UNIT

6 The continents
What do you remember?
• Which is the largest continent in the world? And the smallest?
• Do you know anything about their relief and climates?
• Can you name at least three countries on each continent (except Antarctica)?
• What different kinds of physical features are there around the world?

EUROPE

ASIA

AMERICA AFRICA

OCEANIA

ANTARCTICA

Content objectives Key language

In this unit, you will: Reporting facts; length and area:
• Learn about the physical features The highest mountain in the world (8,848 m)…
of the continents An area of over 30 million square metres (m2)…
• Analyse the relationship between relief With an area of 44 million km2…
and climate Making comparisons:
• Learn some techniques to memorize The River Nile is the longest river.
information The deepest depression in Asia…
• Draw a physical map
Making impersonal statements:
• Compare maps and draw conclusions
Large plateaus are found throughout Africa.
Oceania is located to the south-east of Asia.

60
1. Where are these physical features found? 9

A. The Andes mountain range in South America D. Japan is an Asian country in the Pacific Ocean. It is formed
is 7,200 km long and 240 km wide. by over three thousand islands. The highest mountain,
There are many high volcanoes (over 5,000 m). Mount Fuji, is a volcano.

B. The Mississippi River in North America is 1.6 km wide at E. The Great Rift Valley is a fracture which started to be formed
its widest point. It has 250 tributaries. A total of 25,900 km about 50 million years ago. It is approximately 6,000 km long
in the Mississippi River basin are navigable. and runs from Southwest Asia to Mozambique in East Africa.

C. Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, is a large sandstone F. Antarctica is the continent with the highest average
rock in central Australia. It is 340 m high. altitude: 2,000 m. However, ice covers 98 % of the continent
It is sacred to the Aboriginal people of the region. and hides its relief. There are many glaciers.

Activities
1. What continents are these physical features in? 2. Investigate.
Mount Fuji the Mississippi River Ayers Rock Find out more about Antarctica: its area, its relief,
glaciers the Great Rift Valley the Andes its climate and its plant and animal life. You can use
websites such as www.nationalgeographic.com

61
2. What are Africa’s relief and climate like?
The landscape of Africa
Africa is the third largest continent. It has • Which ocean is on its east coast?
an area of over 30 million square metres (m2). • Which is the longest river in Africa?
• What two bodies of water separate Africa How long is it?
from Europe and Asia? • What is the name of the highest mountain
• Which ocean is on Africa’s west coast? in Africa? How high is it? Where is it?

Physical map of Africa

20º 0º 20º 40º
ranean
d iter Se
Strait of Gibraltar Me Cape Bon a ALTITUDE metres
Cape Espartel NS
N TAI Gulf of 2,000
Jbel Toubkal OU Gabes
Gulf of Nile 1,000
M
4,165 S Sidra Delta
500
LA Suez
T Canal
A 200
D E S E R T
R A

