1sc Geography: Continents and Oceans of the World (summary)

Continents and Oceans of the World

Interactive game:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/world_G0_Click.html

-The Atlantic Ocean is Earth’s second-largest ocean covering approximately one-fifth of its surface.

-The Atlantic Ocean’s name is derived from Greek mythology and means the “Sea of Atlas”.

-The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending in a north-south direction and is divided into the North Atlantic and South Atlantic.

-The Atlantic Ocean is bounded by North and South America on the west and Europe and Africa on the east.

-The Atlantic Ocean covers approximately 20% of Earth’s surface and is second to the Pacific in size.

-The Atlantic Ocean has uneven coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas which include the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, and the Baltic Sea.

Atlantic

-Comes from the Latin name Mare Pacificum meaning “peaceful sea”.

-It is the world’s largest body of water and covers a third of the Earth’s surface.

-This ocean stretches east to west from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia.

-Contains about 25,000 islands (more than the total number in the rest of the world’s oceans combined), with the majority found south of the equator.

-This ocean is not always “peaceful”. Many typhoons and hurricanes hit the islands of this ocean and the lands around the rim are full of volcanoes and earthquakes.

-Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands of this ocean and wiped out whole towns.

Continents

North America

Europe

-It is geologically and geographically a peninsula.

-It is conventionally considered a continent because of the cultural distinction rather than a geographic one.

-When considered a continent, this continent is the world’s second smallest continent in terms of area with 48 countries.

-There are no deserts in this continent.

-North America is the third largest continent in area and in population after Eurasia and Africa.

-Contains over 20 countries.

-The biggest city is Mexico City, Mexico.

-The longest river is Mississippi/Missouri and the biggest lake is Lake Superior.

-North America is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean.

Oceans

Arctic

Pacific

Africa

-The Arctic Ocean, located mostly in the North Polar Region, is the smallest of the world’s five oceans and the shallowest.

-Oceanographers classify the Arctic Ocean as one of the Mediterranean Seas of the Atlantic Ocean.

-The Arctic Ocean occupies a circular basin and an underwater ocean ridge divides the ocean into two basins: the Eurasian Basin and the North American Basin.

-The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by the land masses of Eurasia, North America, Greenland, and a number of islands.

Asia

South America

-It is the world’s second-largest continent in both area and population and has 54 countries.

-It is home to the world’s longest river, the Nile, and its largest desert, the Sahara.

-The Red Sea is the boundary between Asia and this continent.

Australia & Oceania

-Is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia.

-Has over 40 countries including Russia (the biggest country in the world).

-About 60% of the world’s population live in this continent.

-Geologically and geographically, it is not a continent or a subcontinent.

-The boundary between this continent and Europe runs through the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains.

-Contains the Himalayas, the world’s highest mountain range.

-South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere.

-Made up of only 12 independent countries.

-South America is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

-America is a continent and North, Central and South America are its subcontinents.

-The Andes Mountain range run down the western edge of South America.

-A huge part of this continent is taken up with the Amazon rainforest, which contains over a third of the world’s trees.

-Has dusty deserts, towering mountains, and in Venezuela, the world’s highest waterfall.

-South America ranks fourth in area and in population, after Eurasia, Africa, and North America.

-The South American nations that border the Caribbean Sea include Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, which are also known as Caribbean South America.

-The largest country in South America by far, in both area and population, is Brazil.

Southern

Indian

-Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the sixth-largest country in the world and the only country to occupy an entire continent.

-The biggest city is Sydney.

-Australia’s neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Pacific Islands to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east.

-This ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean and circles Antarctica.

-It is the fourth-largest of the five oceans.

-This ocean zone is where cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer subantarctic waters.

-This ocean is different from the other oceans because its largest boundary (the northern boundary) does not touch a landmass but merges into the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

-It is a separate ocean, but people argue that it is only a southward extension of the other three oceans.

-It is geologically the youngest of the oceans and was formed when Antarctica and South America moved apart, opening the Drake Passage.

-The Indian Ocean is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earth’s water surface.

-The Indian Ocean is bounded on the north by Southern Asia, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean.

