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The largest desert in North America is the Chihuahuan Desert. It covers more than 200,000 square miles, or 321,800 kilometers.

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More than one third of the earth's land surface is covered by near-deserts or true deserts.

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Deserts receive less than 10 inches, or 25 centimeters, of precipitation per year. After a good rain shower, the desert becomes green, and pulsates with life, for a brief time.

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Desert temperatures can be extreme. In the Tularosa basin, temperatures can reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or 43 degrees Celsius, during a summer day and then drop to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or 10 degrees Celsius, at night. That's extreme! For more info: http://www.nps.gov/whsa/plants.htm

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In the desert Bighorn sheep can survive 10 or more days in summer without drinking. For more info: http://www.desertusa.com/big.html

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Sand dunes move? Yes! Grains of sand are is moved by very strong, steady winds, measuring at least 15 miles per hour, or 24 kilometers per hour. For more info: http://www.nps.gov/whsa/plants.htm

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How do plants survive in moving sand? Not many do. Most plants die because they can no longer get the oxygen they need once the sand covers them. There are only eight kinds of plants (including Skunkbush Sumac, Rio Grande Cottonwood, and Rosemary Mint), that have managed to adapt in ways that will allow them to survive the moving sand. For more info: http://www.nps.gov/whsa/plants.htm

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A thin, surface layer of closely packed pebbles, resembling the texture of blacktop, is appropriately called, Desert Pavement. For more info: http://www.desertusa.com/glossary2.html

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Windstorms in the Tularosa basin can reach speeds of 45 miles per hour, or 72 kilometers per hour, and can last for several days. For more info: http://www.nps.gov/whsa/plants.htm

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Fish That Live in the Desert? Yes! The lungfish, found in Africa, bury themselves in the wet mud, where they can live for months. For more info: http://www.pitara.com/discover/earth/70.htm

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Gila Monsters are one of only two species of venomous lizards!

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The Darkling Beetle, sometimes called the desert skunk beetle, emits a bad smelling odor for protection. When threatened, it will warn its predator by raising up on its back legs to stick its bottom in the air. Stay back! For more info: http://www.randallmuseum.org/animal.cfm?a=2

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The kangaroo rat is a little rodent that eats only dry seeds, and is never seen drinking water. With habits like this, it's no wonder the kangaroo rat is the desert's best survivor. For more info: http://www.desertusa.com/aug96/du_krat.html

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Mars in the Mohave Desert? In April 1999, over thirty students and their teachers from four cities participated over the Internet in field tests of the FIDO (Field Integrated Design and Operation) Rover, a prototype of the rover that will be on board the 2003 and 2005 Mars exploration missions. The group developed its own mission plan for exploration and discovery, then worked together to test it out in the Mojave Desert. For more info: http://athena.cornell.edu/kids/cs_arvidson.html

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Some desert plants are "nocturnal". Their flowers bloom at night instead of during the day.

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The Sonoran is the hottest desert in North American. The highest recorded temperature - 118'F!

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