The pyramid and the camel pictured here in Giza Egypt are two images often associated with the Egyptian desert Royalty-Free Corbis
Planet Earth TABLE OF CONTENTS OCEANS The World of Water 42 Islands Dry Spots in a Watery World 44 Galapagos Islands The Islands at the End of the World 46 Great Barrier Reef Island of Reefs Within Reefs 48 Icebergs The Biggest Ice Cubes 50 Tides The Ocean’s Rise and Fall 52 Atlantic Ocean The Youngest Ocean 54 Indian Ocean Ocean Between Many Continents 56 Mediterranean Sea The Sea in the Middle of Land 58 Pacific Ocean Largest Ocean in the World 60 GLOSSARY 62 INDEX 63 INTRODUCTION 3 GEOGRAPHY Learning About the Earth 6 CONTINENTS The Largest Pieces of Land 8 Antarctica A Continent of Extremes 10 Mountains Building Earth’s Giant Landscapes 12 Caves When Water Is Stronger than Stone 14 Deserts Lands of Little Water 16 Oasis Water in the Desert 18 Peninsulas Fingers of Land 20 Rainforests Endangered Ecosystems 22 Marshes Grassy Wetlands 24 RIVERS The Power of Flowing Water 26 Floods Engulfed by Water 28 Glaciers Rivers of Ice 30 Amazon The Rainforest River 32 Nile River Egypt’s Gift 34 Victoria Falls The Smoke That Thunders 36 Niagara Falls Thunder of Waters 38 Grand Canyon Nature’s Masterpiece 40 Brit a nnic a LEARNING LIBRARY
L e arningAbout the Earth Geography is a science that studies the Earth’s surface It studies what makes the different shapes and colors of the Earth the ground rocks and water what does and does not grow If you look at the Earth as a geographer does then you might see it as a colorful map Much more than half of it is blue with oceans lakes rivers and streams In some places it is tan-colored with the sands of dry deserts In other places it is green with forests There are purple-gray mountains and white snowcapped peaks And there are the soft yellow of grainfields and the light green of leafy crops Part of learning about the Earth is learning where people can and can’t live The different colors of your Earth map can help you discover this You won’t find many people in the tan white or larger blue parts deserts the snowfields and oceans Not many people live in the deserts because deserts are hot and dry Very few plants can grow there In the high mountains and at the North and South poles it is very cold Most plants don’t like the cold and most people don’t either You will find people in and near the green and yellow parts and the smaller blue parts the farmlands forests rivers and lakes To those regions you can add brown dots and clusters of dots for towns and cities There’s a lot to learn about the Earth just as there’s a lot to learn about a friend Geography helps you become a friend of the Earth LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES CONTINENTS OCEANS RAINFORESTS The coast of Nova Scotia in Canada shows some of the Earth’s many shapes and colors Geography looks closely at what makes these different shapes and colors Raymond Gehman Corbis DID YOU KNOW The big blue marble is a nickname for the planet Earth This is because from space our world looks like a big round marble all blue with swirling white streaks of clouds 6
GEOGRAPHY S EA R C H LIG H T Areas where not many people live are also the areas where few plants grow Why do you think that is Hint What do you do with lettuce beans and apples to eat to eat And without plants or animals there’s nothing for people there This is because animals need either plants or other animals Answer If few plants grow in an area then few animals will live
