Desert Habitat:
Setting for Holes
A Sixth and Seventh Grade Pathfinder
 

The desert is one of earth's biomes. Like all biomes it has its own life forms that have adapted to its particular conditions. Plants and animals can sustain life even with high temperatures and scarce water. The setting of much of the story Holes by Louis Sachar is desert-like.

Authors do research to make sure that their books have accurate information. Pick some part of Sachar's story having to do with the environment, perhaps an animal, plant, or something about the land or terrain. Do your own research to double check that the author has created the setting correctly. Then ask yourself if he made some things up.

You can begin by finding answers to some of the following questions.

1)          What IS a desert?

2)                         What does your plant or animal look like?

3)          Does the way it looks help it to live in the desert or a similar environment?

4)          What does your animal eat to stay alive? How long can it live without food? Water?

5)          What does your plant need to stay alive? How long can it live without water

6)          What does the Texas "desert" look like? Is it sand, rocks, mountains, or something else? Does  this match the desert in Holes? Does Texas really a have a desert biome?

7)          What other important facts did you discover in your research?

8)          Do you think that Louis Sachar, the author, did a factual job of creating the setting or did he make some things up?

          Below you will find links to a variety or resources, some in print but most are from the Internet. Please use these sources as they have been specifically chosen to help you complete this assignment.

Books	Internet Resources Databases	Internet Resources Websites	Keywords	Dewey numbers	Citation

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•  Desert
•  Texas
•  Rattlesnake

•  Lizard
•  Desert plant life
•  Desert animals

•  Desert 574.5
•  Desert food chain 577.54
•  Desert plants 581

•  Lizards 597.95
•  Snakes 597.96