A Colorful Land Israel has green fields and brown deserts It has bright blue waters too The Mediterranean Sea laps the flat coastal plains To the east big hills line the plains These flowers grow in a field in the desert region of Israel 6
Map Whiz Quiz Look at the map on page 5 Trace an outline of the map onto a piece of paper Trace the dotted lines too People do not agree who should control the land inside the dotted lines Find Lebanon Then mark it with an N for north Find the Mediterranean Sea Mark it with a W for west Color the water blue Next find the Negev Desert Color the desert brown Mark the Negev Desert with an S for south Find Jordan and mark it with an E for east The Great Rift Valley runs along the eastern border of Israel Past the hills are highlands They fan out over northern and central Israel Mountains stand in the highlands The Great Rift Valley lies to the east 7
Heading South The Sea of Galilee sits in the Great Rift Valley The Jordan River flows south from this big sea The Jordan is Israel’s biggest river The Jordan River flows from the Sea of Galilee along the eastern border of Israel 8
It winds down through the Great Rift Valley The Jordan empties into the Dead Sea That sea is the lowest spot on Earth The water in the Dead Sea is very salty Fish can’t even live in it South of the Dead Sea is the Negev Desert The desert is hot and rocky It covers the southern half of Israel Wild Israel Hundreds of different kinds of birds and butterflies fly over Israel Gazelles wild boars and jackals roam the hills Foxes and wildcats live in the wooded areas In the desert snakes and lizards sun themselves Ibex below scramble up rocky cliffs in the mountains The Dead Sea is so salty people can easily float in it 9
