Text Leveling System

Desert People

RDQ:	1173	Max Word/Sent	20	Total Words	1843		Diff Words	608
Lex	770	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	1136	61.6%	Hi freq	206	33.9%
AR	3.9	Long Sentences	1.9	Low Freq occurs	129	7%	Low freq	85	14%

Demanding Deserts
Imagine that you are standing alone in the desert. There is total silence, except for the soft call of a dove. The fresh breeze feels good on your face. The sun begins to rise over the mountains, which slowly change from black to light purple. Then the sun's rays peek out and turn the morning into day.
Look around you. Imagine that your family and friends also live here. What would your lives be like? A few hundred years ago, there were no cars, no bicycles, and no paved roads in this desert. 
How would you travel from place to place?
Imagine that you feel hungry in this desert. There are no stores or supermarkets. Can you feel the thirst in the back of your throat? Where would you find water to drink? You look around. There are no drinking fountains and no flowing rivers. There is not a single cloud in the light blue sky.]]
What Exactly Is a Desert?
Would you know a desert if you saw one? Would there be camels walking on sand dunes? Would there be rattlesnakes, saguaro cacti, and tall mountains? Or would the land be rocky, with only a few shrubs and trees?
All three of these descriptions are deserts. 
Many types of deserts exist. Deserts may have rocky mountains, graveled plateaus, or rolling sand dunes. Some desert areas even have streams and rivers.
Scientists disagree on the exact definition of the word "desert." But they do agree that deserts share some common traits. Compared with the rest of the world, deserts are dry places. They usually receive less than 25.4 centimeters (10 in.) of precipitation a year. Deserts tend to have dry soil and not much vegetation. Although some deserts can get pretty cold, most deserts are sunny and hot.]]
Desert Survival
So if deserts are such hot and dry places, how have people survived? Where did they find food to eat and water to drink? What did they use to build their homes?
 For thousands of years, desert people have found answers to these questions. They have used local resources for food, water, and shelter. Desert people have found ways to adapt. Each desert is different. And each desert has its own answers.
In this Quick Reader, you will learn about two interesting groups of desert people: the Tohono O'odham and the Bedouin. You will also read about sand dunes, wild foods, villages, hunting, and more. You will even read about dogs that ride on camels!]]
The Tohono O'odham
Tohono O'odham means "The Desert People." The Tohono O'odham are Native Americans who still live in the Sonoran Desert.
For years, they have watched the sun rise over Baboquivari, their sacred mountain. They believe that Baboquivari is where Elder Brother created them from the clay of the earth. Elder Brother gave the desert to the O'odham and taught them how to use its plants.
The O'odham lived in villages. They slept in round homes with flat roofs. These homes were made of dried mud, branches, and grass. There was one main room with a fire pit in the middle. Families slept on woven grass mats. Fires provided light and heat during cold winter nights.]]
The Sonoran Supermarket
Like other deserts, the Sonoran Desert can be a difficult place to live. It is hot and dry. Months may pass without any rain. Summer days can reach up to 49 Celsius (120 F). Winter nights can dip below freezing.
But as far as deserts go, the Sonoran is lush and hospitable. The Tohono O'odham lived in an area where 30.5 centimeters (12 in.) of rain fell each year. This was enough rain to support many forms of life. There were shady trees, big cacti, and even summer flowers. Insects, birds, rabbits, and coyotes lived there, too.
Some of the O'odham lived near big mountains. There they found resources the desert did not have. Different plants and animals lived up in the cooler climate. In the mountains the O'odham gathered food and hunted bigger animals. They also collected water from springs and streams.]]
A Different Kind of Shopping
If the Tohono O'odham did have a supermarket, it was their desert. When they needed vegetables, they planted seeds. When they needed water, they went to a spring. When they needed meat, they hunted animals. And if they needed pine nuts, they walked up into the mountains to find pine trees.
Fruits and Vegetables
In the early summer, O'odham men dug small holes in the ground with sharp sticks. Women dropped seeds in each hole and covered them up. These dry fields flooded when the summer rains came. The O'odham grew corn, beans, and squash this way. In the winter, they learned to grow wheat, peas, and melons.
Meat
The Tohono O'odham hunted rattlesnakes, rabbits, and birds in the desert. In the mountains, they killed deer, bighorn sheep, and sometimes even bears. To sneak up on the deer, O'odham hunters dressed in deerskins and walked on all fours.]]
Organic Specialty Items
The Tohono O'odham also gathered food that grew in the wild. In the desert, they found chili peppers, wild onions, mesquite beans, and saguaro fruit. In the mountains, they collected acorns, roots, and pine nuts. O'odham men even made four-day trips to the ocean to get salt!
Other Native American people wanted these exotic foods, too. So the O'odham traded their salt and saguaro syrup for corn, beans, wheat, and more. This extra food helped the O'odham during times of drought.
Drinking Water
Some O'odham villages were lucky enough to live near springs and streams. Other villages dug wells into the ground. But many people lived far away from water sources. Young girls often traveled high up into mountain canyons to fetch water.]]
The Bedouin
Think of all the things in your room. Could you imagine moving to a new place every week?  Would you get tired of carrying so many things? How would you enjoy the traveling life?
