposal for a revolutionary project -- a BioDome. With virtually unlimited funds available to the
winning organization, the CLP Foundation is now accepting proposals for
the construction and maintenance of a BioDome featuring one of the North
American biomes. |
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TASK
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You
and your team of expert scientists will research and learn everything
there is to know about your assigned biome. You will study the location,
climate, soil and land formations, plants, and animals of your
biome. To learn about your biome, your team will access a variety
of Web sites; and using this new found knowledge, you will compile
your research and create a PowerPoint, build a model, and present your
proposal to the CLP Foundation.
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| Your BioDome design team will consist of: |
 | Meteorologist: will research and
collect information about the climate of your biome. |
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| Geographer: will research and collect
information about the soil and land formations, as well as the
location, of your biome. |
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| Botanist: will research and collect information
about the plant life within your biome. |
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| Zoologist: will research and collect information
about the animal life within your biome. |
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All
team members will decide how to organize the information and layout of
the PowerPoint and model. Additionally, all team members will
participate in the proposal presentation.
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PROCESS
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| In order for your
organization to win the bid, your team of scientists will need to complete
the following: |
- Your team will visit
The
Montreal Biodome to familiarize yourself with an example of
what you will ultimately be designing.
- Select which scientist you wish to portray
and acquaint yourself with your job description.
- Find a national park located within your
chosen biome. Your team will then write to the National
Park Service, Washington, D. C., or write directly to
your park,
requesting brochures, maps, photos, and information on the
history, geology, climate, wildlife, recreational opportunities,
points of interest, and man's influence on the ecosystems there.
The information obtained should be included in your presentation,
if possible. See Business
Letter Guidelines.
- Each team member will conduct research based
upon their selected specialization using the links provided under Resources. The following information will be provided
through your research:
A) Identify the natural location of your
biome and its characteristics?
B) Describe in detail the soil and land
formations found within your biome.
C) Describe in detail the climate of your
biome including temperature and precipitation.
D) Give a detailed account of the flora
common to your biome. Be sure to include photographs and
lifecycle information of at least 5 species.
E) Give a detailed account of the fauna
common to your biome. Be sure to include photographs and a
description of adaptations for at least 5 species.
- Using the information you have gathered,
collaboratively, create a model with a map
and/or descriptive
essay of the interior of your proposed BioDome. (Your
supervisor will explain further.)
- Your team will create a PowerPoint
presentation for submission to the CLP Foundation board members
based upon your research. See PowerPoint
Specifications.
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RESOURCES
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See Resources
for your research links.
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EVALUATION
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You and your team of
scientists will be evaluated on the completeness and accuracy of your
information, based on the following four rubrics: |
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CATEGORY
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4
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3
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2
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1
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Content
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Covers topic
in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is
excellent.
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Includes
essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to
be good.
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Includes
essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual
errors.
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Content is
minimal OR there are several factual errors.
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Mechanics
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No misspellings
or grammatical errors.
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Three or fewer
misspellings and/or mechanical errors.
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Four misspellings
and/or grammatical errors.
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More than 4
errors in spelling or grammar.
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Organization
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Content is well
organized using headings or bulleted lists to group related
material.
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Uses headings or
bulleted lists to organize, but the overall organization of topics
appears flawed.
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Content is
logically organized for the most part.
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There was no
clear or logical organizational structure, just lots of facts.
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Workload
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The workload is
divided and shared equally by all team members.
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The workload is
divided and shared fairly by all team members, though workloads
may vary from person to person.
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The workload was
divided, but one person in the group is viewed as not doing
his/her fair share of the work.
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The workload was
not divided OR several people in the group are viewed as not doing
their fair share of the work.
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Requirements
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All requirements
are met and exceeded.
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All requirements
are met.
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One requirement
was not completely met.
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More than one
requirement was not completely met.
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Presentation
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Well-rehearsed
with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.
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Rehearsed with
fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention most of the
time.
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Delivery not
smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most of the
time.
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Delivery not
smooth and audience attention often lost.
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Attractiveness
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Makes excellent
use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance to
presentation.
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Makes good use of
font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance to presentation.
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Makes use of
font, color, graphics, effects, etc. but occasionally these
detract from the presentation content.
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Use of font,
color, graphics, effects etc. but these often distract from the presentation content.
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National
Park Business Letter
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CATEGORY
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4
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3
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2
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1
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Sentences
& Paragraphs
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Sentences
and paragraphs are complete, well-constructed and of varied
structure.
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All
sentences are complete and well-constructed (no fragments, no
run-ons). Paragraphing is generally done well.
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Most
sentences are complete and well-constructed. Paragraphing needs
some work.
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Many
sentence fragments or run-on sentences OR paragraphing needs lots
of work.
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Salutation and
Closing
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Salutation
and closing have no errors in capitalization and punctuation.
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Salutation
and closing have 1-2 errors in capitalization and punctuation.
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Salutation
and closing have 3 or more errors in capitalization and
punctuation.
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Salutation
and/or closing are missing.
