Almudena Corrales Marbán

UNIT 2. PL

ANET EARTH

AND WORLD

LANDSCAPES.

3 S T GR A D E R S . S

O C I AL S

T U D I ES D

E P A R T M E N T

Created by Elzi Geanta

1. THE EARTHThe Earth is a sphere slightly fattened at the poles. It rotates on its axis.An axis is an imaginary line through the centre of the Earth.

• POLES: the places where the axis meets the surface of the Earth are called the North Pole and the South Pole.

• ARCTIC: the area around the North Pole. The Arctic Circle marks the edge of the Arctic.

• ANTARCTIC: the area around the South Pole. The Antarctic Circle marks the edge of the Antarctic.

• EQUATOR: an imaginary line around the Earth. It is the same distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.

• HEMISPHERES: the Earth has two hemispheres.

ACTIVITY:

2. LATITUDELatitude is how far north or south of the equator a place is. Lines that connect places with the same latitude are called parallels because these lines are parallel to the Equator.

• We measure latitude in degrees.• The Equator has a latitude of 0

degrees (0º)

Northern Hemisphere

Places to the north of the equator have a latitude between 0º and 90º north

Southern Hemisphere

Places that are south the equator have a latitude of between 0º and 90º south.

3. LONGITUDELongitude is how far east or west a place is. Lines that connect places with the same longitude are called lines of longitude or meridians.They go between the North Pole and the South Pole..

• We measure latitude in degrees.• The Greenwich Meridian or

Prime Meridian has a longitude of 0 degrees (0º). The Greenwich Meridian goes through Greenwich in London.

• Places that are east of Greenwich have a longitude of between 0º and 180º east (180ºE)

• Places to the west of Greenwich have a longitde of between 0º and 180º degrees west (180ºW)

ACTIVITIES

1. What is the latitude of Madrid? 40ºN or 40S?

2. What is the latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn?

It is between………………………..and …………………N or S

3. Is the longitude of New York 74º E or 74ºW?

4. MOVEMENT OF THE EARTHThe Earth rotates on its axis once a day, so its does one complete rotation every 24 hours.

As the Earth rotates, places on the surface sometimes face the sun-this is the day.

When it faces away from the sun, it is night.

The Earth takes 365 days and 6 hours to orbit around the sun. Each year has four seasons. There are seasons because the Earth’s axis is not vertical. It is tilted.

REVOLUTION MOVEMENT CAUSES THE SEASONS

5. GLOBES VS MAPS

A globe is the most accurate way to represent the Earth. It is a small version of the Earth.

A map shows the Earth on a flat surface. Maps are more useful than globe.

WHY?

• they are cheaper to make.• they are easier to store.• it is easy to make a map

for a small or large area.

There is also a disadvantage. When we make a flat map of the curved Earth, shapes and distances get distored. Even more with large areas.

6. WHAT IS THE EARTH MADE OF?The Earth is made of three layers:

1, The crust is the surface of the Earth. It is a thin layer made of solid rock.

2. The mantle is much thicker layer made of magma. Magma is molten (liquid) rock.

• The upper mantle is the part nearest the crust.

• The lower mantle is below the upper mantle.

3. The core is the bit in the centre of the Earth. It is part solid and part liquid

7. TECTONIC PLATES

ACTIVITIES!!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PLATES MOVE?

PLEGAMIENTOS

FALLAS

8. THE EARTH’S SURFACEOn the surface

The Earth’s surface is not flat; some parts are higher than others.

• The lower areas are covered by water-these are the seas and oceans.

• The higher areas form the land. This is divided into continents.

• There is more water than land.

The coast or coastline is where the land meets the sea or ocean.

8.1. CONTINENTAL RELIEF (EMERGED LAND) RELIEVE TERRESTRE

-Mountain ranges (cadenas montañosas): series of mountains joined together. Old mountains are low and rounded (e.g. Irish mountains), while young mountains are higher and their peaks are prominent (e.g. Himalayas or Picos de Europa)

-Shields and platforms (Llanuras y plataformas): ancient mountain ranges eroded (plains and small rounded hills).

-Sedimentary basins (cuencas sedimentarias): sunken area filled with eroded material and usually flat.