N
LIBYAN 0
H A

IL
E
A DESERT Depression
Tropic of Cance r
S AHA
GGA
R

RIVER
TIBESTI

Re
Tahat
3,003
M NTAI

d
OU MOU N
20º NTAINS Emi Koussi S A S I A 20º
NUBIAN

Se
3,415
CAPE VERDE
DESERT

a
ISLANDS
Rive
r R iver
S Chad
Niger Darfur
Cape
Bl

Basin Basin Ras Dashan

en

R iv e r
ue

Verde 4.620
Ni

e en
Ad
eg

Socotra
ge

of
Riv
r

Lake
Nil

ETH
al

Gulf
Riv

Plateau IOP Island

r

Chad
IA
V o l ta

Cape
er

le

River
Ni N
Guardafui
C ha

e HIGHLANDS
Lake SOMALIA
W hit

ATLANTIC Volta PENINSULA

ri

MEROO
C A Cameroon N
EY

er Uba Lake
M O 4,070 ng Turkana
LL

OCEAN Gulf of
Riv

Cape Palmas UNTAINS i

Guinea Bioko Lake
VA

Island River Co Albert

Longest rivers São Tomé Rwenzori INDIAN
FT
n

5,119 Mount Kenya

Island Equator 0º
go

(in km) Congo

RI

Karisimbi
o

5,199
ng

7,000 Cape Basin 4,507

Lake OCEAN
T

Nile Kilimanjaro
Co

Lopez
M ou n tai n s

EA

Victoria 5,895
Mi tu m b a

6,000
GR

SEYCHELLES
er

GR

R iv Pemba Island ISLANDS

Ri

EA

5,000
Lake
ve

Zanzibar Island
T

Congo Niger Tanganyica

r K

4,000
RI
asa

FT

3,000 COMORO
Zambezi
i ISLANDS
VAL

2,000 Orange
Okavango Lake Malawi Cape Amber
SOUTH AFRICAN (Nyasa)
LEY

1,000
r Zam
Ri

ve b
Ri
l
ve

Maromokotro
ne

0 r
Ponta da
ez

Oka Victoria 2,876

an

v
i

Marca
Ch

Falls Madagascar
an

Highest mountains Mauritius

ue
NA

go

20º
biq

(in m) PLATEAU
MI

zam

Kilimanjaro Rwenzori Mount Karisimbi Lim pop

B DE

er
Mo

6,000
o

KALAHARI v
Jbel
S

Mount Kenya
i

Tropic of Capricorn
R

IN

Ras Dashan Toubkal DESERT

5,000
SER

Thabana Cape
NT

Ntlenyana Sainte Marie

T

4,000 Orange
R i 3,482
U

ve
O

3,000 r
M

G re a t
G

K a ro o
ER
2,000
SB SCALE
Cape of EN
1,000 DRAK 0 557 1,114
Good Hope
0 Kilometres
20º 40º 60º

Longest rivers and highest mountains

62
Rivers and lakes
Many African rivers are long with large flows.
Did you know?
Some rivers, such as the Congo and the Zaire, are
navigable for long distances. The River Congo has
the largest flow in Africa and the second largest in
the world. The River Nile is the longest river in
the world.
Africa has some very large lakes.
The largest is Lake Victoria. The region
of African Great Lakes (Victoria, Tanganyika,
Turkana) is in the Great Rift Valley.

Relief
Large plateaus are found throughout Africa. The Sahara is the biggest desert in the world.
Africa’s average altitude is high (750 m). It covers 9,000,000 km2. Eight thousand years
ago it was a fertile area. However, it is now
• Several deserts, such as the Sahara and
very dry, and temperatures reach 54 °C. In a
Kalahari, are found on these plateaus.
few areas, fruits, dates and corn are grown.
• Several mountain ranges are also found on the
plateaus. The east of the continent is the
highest part. The volcano Mount Kilimanjaro,
the highest mountain in Africa, is located here
near the Great Rift Valley.
• Some depressions, such as the Congo and
Niger basins, are found between the central
plateaus. Activities
There are not many islands off the coast of Africa.
1. Study the map opposite and the text above.
The largest is Madagascar.
Answer these questions.
a. What is Africa’s relief like?
Prime Meridian

b. Which is the highest part of the continent?

c. Which is the largest island?
Where is it?
Tropic of Cancer
2. Study the climate map and answer these
questions.
a. What type of climate – hot, temperate or cold –
predominates in Africa?
b. What type of climate is found near the Tropic
Equator
of Cancer? What is the landscape like in this
HOT CLIMATES part of Africa?
Equatorial c. What climates are found near the Tropic of
Humid tropical
Capricorn? What is the landscape like here?
Dry tropical
Desert 3. Draw a line across Africa from north to south.
TEMPERATE CLIMATES

Oceanic Tropic of Capricorn

a. Describe the changes to the climate next
Mediterranean to the line.
and similar
COLD CLIMATES
African b. Look at the map on page 62 again. Describe
Mountain
climates the physical features next to the same line.

63
3. What are Asia’s relief and climate like?
Asia is the largest continent, with an area of 44 million km2. Its average
altitude is 950 m. Only the average altitude of Antarctica is greater. Physical map of Asia
80º Be r i ng S
0º 20º 40º 60º 80º 100º 120º 140º 160º 80º 180º tr º
60

ai
t
Bering
ALTITUDE metres A R C T I C O C E A N Sea
Mo Koly 180º
6,000 un m
ta a
4,000 V in
er s
Kara kh
2,000 Sea oy
an KAMCHATKA
1,000 sk PENINSULA
S M
0 N ou
I nt Cape
TA Narodnaya r ai Sea Lopatka
Depression 1,895
S I B E R I A ve ns
Ri of Ok ho t s k 16

S
UN

0º
Lena

AND
Ye
S t a n ov oy
Ri v

nis
MO

Mountains Sakhalin Island

IL ISL
er
º

ey
40

S ik ho te
E U R O P E

M o u n ta
Ri Amur
Ob

Ri
Riv

KUR
v
AL

er

ve
Lake
e r Irt

r
Baikal
UR

20º

- A li n
Hokkaido Island

in s
ys

JAPANESE
Sea
h

C ARCHIPELAGO
Bl A CASPIAN of
40 ac
º k S DEPRESSION Alt Japan Mount Fuji
ea Lake ay
U