-The Indian Ocean is separated from the Atlantic Ocean and from the Pacific Ocean.

-The Indian Ocean includes the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Antarctica

-Antarctica is a continent surrounding the Earth’s South Pole.

-It is the coldest place on Earth and is almost entirely covered by ice.

-It is not to be confused with the Arctic, which is located near the Earth’s North Pole on the opposite side of the planet.

-However, it is by far the smallest in population because it has no permanent population at all.

-Antarctica is also the continent with the highest average altitude, and the lowest average humidity of any continent on Earth, as well as the lowest average temperature.

-Many animals including penguins, seals, whales, and fish live in the seas around this continent.

Description of Assignment:

The newspaper and the Internet are very important resources that help us to understand significant events that occur in the world.

For this assignment, you are required to find an interesting, relevant article based on a present event, using an English online newspaper (i.e. CBC News, BBC News, Washington Post, Financial Times, New York Times, The Guardian, etc.)

You must read the article, understand it, and summarize it in one paragraph (in English).

On the date of your presentation, you are required to bring the following:

1. Print copy of the article

2. A typed summary

Grading:

You will be evaluated and given a mark based on this assignment.

Your mark will be divided into two parts:

1. Language (50%) - English written and oral skills

2. Content (50%) - Knowledge and understanding of the information

The presentation should be a maximum of 10 minutes. Please do not go over this time because you need to save a couple of minutes for any questions.

1scC Geography – Ms. Gatti & Cigognini

2clAB Geography – Ms. Gatti & Mangosi

Friday October 12

3. Arianna I.

Monday October 15

4. Benedetta S.

3. Adriano C.

Friday October 26

8. Alessandro N.

4. Francesca L.

9. Giulia G.

10. Federica L.

Monday October 29

Friday November 16

Friday October 5

1. Marilena R.

2. Yogan C.

Friday October 19

5. Sophia S.

6. Claudia C.

7. Veronica T.

Friday November 9

11. Gaia A.

12. Federico M.

13. Sofia P.

Friday November 23

17. Isabella H.

18. Ginevra B.

19. Edoardo S.

14. Chiara D.

7. Ranieri C.

15. Emma P.

16. Diletta R.

8. Carlo A.

1scB Geography - Ms. Gatti & Benzi

Monday October 8

1. Pietro L.

2. Riccardo R.

Monday October 22

5. Umberto M.

6. Filippo P.

Monday November 5

9. Bianca G.

10. Edoardo M.

Monday November 19

13. Baccio G.

14. Vittoria F.

Friday November 30

20. Ambrogio G.

Monday November 12 11. Federico C.

21. Carlo D.

22. Francesca C.

12. Mattia R.

Monday November 26 15. Seung Hi N.

16. Romeo V.

17. Giuditta S.

Monday October 8 Monday October 15

1. Filippo T. 3. Francesco B.

2. Alessandra N. 4. Guglielmo S.

Monday October 22 Monday October 29

5. Lorenzo O. 7. Riccardo S.

6. Alessandro G. 8. Federica M.

Monday November 5 Monday November 12

9. Simone G. 11. Andrea D.

10. Alessandra B. 12. Giovanni C.

Monday November 19 Monday November 26

13. Niccolo V. 15. Manfredi B.

14. Giacomo M. 16. Martina V.

1clA Geography - Ms. Gatti & Dell'Acqua

Thursday October 11

1. Beatrice B.

2. Ludovica C.

Thursday October 18

3. Alessia R.

4. Vittoria D.

5. Margherita G.

Thursday November 8

9. Michele M.

10. Cecilia B.

11.

Thursday October 25

6. Carola B.

7. Edoardo F.

8. Nicoletta D.

Thursday November 29

15. Nicole A.

Thursday November 22

12. Doriana D.

13. Gaia G.

14. Emma A.

16. Giulia C.

17. Ludovica R.

Chiara

Thursday December 13

23. Marco

21. Bella A.

Thursday December 6

18. Laura R.

19. Andrea A.

24. Camilla G.

22. Lorenzo M.

25. Riccardo C.

26. Luca D.