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Grammar &
spelling (conventions)
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Writer
makes no errors in grammar or spelling.
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Writer
makes 1-2 errors in grammar and/or spelling.
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Writer
makes 3-4 errors in grammar and/or spelling
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Writer
makes more than 4 errors in grammar and/or spelling.
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Capitalization
and Punctuation
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Writer
makes no errors in capitalization and punctuation.
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Writer
makes 1-2 errors in capitalization and punctuation.
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Writer
makes 3-4 errors in capitalization and punctuation.
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Writer
makes more than 4 errors in capitalization and punctuation.
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Neatness
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Letter
is typed, clean, not wrinkled, and is easy to read with no
distracting error corrections. It was done with pride.
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Letter
is neatly hand-written, clean, not wrinkled, and is easy to read
with no distracting error corrections. It was done with care.
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Letter
is typed and is crumpled or slightly stained. It may have 1-2
distracting error corrections. It was done with some care.
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Letter
is typed and looks like it had been shoved in a pocket or locker.
It may have several distracting error corrections. It looks like
it was done in a hurry or stored improperly.
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Format
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Complies
with all the requirements for a business letter.
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Complies
with almost all the requirements for a business letter.
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Complies
with several of the requirements for a business letter.
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Complies
with less than 75% of the requirements for a business letter.
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Ideas
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Ideas
were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to
figure out what the letter was about.
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Ideas
were expressed in a pretty clear manner, but the organization
could have been better.
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Ideas
were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more
than one reading to figure out what the letter was about.
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The
letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences. It was
very difficult to figure out what the letter was about.
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Envelope
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Complete,
accurate return address and recipient address. Addresses in
correct positions.
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Complete,
accurate return address and recipient address. Position may be
slightly off.
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1-2
errors in return address. Recipient address is correct.
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Addresses
are incomplete and/or inaccurate.
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CATEGORY
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4
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3
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2
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1
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Required
Elements
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The model
includes all required elements as well as additional information.
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All required
elements are included on the model.
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All but 1 of the
required elements are included on the model.
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Several required
elements were missing.
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Knowledge
Gained
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Student can
accurately answer all questions related to facts about the model
and processes used to create the model.
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Student can
accurately answer most questions related to facts about the model
and processes used to create the model.
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Student can
accurately answer about 75% of questions related to facts about
the model and processes used to create the model.
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Student appears
to have insufficient knowledge about the facts or processes used
for the model.
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Attractiveness
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The model is
exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness.
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The model is
attractive in terms of design, layout and neatness.
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The model is
acceptably attractive though it may be a bit messy.
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The model is
distractingly messy or very poorly designed. It is not attractive.
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Use of Class
Time
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Used time well
during each class period. Focused on getting the project done.
Never distracted others.
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Used time well
during each class period. Usually focused on getting the project
done and never distracted others.
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Used some of the
time well during each class period. There was some focus on
getting the project done but occasionally distracted others.
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Did not use class
time to focus on the project OR often distracted others
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CATEGORY
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4
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3
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2
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1
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Writing
Process
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Student
devotes a lot of time and effort to the writing process
(prewriting, drafting, reviewing, and editing).
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Student
devotes sufficient time and effort to the writing process
(prewriting, drafting, reviewing, and editing). Works and gets the
job done.
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Student
devotes some time and effort to the writing process but was not
very thorough. Does enough to get by.
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Student
devotes little time and effort to the writing process. Doesn't
seem to care.
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Focus
on Assigned Topic
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The
entire essay is related to the assigned topic and allows the
reader to understand much more about the topic.
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Most
of the essay is related to the assigned topic. The essay wanders
off at one point, but the reader can still learn something about
the topic.
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Some
of the essay is related to the assigned topic, but a reader does
not learn much about the topic.
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No
attempt has been made to relate the essay to the assigned topic.
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Neatness
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The
final draft of the story is readable, clean, neat and attractive.
It is free of erasures and crossed-out words. It looks like the
author took great pride in it.
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The
final draft of the story is readable, neat and attractive. It may
have one or two erasures, but they are not distracting. It looks
like the author took some pride in it.
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The
final draft of the story is readable and some of the pages are
attractive. It looks like parts of it might have been done in a
hurry.
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The
final draft is not neat or attractive. It looks like the student
just wanted to get it done and didn't care what it looked like.
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Organization
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The
essay is very well organized. One idea or scene follows another in
a logical sequence with clear transitions.
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The
essay is pretty well organized. One idea or scene may seem out of
place. Clear transitions are used.
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The
essay is a little hard to follow. The transitions are sometimes
not clear.
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Ideas
and scenes seem to be randomly arranged.
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CONCLUSION
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You and your team of
scientists have exhausted all of your resources to prepare a proposal
for the CLP Foundation to build your BioDome. Your proposal
was a success and you met all of the requirements. How do you feel
about what you have learned about North America's biomes? Do you
feel that the CLP Foundation should finance the construction of all
the proposed BioDomes - or just yours? How will our world be
affected if we continue to destroy and eventually loose various
biomes? The future of our world may depend on your answers! |
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