3,776
C

Sy Balkhash Mo
Sea

un
A

ANATOLIAN Aral r tai Honshu Island

KOREAN
S

PENINSULA Sea ns G O BI D E SE RT
U

PENINSULA
D

u a ng

it
Am
S

ary

S t ra
Caspian

T ie n S h a n Mountains Shikoku Island

River H
Tig

Jengish Chokusu

He

ea
River Yellow Kyushu Island
Zag

Mediterranean

Kor
7,439
Da
ris

Sea Sea
Eup

ry

ir r
ros

s
Rive

m East China Sea

Dead in n Chinese nce
a

Ri Pa Kunlu
hr

Sea t a Ismoil Somoni Ca

Zard Kuh ve un ains Plain
of
Mount
at

r Mo 7,495
pic
r

4,547
C
es

sh er
FI Tro
Mo

º
Ku s Riv
K2
du I 20
Ri

n
AC
8,611
Hin untai TIBETAN ze
un
ve

Iran Mo H P
ian P
t
Pers
r

PLATEAU
ng
ta

lateau I
A R A B IA N Nanda Devi M
Ya
in

r A L
Red

ve Taiwan Island
ian

7,816

140
Ri A Y A S
s

DESERT Everest
River N
G

lf
Jiang River
i v 8,848 Kanchenjunga

º
EA
u

20º tra
s

e apu Xi
Indu

r 8,598 a it
Str
O CP h i li p p in e
Sea

Gu Ganges m on
lf o
f Om
ah Luz
Br

an
ARABIAN Deccan Me Luzon Se a
PENINSULA Plateau ko Hainan Island
Wes

ng Island
Ri
ve South
Arabia
tern

n Bay China Sea PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

r

of
Bengal INDOCHINESE
Sea Mindanao
Gha

PENINSULA
Island
ts

r
INDIAN Gulf ato
PENINSULA Equ
of 0º
Thailand

Cape Comorin MALAY

0º E Sri Lanka St
ra PENINSULA Borneo MOLUCCA ISLANDS
quat Island
it
Island
or of
Ma
MALDIVE la
cc
ISLANDS a Sulawesi
Island
I N D I
A N O C E A N
SCALE
Sumatra Island
0 665 1,330 I N D O N E S I A
Timor Island
Java Island
40º Kilometres 60º 80º 100º 120º

Activities the Mountains, the Black Sea and the

Mediterranean Sea. Some people believe that
1. Study the map and complete this paragraph. Europe is not a continent but a peninsula of Asia.
Nearly all of Asia is in the hemisphere.
2. Study the physical map of Asia.
There are three oceans on the coast of Asia:
the Ocean to the north, the List three physical features of Asia under
Ocean to the east and the Ocean each heading.
to the south. Asia is separated from Europe by the Islands Peninsulas Gulfs Seas Plateaus
Mountains, the Sea and

64
Relief Highest mountains
(in m)
The highest mountains and plateaus, together with Ismoil Somoni
Everest
the deepest depression, are all in Asia. K2
Kangchenjunga
Jengish Chokusu
9,000

• Mountains. The Himalayas are the highest mountain range 8,000

Nanda Devi

in the world. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the 7,000

world (8,848 m). The islands in the south and 6,000

east of Asia are formed by the peaks of submerged 5,000

mountain ranges. 4,000

3,000
• Plateaus and plains. There are plateaus throughout Asia. 2,000

Tibet, in the centre of Asia, is the highest plateau in the 1,000

world. Siberia, in the north, is a very large area of plains 0

and high plateaus. Highest mountains in Asia

• Depressions. Three inland seas are found in the main
depressions: the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea and the Dead Sea. Longest rivers

There are many islands off the coasts of Asia, especially in East (in km)
6,000 Yangtze
Asia, where the archipelagos of Japan, Philippines and Ob-
Irtysh
Indonesia are located. 5,000
Huang He
Mekong Amur Lena

Rivers and lakes 4,000

Asian rivers are generally long. Their flows increase when 3,000

snow melts or when it rains during the summer monsoons. 2,000

Some of the rivers on the Arctic side of the continent freeze
in winter. 1,000

Asia has some important lakes. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake 0

in the world (1,637 m). The Caspian Sea is the largest lake. Longest rivers in Asia

Ar
cti
Activities cC
ir cle

1. Study the climate map and answer these questions.

a. Which parts of Asia have cold climates?
b. What landscapes do you associate with this type
of climate?
c. Where is the equatorial climate mainly located?
d. Which climate is similar to that of East China?
Tro
pic
of C
2. Investigate. an cer

How did the Dead Sea get its name? Why is it salty?