COASTAL RELIEF (RELIEVE COSTERO)

 capes (cabos), gulfs (golfos), peninsula (península), estuaries (estuarios), fiords (fiordos)

8. 2. OCEANIC RELIEF (SUBMERGED LAND) RELIEVE OCEÁNICO

-Continental platform /shelf (plataforma continental): gentle slope at the edge of the continent with a depth of 200 m.

-Continental slope (talud continental): Sharp slope between the continent platform and the bottom of the sea.

-Abyssal plain (llanura abisal): extensive flat, sea bottom at depth of 4000-5000 metres

-Marine trench (fosa marina): long, narrow, underwater depression.

ACTIVITY

Search for a landscape: land or water and describe the picture. (5-10 lines)

What is it?

Where is it located? Continent an country

What do you see

OpinionEMAIL ME WITH THE

ANSWER AND ATTACH THE PHOTO YOU HAVE CHOSEN.I WOULD LIKE TO

SHARE THE PICS IN CLASS

almusociales@gmail.com

8. WATER8.1. RIVERS

The drainage basin of a river is the area where water from rain and snow drains into the river.

A tributary is another river that flows into the main river.

The place where two rivers meet is called the confluence.

The course of a river is the route it follows from the source to the mouth.

The course is divided into the upper course, middle course and lower course.

ACTIVITY

Fill in the gaps:

The Missouri river is longer than the Mississippi river, but it is a …………………………of the Mississippi.

The……………………….of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers is near St. Louis.

The……………………….of the Mississippi river is at New Orleans.

7.2. SEAS AND OCEANS

The seas and oceans contain almost all of the Earth’s water. Water in a sea or ocean is called seawater or salt water, because it contains a lot of salt. The amount of salt depends on the temperature.

If it is hotter, more water evaporates, so a higher concentration of salt is left. The Dead Sea is much hotter than the Baltic Sea and it has much more salt. The high salt level makes it very easy to float in the Dead Sea-you can even read a book.

8.2. OCEAN CURRENTS

Ocean currents are huge movements of water in the oceans.

• Warm currents are warmer thatn the surrounding water because they start in warmer places.

• Cold currents are colder than the surrounding water because they start in colder places.

Ocean currents can make the climate warmer or colder. The Gulf Stream flows from the Caribbean to Europe. When it reaches the north Atlantic, its name changes to the North Atlantic Drift

ACTIVITIES1. Look in an atlas or the Internet to find the Caribean Sea and the

Barents Sea. Which of them do you think has more salt? Why?

2. Do you think the Gulf Stream is a warm current or a cold current? (Think about where it starts from)

3. What effect do you think it has on the climate of Europe?

9. CLIMATE AND WEATHERWeather and climate are related to:

• Temperature (amount of heat in the atmosphere)• Precipitation (amount of water in the atmosphere)• Atmospheric Pressure (weight of the air above the Earth’s surface)• Wind. (movement of the air)

Weather looks at the short-term changes. It means the atmospheric conditions in a place at a particular time.

E.g. The weather in Madrid today is warm and sunny.

Climate looks at long-term averages; to understand the climate of a place you need to study the weather over a period of at least 30 years. It means the avergae atmospheric conditions in a place over a long period of time.

E.g. The north of Spain has a marine climate with mild winters and cool summers.

These are called the elements of climate

The weather and climate are affected by:

• atmospheric preassure

• latitude

• altitude

• distance from the coast/sea.

These are the factors that affect climate

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

The atmosphere (a layer of gases surrouded the Earth) regulates the temperature:

It stops it getting too cold at night.

When the air moves it spreads the heat from hot zones to colder parts of the Earth.

LATITUDE

Temperature vary with latitude:

• They are highest near the equator and lowest near the poles.

• The Earth is divided into five climatic zones.

ALTITUDE

• Temperatures are usually warmest at low latitudes and get colder as we go higher.

• Temperature drops 0,6 ºC every 100 metres.

DISTANCE FROM THE SEA

The sea moderates temperatures.

In summer, the sea takes longer to heat up than the land. This means that coastal areas are less hot in summer than places further from the sea.

In winter the sea takes longer to cool down than the land. This means that coastal areas are less cold in winter than places further from the sea.

We say that coastal areas are milder than inland areas. Inland means away from the coast. (interior)