TASK A – REASEARCH WORK SHEET
1.) Which of the four locations have you chosen?
The cold, dry grasslands of Mongolia.
2.) Using an atlas, find your chosen location and shade it in on the map. Label some of the key countries that border your location.
3.) Research the climate for your location
Summer months – June, July, August
Winter months – Dec, Jan, Feb
Typical day-time temperature during summer – 22.3˚
Typical night-time temperature during summer – 8.6˚
Typical day-time temperature during winter – minus 9.6˚
Typical night-time temperature during winter – minus 21.3˚
The wettest month of the year and amount in mm- July, 90mm
The driest month of the year and amount in mm - Jan, 1mm
Other weather features (e.g. snow frequency, cyclone\storm chance)
Severe blizzards can occur. Since the year 2000, there have been three particularly harsh winters. These have caused many human deaths and the loss of many hundreds of thousands of livestock. Most of the victims were herders that froze to death along with their animals.
4.) Based on the information on the previous page, write a description of the general climate conditions of your location.
Bayankhongor can experience four seasons in the one day, snowstorms to bursts of wind and sun. It can get very cold in the winter, to as low as - 23˚ but not too hot in summer, just pleasant at a max of +22˚. The majority of their rainfall is during the months of June, July, August and September with very little rainfall for the remaining 8 months.
Find out information about particular features of the environment
5.) Describe some of the landforms in your location (e.g. mountain, lakes, rivers, rock formations.)
Bayankhongor has mountains in the north, desert in the south and lakes in the central area.
The Buuntsagaan Lake is just one of the beautiful things found in the grasslands of Bayankhongor. It is one of the lakes found in what is known as the Valley of Lakes. It is 24km long and 11km wide. Area -252km². The average depth is 9 metres but the depth can get to 16 metres in some parts. The Buuntsagaan is the 9th biggest lake in Mongolia. It has many varieties of fish and is popular with birdlife.
Rock formations surround it. The rocks offer me protection from the wind and I have built my shelter beside them. The lake attracts animals giving me the opportunity to capture them for various uses. Lots of migratory birds come to the Buuntsagaan Lake and breed.
Another landform of Bayankhongor is the Gobi Desert, this covers a large area of the southern part of the Bayankhongor region.
6.) What is the vegetation like? Are there many trees? If so, what types and sizes? What about plants? Would any of these be useful as food, shelter or clothing?
Bayankhongor is made up of grasslands – known as steppes. However pine and birch trees can be found in the northern mountainous areas
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There are hardy wild flowers and spiny shrubs that can tolerate the cold and dry weather conditions. The spiny shrubs helped me with the construction of my shelter by tying things together. Pine tree branches are also useful in the construction of my shelter. There is a substantial amount of feather grass. I use it in layers on the floor of my shelter to form a ‘mattress’.
I have used grass and weaved it together to make a skirt. As a coat, I have used camel skin and yak wool and wrapped it around my shoulders and tied it with reed-like plants.
See attached sketches of clothing and shelter.
7.) Describe the animal life. What types of animals are native to your location? Would any of these be useful as food, shelter or clothing? Can any of these animals be domesticated and help to complete tasks?
