Planet Earth

Planet Earth — page 5 — t Pieces Land The L a r The continents are the largest bodies of land on the Earth Look at a globe Whatever is blue is water Most of the rest is land the continents NORTH AMERICA s of e g There are seven continents From biggest to smallest they are Asia Africa North America South America Antarctica Europe and Australia Some continents such as Australia and Antarctica are completely surrounded by water And some continents are joined together as Asia and Europe are Continents are physical bodies defined by their shape size and location They have mountains rivers deserts forests and other physical features But humans have divided them into political groups called countries or nations Large continents such as Asia may include both very large countries such as China and very small countries such as Nepal Australia the smallest continent is also itself a country one of the world’s largest North America contains three large countries Canada the United States and Mexico and a few small countries in a region known as Central America Europe on the other hand is the world’s second smallest continent but has about 50 countries Africa the second largest continent is believed to be where the very first humans appeared The continent of Antarctica is all by itself down at the South Pole It is rocky and is covered by thick ice that never melts Only a few plants and animals can be found along its seacoasts Earth scientists believe that the continents began forming billions of years ago Lighter parts of Earth’s molten core separated from heavier parts and rose to the top As they cooled off and became solid the land that would become the continents formed The continents were probably joined together at first and then drifted apart One theory supposes that there were once two supercontinents Gondwanaland in the south and Laurasia in the north S EA R C H LIG H T LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES ANTARCTICA DESERTS OCEANS Name the seven continents SOUTH AMERICA 8

Planet Earth — page 6 — CONTINENTS ASIA EUROPE AFRICA l D I D YO U K N O W ly rhyme to help you remember H e r e s a s i the continents is hot Africa is cold Antarctica is crowded Asia is old T h e r e s a n A m e r i c a d o w n S o u t h Europe and one up North too ia has the kangaroo And Austral AUSTRALIA ANTARCTICA America and Europe Answer Africa Antarctica Asia Australia North America South 9

Planet Earth — page 7 — A Continentof Extremes Antarctica is the coldest windiest and highest continent in the world It lies at the bottom of the world surrounding the South Pole The name Antarctica means opposite to the Arctic referring to the Arctic Circle on the other side of the world The coldest temperature recorded in Antarctica is also the world’s lowest at 128 6 F A sheet of ice covers the entire continent At its thickest point the ice is almost 3 miles deep and that’s on top of the ground The continent contains most of the world’s ice and much of the world’s freshwater Toward the edges of the continent the ice becomes glaciers creeping rivers of ice Strange and wonderful Antarctica has only one day in the entire year The Sun generally rises on September 21 and sets on March 22 This one long day is the summer From March 22 until September 21 the South Pole is dark and Antarctica has its night or winter People do not live permanently in Antarctica Only scientists and some adventurous tourists visit There are however 45 species of birds in D I D YO U K N O W is a desert a frigid Antarctica d e s e r t I t s e x t r e m e l y c o l d u n l the more common hot sandy deserts moisture during the year that very ike them ife can survive it gets so ittle l ike But l ittle l l 10

Planet Earth — page 8 — ANTARCTICA S EA R C H LIG H T Match the numbers with the correct labels You may have to do some figuring and clever thinking 128 6 bird species 182 5 thickness of ice 3 45 length of one day coldest temperature Antarctica including the emperor penguin and the Adélie penguin that live near the seacoast Also four species of seals breed only in Antarctica Whales live in the water around the frigid continent The killer whale the sperm whale the rare bottle-nosed whale the pygmy whale and seven species of baleen whales can all be found off the coast Oddly there are active volcanoes in Antarctica That means you can find not just the world’s coldest temperatures here but deep down some of the hottest too LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES DESERTS GLACIERS ICEBERGS These emperor penguins are some of Antarctica’s very few inhabitants So in a way they might indeed be considered the rulers of this harsh and beautiful frozen desert continent Galen Rowell Corbis 128 6 F coldest temperature 182 5 days length of one day 3 miles thickness of ice Answer 45 bird species 11

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