0º
Equa
tor

HOT CLIMATES

Equatorial
TEMPERATE CLIMATES COLD CLIMATES
Humid tropical
Dry tropical Continental Polar

Desert Mediterranean Mountain

and similar

Asian climates

65
4. What are Oceania’s relief and climate like?
120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 170° 160° 150° 140° 130° 120°
an ce r
T r op ic of C
20 ° 20°

Hawaiian Islands
(USA)
M I C R O N E S I A
Island of Guam
10° Challenger Deep MARSHALL ISLANDS 10°
11,034 m

PALAU
FEDERATED STATES
OF MICRONESIA P A C I F I C O C E A N
Equator 0°
0°
Bismarck K I R I B A T I
Sea NAURU
Puncak Jaya M
5,030 Wilhelm E
4,509 L
A
PAPU A So SOLOMON N
NEW lom E TUVALU
P O L Y N E S I A
GUIN EA
on ISLANDS
10°
Se a S 10 °
r I
T im o A SAMOA
Sea Co ral TUAMOTU
AN Se a VANUATU
INDI
Gr
ea
GR

AN Ba
OCE FIJI TONGA
t

rri
EA

er
T

20 °
R

ND Y
ee

20 ° GR EA T SA
D
IV

DE SE RT Fiji T ro pi c o f Ca
pr ic or n
ID

RALIA
Sea
IN

A U S T TORIA
G R

g AUST ALTITUDE
lin RAL
metres
ar

V IC
GREAT SERT
ANGE

AS
rD

DE IA 2,000
Rive

30°
1,000
30° North Island
G re a t River M NEW 500
B ig h t ur Ta sm an ZEALAND
Aus tr a li a n ra
y 200
Se a SCALE
A N
ps

OCE
0 678 1,356 0
Al

ia Cook
N T as m an
n

3,764
IA South Island
er

Is la n d Kilometres
IND
th
u

120° 130° 140° 150° 160° So 170° 180° 170° 160° 150° 140° 130° 120° 40 °

Physical map of Oceania

Oceania
Oceania is located to the south-east of Asia,
and is almost entirely in the southern
hemisphere. With a size of around
9 million km2, it is the smallest continent.

Activity
1. Study the map and find the following:
a. The oceans surrounding Oceania
b. The four largest islands
c. The names of three large groups of
islands
Now read the text on the next page and
check your answers.
Part of Oceania seen from space

66
The landscape
Oceania is formed by thousands of islands and is in
the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• There are four large islands: Australia, New Guinea
(which is divided between Asia and Oceania) and
New Zealand (formed by North Island and South
Island).
• Australia occupies 86% of Oceania and
is the largest island on Earth. Many people
consider it to be an island-continent.
• There are thousands of small islands in the Pacific
Ocean. Most of them originate from coral or
volcanoes. These islands are grouped into three The Tuamotu archipelago, in Polynesia

large areas: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.

The average altitude of Oceania is low: 340 m.
However, there are great differences between islands.

Climate
Most of Oceania is between the Tropics, so it has
warm climates. Climates are temperate in the north
and south of the continent.
• New Guinea has an equatorial climate.
• Hawaii has a tropical climate.
• Inland Australia has a desert climate.
Cyclones and typhoons are common in the tropical
region.
The islands are isolated. Consequently, they have
many plants which do not grow anywhere else. An Australian beach

Activities
1. Study the map on page 66 and complete 2. Interpret the documents.
the texts. Study the map and write the names of islands
a. In , plains and low plateaus in each group.
predominate, although there is a long mountain Melanesia
range called the .
Micronesia
It is the only island with two major rivers,
the Murray and the . Polynesia

b. New and New are 3. Classify the information.

mountainous. Their rivers are short, and some
of them receive water from glaciers. Islands in Oceania
c. Some islands in the Ocean are Large islands Small islands
mountainous and have active volcanoes
(Samoa, Hawaii).

