Grade Five Social Studies
Hello Boys and Girls,
How did you spend the past week? May this week be even better! Well, let us continue to learn about earth’s continents. What do you remember about continents? Complete the sentences below to test yourself.
1. A continent is a large ___________________.
2. It consists of one or several _______________.
3. There are _____________ continents in the world.
4. The earth is divided into Northern and Southern
Hemispheres by the __________.
5. Continents that are above or north of the equator are in the ___________ Hemisphere, while those below or south of the equator are in the ___________ Hemisphere.
How did you do?
Besides the equator, there is another imaginary line that runs from top to bottom or north to south on the earth. Please find that line on the map of the world below. What is its name? Read it aloud. Yes, it is the Prime Meridian. This line divides the earth into Western and Eastern Hemispheres. All continents west of the Prime Meridian are in the Western Hemisphere, while those continents east of the Prime Meridian are in the Eastern Hemisphere.
From the map we can see that North America and South America are the only continents located entirely in the Western Hemisphere. A small part of Africa lies in the Western Hemisphere.
Europe is smaller than every other continent except Australia. It comes in at number 3, after Asia and Africa in population. Europe covers about two per cent of the earth’s surface. There are about 50 countries in Europe, including the world’s smallest and least populated state, Vatican City and the world’s largest country, Russia. The most well-known countries in Europe are France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany. Take a few minutes to identify these countries and others on your map of Europe.
Europe has been the continent where the largest wars started – World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945).The wars brought great destruction to the continent and led to the creation of several countries in the continent.
The many attractions of Europe include the temples of Ancient Greece and Rome and the cathedrals of France, Italy and Germany; the famous palaces and government buildings in London; steep cliffs dotted with ruins of castles built hundreds of years ago and the snow covered Alps of Switzerland.
The European Union (EU) is an organisation of 27 countries of the continent which have agreed to have joint policies on matters such as finance, trade and agriculture.
There are still many other things we can learn about Europe but we will stop at this point and turn our attention to the continent of Asia.
Asia is the largest continent on earth in size as well as in population. It covers about 30 per cent of the earth’s land area and contains 60 per cent of the world’s people. The 49 countries of Asia include some of the largest countries in the world: Russia, which lies partly in Europe and mostly in Asia, is the world’s largest country in area; China, the world’s most populated country has over 1.4 billion people, and India, the world’s second most populated country, has over 1.3 billion people.
Asia has the highest (Mount Everest) and lowest (the Dead Sea) place on earth. Asia has a variety of natural features, such as some of the world’s highest mountains (e.g.: the Himalayas, Ural Mountains and Kunlun Mountains); some major deserts (such as the Arabian Desert, Gobi Desert Takla Makan Desert and the Thar Desert); and some of the major rivers and lakes (such as the Euphrates River, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Ganges River, the Indus River, the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Qinghi Lake and Lake Bakal).
Asia has many plains and plateaus, such as the Siberian plain of Central Russia, which is considered one of the largest flatlands of swamps and floodplains, and the Iranian Plateau and the Tibetan Plateau.
Asia boasts a population comprising diverse ethnic groups, cultures and languages.
Many of the major religions in the world today have come out of Asia, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism.
Asia has powerful countries, such as China, Russia, Japan and India, which influence the culture and economies of the world. They produce products and services that other nations of the world need. Asia abounds in natural resources. The Middle East supplies much of the world’s oil needed for energy.
Many interesting animals can be found in Asia. These include the Bactrian camel, the giant panda, the Komodo dragon, the Asian elephant, the king cobra and the tiger.
Some of the major cities of Asia are Tokyo and Osaka – Japan; Mumbai and Delhi – India; Seoul – South Korea; Jakarta – Indonesia; and Karachi – Pakistan,
Please use some of your time to learn more about the continents. Goodbye boys and girls, be good and stay safe.