Traditional Bedouin people were nomadic. They moved from place to place on camels in search of food, water, and grazing land. The Bedouin had very few possessions. They believed their lifestyle was simple and pure. "Bedouin" means "people of the desert."
The Bedouin lived in low, black tents. These tents protected them from the sun, wind, and blowing sand. In a matter of hours, the Bedouin could pack up their camps and move on to their next "home." Today many Bedouins still roam the Syrian, Arabian, and Sahara deserts.
The Sahara Supermarket?
The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. It stretches across northern Africa for 8 million square kilometers (3.5 million sq. mi.). The Sahara is also very hot and dry. In some parts it rains less than 25 millimeters (1 in.) per year!
The Sahara Desert is less of a "supermarket" than the Sonoran Desert. Less rain falls in the Sahara. This means that fewer plants and animals live there. With few resources available, the Bedouin could not just stay in one place. They had to travel the desert in search of food and water.
The Sahara is more than sand dunes. It also has rocky plateaus, tall mountains, and oasis valleys. An oasis is a fertile place in the desert where there is water.
The Camel Convenience Store 
Arabian camels were the Bedouin's close companions. These sturdy animals made nomadic life possible. Camels gave the Bedouin shelter, clothing, food, and free rides.
The Bedouin wove camel hair into tents and clothing. They also drank the camels' milk and ate the camels' meat. They even burned the camels' dung to fuel their campfires!
Camels were well suited for the desert. 
They could go for long periods of time without water. Arabian camels could walk for 50 kilometers (30 mi.) in a day. They could also carry up to 270 kilograms (600 lbs.).
Some families owned many camels. Having many camels was a sign of wealth. Camels were so prized that people fought over them. The Bedouin went on raids to steal camels from others.
Fruits and Vegetables
The nomadic Bedouin did not grow many crops. They were always on the move. But in late summer they camped out near oases because date palms grew there. These trees produced tasty dates. The Bedouin ate some dates fresh and dried others to save for later.
Meat
The Bedouin hunted wild herds of ostriches, wolves, foxes, and gazelles. They also trained falcons to hunt foxes and small birds for them. Sometimes dogs, called salukis, rode with the Bedouin to help track animals. Can you imagine a dog riding on a camel? 
Drinking Water
The Bedouin knew where to find the desert's oases. They dug wells to pull water from the ground. They carried the water in bags made of camel skin.]]
More Desert People
The Tohono O'odham and the Bedouin are just two of the world's traditional desert peoples. There are many more deserts. And there are many more desert peoples.
The Australian Aborigines, for example, walked about their continent for millennia. Men hunted with spears and boomerangs. Women gathered food. The Aborigines wore very little clothing. They slept by the warmth of the campfire.
Nomads roamed the cold and windy Gobi Desert. They searched for vegetation for their sheep, goats, and cattle. They lived in yurts, which were like round tents.
The Atacama Indians lived in the dry Atacama Desert. They raised guinea pigs and llamas. They also planted crops.
Bushmen lived in the Kalahari Desert. Women gathered plants and roots. Men hunted animals with bows and arrows.]]
A Way of Life
Imagine again that you are standing alone in the desert. The sun is now shining over the mountains. The doves have found shade under a tree. You feel a bead of sweat on your forehead. What will you do on this day?
If you grew up in the desert, you would know exactly what to do. Your grandparents would have taught your parents. And your parents would have taught you. You would know how to grow vegetables. You would know which wild berries were safe to eat. You would know where to find the well or the closest spring.
For thousands of years, people have adapted to deserts. They have found food, water, shelter, and more. For these people, the desert is not just about survival. It is their way of life.]]
Digging Deeper
Did you find the stories of the Tohono O'odham and Bedouin interesting? Would you like to read more about them? There are many other interesting desert peoples, too. Go ahead and take a look.
1. At the Library
Tell your librarian you want to read about people who live in deserts. You could also ask for books about deserts themselves. 
2. On the Web
A. In the address window, type: 
B. Then type: desert people. Click on "Google Search."
C. Read the colored links. Click on one that looks interesting.
D. When you want to explore other links, click the back arrow at the top left of the screen.
E. Or try some different searches: Tohono O'odham, Bedouin, Sonoran Desert, Sahara Desert, or world deserts.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Simple graphics, not necessary to text

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Captions

Concepts: Abstract/Complex Environmental

Table of Contents

Glossary

Headings

Additional activities

Features

Topic

Deserts

*Habitats/Environments

Native Americans

Low Frequency Words

aborigines	adapted	arabian	atacama	available
bighorn	boomerangs	cacti	celsius	centimeters
climate	collected	companions	convenience	coyotes
deerskins	descriptions	disagree	drought	dunes
elder	exotic	falcons	fertile	fewer
fuel	gazelles	gobi	google	graveled
guinea	herds	hospitable	kalahari	kilograms
kilometers	lbs	librarian	links	llamas
lush	melons	mesquite	millennia	nomadic
nomads	northern	o'odham	oases	oasis
organic	ostriches	palms	plateaus	possessions
precipitation	prized	provided	pure	resources
roamed	sacred	saguaro	sahara	shrubs
sonoran	sources	specialty	squash	sturdy
suited	supermarket	supermarkets	survival	survived
sweat	syrup	tohono	traditional	traits
vegetation	warmth	wealth	woven	yurts