67
5. What are America’s relief and climate like?
America is in the 160º ARCTIC

60º
20º 0º
S tr a it Physical map
B e ri n g OCEAN
western hemisphere. Bering 140º
40º
Sea of America

le
Yukon 120º
It is the second largest

i rc
60º
Alaska 100º

cC
ska
A l an g e ve Beaufort 80º
Peninsula

i
Ra
r Sea Greenland

cti
continent (42 million

R
6,194

Ar
0º

M a c k e nzi e R i v
16 McKinley
km2). It is the longest Baffin

O
Bay
Gulf of
continent: it stretches Alaska Great Bear

C
Lake Baffin
Island
from the Arctic Circle

er
Davis
Strait
to the Antarctic Circle. Great Slave

Y
0º
Lake Cape Farewell

Three oceans surround

º
40

Hudson

40
Labrador
º

Bay

M
Vancouver G r e a t Sea
it: the Atlantic, the Island LABRADOR
0º

Lake
14

O
Winnipeg PENINSULA
Pacific and the Arctic. P l a i n s
U
N Lake iv
e r
Newfoundland
R

Mis so
Superior Lake e
Cape n c s
Longest rivers GREAT Huron re a i n
T
Mendocino Whitney
aw nt

ur
(km) 4,418 LAKES tL

iR
in

ou
A

Amazon r Sa
o Rive Lake

i
7,000

ver

M
ad
Michigan Niagara falls
I

Mississippi-
Color

3.000 COLORADO N

R iver
6,000 Missouri River ATLANTIC

an
DESERT io º
S Oh 20

hi
5,000 Tr

ac
C a li f

pi
Parana op
G u lfo r n ia

São Cape Hatteras

al
Miss issip
ic
R

Mackenzie 20
Francisco

pp
of
io

4,000 º
Sie

Ca
G

A
of

nc
ra

Yukon
3,000 er OCEAN of Ca
nc er
nd
rra

FLORIDA
T r o p ic
e

2,000 PENINSULA
Ma

Cape Gu lf
San Lucas of Me xic o BAHAMAS 20º
dr

1,000
ISLANDS
e

Pico de Orizaba
0 5.700 Cuba
YUCATAN GREA Hispaniola LESSER ANTILLES
TE
Popocatepetl
PENINSULA ANTILL R Islands
Highest mountains 5,452 Sie
rra
ES Antigua and Barbuda
Jamaica Puerto
(metres) M ad Rico Guadaloupe
Aconcagua Huascaran Chimborazo
re Dominica
de
lS Caribbean Sea Martinique
u Grenada Island
r Lake
Ojos del Salado Nevado McKinley Trinidad and Tobago Islands
7,000 del Illimani Panama Maracaibo er
ver

Canal Riv o
6,000
oc
a Ri

Cape Orange
n

5,000 Guiana
Ori
alen

Highlands
4,000 COLUMBUS ARCHIPELAGO
gd

0º Eq ua to r (Galapagos Islands) Eq ua tor 0º

Ma

3,000
Chimborazo r
2,000
6,310 Amazon Rive
1,000 iv e r
añ on R
0 Mariñas Point ar Amazon Plains Cape São
M

Roque
R i ve
Huascaran o r
6,768 c
cis
MATO GROSSO
ran

N PLATEAU
A

Activity D Lake
o F

ES
Titicaca Bolivian
Sã

Altiplano
r

6,682
PACIFIC
ve

6,520 Nevado
1. Write the mountain
Ri

Sajama Illimani
na

20º
ranges, plains and Gu lf
ra
Pa
R ive r

of Ar ica Iguazu
Cape
plateaus of the o f C a p ri
co rn Falls
São Tome
ATACA MA DESERT

T ro p ic e r
ay

6,880 iv
American continent. 20º
R
agu

Ojos del
OCEAN
y

Salado
U r ug ua
Par

6,959
Mountain ranges Aconcagua
MO U N T A I N S

River Plate
PAMPAS

40º

Plains
P AT A G O N I A

ALTITUDE metres

1,500 FALKLAND
ISLANDS
1,000
TIERRA DEL FUEGO
500 º
Plateaus 40 a it
of Cape Horn
SCALE S t r e ll a n
200 Mag
0 1,532 3,064
0
Kilometres 60
100º 80º 60º 40º º

68
Relief
America has a high average altitude. The main physical
features are mountain ranges, plains and plateaus.
• Mountain ranges. The youngest, highest mountains
run down the Pacific coast. The Rocky Mountains
are the highest mountain range in North America.
The Andes are the highest in South America.
Older, lower mountains, such as the Appalachians,
are found in the East.
• Plains. The Great Plains of North America are close
to the mountain ranges and rivers, such as the
Mississippi. The Amazon River runs through the Bison on the plains of North America

largest plain in South America.

cle
• Plateaus. The highest plateau is the Altiplano

C ir
t ic
c
of Bolivia. Ar

The Antilles archipelago is found in the Caribbean

Sea in Central America.

Rivers and lakes

Tr
op
ic ATLANTIC
America has some very long rivers with large flows. of
Ca
nc
er
Both the Mississippi in North America and the Amazon OCEAN
in South America are very long. The Amazon is the
river with the largest flow in the world.
PACIFIC
There are many lakes, especially in North America.
The Great Lakes are a group of big lakes between OCEAN
Equa tor 0º
Canada and the United States. Lake Titicaca in South HOT CLIMATES

America is the highest lake in the world. Equatorial

Humid tropical
Dry tropical
Climate and vegetation Desert
rn
of C ap r ico
TEMPERATE CLIMATES T ro p ic
America stretches from pole to pole, so it has all Oceanic
the different climates and landscapes. Cold and Continental

temperate climates predominate in North America. Mediterranean

and similar
COLD CLIMATES
Tropical climates predominate in Central America. Polar
Hot and temperate climates predominate in South Mountain

America. However, in all three regions, mountainous

areas have cold climates. American climates

Activity
1. Study the map and answer the questions.
a. Are there any islands in the Pacific Ocean?
b. Where in America are there cold climates?
c. What parts of America have temperate climates?
d. Are there deserts in America? Where?
e. What is the climate like in most of Canada?
f. Are there any areas in America with
a Mediterranean type of climate?

69
Activities
1. Memorizing information 1
Here are some tricks to help you memorize • Use initials to make words. For example,
information. Use the ones that work best for you. the Great Lakes are HOMES (Huron, Ontario,
If you have other tricks, share them with your Michigan, Erie, Superior).
teacher and your classmates. • Study names systematically. For example,
• Look carefully at maps to create an image of the learn the names of mountains with mountain
continents in your mind. ranges, such as Mount Everest in the
• Memorize the boundaries of territories by making Himalayas.
a diagram like this one. • Remember names in a particular order,
such as mountains by height, rivers by length
and lakes from north to south.
N
• Invent a trip through all the places you have to
←⎯→

W←⎯⎯⎯→ E
S First, I’m going to…
• Associate names with something you already
know. For example, learn the capitals of Europe
by thinking of football teams, such as Arsenal
and Chelsea in London.
learn. For example, I’m going on a trip to Asia.
• If you find something very difficult to
remember, write it on a piece of paper.
Keep it in your room, and look at it every day.
But don’t forget: the best way to remember
something is to understand it properly!

Now try this!

a. What continent are we referring to?
• It looks like two triangles joined by a line.
• It looks like an upside-down triangle.
b. Remember the boundaries of the continents.
• Make a diagram which shows the boundaries of Oceania,
America, Asia and Africa.
• Make a card with the boundaries of Antarctica.
c. Look for the following information.
Organize it systematically.

New Zealand and

Australia
New Guinea
Relief
Rivers
Climates

d. Invention.
• Plan a trip along African rivers.
• Invent a story to remember the relief and rivers of America.
e. Describe the distribution of the climates of America. Relate them to their latitude.

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2. Completing blank maps
Completing maps will help you to remember
the names of places and their location.
a. Make a physical map of Asia.
• Trace a blank map of Asia.
• Decide the places you need to
include in relation to relief and water.
Look at the texts and the maps in this
unit again. For example, you should
include the Himalayas, Mount Everest,
the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus
Mountains, the Tibetan plateau,
the seas and oceans surrounding
the continent, the most important
rivers and the main archipelagos,
gulfs and peninsulas.
• Write the key.
• Colour the map and write the names
in the correct place.

b. Compare maps in an atlas.

Consult an atlas to compare the physical
map of America with its political map.
• It is easier to compare maps if they
have the same scale. If this is not
the case, make an enlarged or reduced
photocopy of the political map
until it is at the same scale as the
physical map.
• Place a piece of tracing paper over
the political map of America.
Draw the outlines of the countries
and write their names.
• Place the political map you have
made on tracing paper on top of the
physical map.
c. Now answer the questions.
• Which countries do the Andes
go through?
• Which countries do the Rocky Mountains go through?
• Which countries does the Amazon River go through?
• Which countries are on the equator?
Web task 6: Natural wonders.
• What country is next to Greenland?
• Which American countries are not on a coast?
• Which countries are on the Gulf of Mexico?

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