Finding It in The World:
World Geography Level 2
A “How To Not Re-Invent the Wheel” Collection
by ParaEducate
Illustrations by: Renay H. Marquez
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Introduction to Geography
The Five Themes of Geography
Geographers study five main things:
1. Location: Where are we?
2. Place: What does it look like where you are?
3. Movement: How do people and ideas get to other places?
4. Region: What things are the same in one place?
5. Interaction: What do people do when things change where they are?
The Five Themes of Geography are location, place, movement, region, and
interaction.
Where We Are
We live on the planet Earth. The land is broken up into continents. The
continents are:
 North America
 South America
 Africa
 Asia
 Europe
 Oceania
 Antarctica
We have oceans: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the
Figure 1. A world map of continents and oceans.
Arctic Ocean. Ocean water is called “Salt water” because it tastes as if
there is a lot of salt in the water. Most of the Earth is covered in oceans.
Parts of Land
The land we live on looks very different from one place to another. Some
parts are higher than others, some places are lower than others. All these
changes in the land and water have names. We have volcanoes, islands,
mountains, canyons, deserts, rainforests, rivers, lakes and seas. All these
places change how humans and animals live and the things that are done
there.
Mountains are land that is higher than the land around it.
Mountains can be as short as 800 feet, the same height
as one of the smaller pyramids in Egypt or over 23,000
feet tall. Snow is often found on the tops of mountains.
You can ski or snowboard on mountains during the
winter. Some people climb the highest mountains of the
world.
Figure
mountain.
2.
A
Groups of mountains are called a mountain range.
Volcanoes are a type of mountain that has
magma underground. The type of volcano will
change the look of the volcano. Volcanoes are
found where two plates, or puzzle pieces that
make up the earth come together.
Magma is melted rock from the earth’s core. It is
more liquid than rock and it is so hot, anything
near it usually catches fire. Magma that comes
to the surface is called lava.
Figure 3. A volcano.
A volcano is a natural hazard because it can put out thick clouds of smoke
and lava destroys the ground before it cools into rock. Not all volcanoes
have eruptions of smoke or lava. These volcanoes are called dormant.
Figure 4. An island.
An island is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water. The
only way to get to the land is by boat or by airplane.
A canyon is a deep hole between two pieces of land. The hole is made by
water slowly wearing away the dirt over time. What is left are huge walls of
rock on both side and the canyon below.
Figure 5. A river in a canyon.
Deserts are any place that gets very little rain. Plants
and animals changed to live with less water. A cactus
is an example of a plant that does not need a lot of
water to live.
Rainforests are places that get a lot of rain. Many
plants and animals live in in rainforests. Rainforests
are believed to help control the climate of the entire.
Many living things in a rain forest cannot be found
anywhere else in the world.
Figure 6. A cactus in a
desert.
Figure 7. A section of tropical rainforest.
A river is water that moves into a lake, sea, or ocean.
The water in a river is usually freshwater. Rivers help
transport people, the things they want to sell, where
people fish, and are places where rain water can go.
Cities usually were built near rivers to help with
agriculture and transportation.
Figure 8. A river.
A lake is a body of water that does not move. Water
in lakes are usually freshwater. There are a few salt
water lakes in the world. Lakes are large, deep areas of water that can be
seen on ground level.
Figure 9. Bears in a lake.
A sea is a body of salt water smaller than an ocean, mostly surrounded by
land. Many plants and animals live in seas. Seas have tides just like the
ocean and are changed with ocean currents.
Figure 10. A view of an ocean.
About Maps
There are different types of maps that try to show the world. Maps have
helped people learn about different places around the world without going
there. They also help people find out where they are and how they might
get to another place.
A globe is a type of map. A globe is the best way to
show the world, but it cannot show lots of
information.
People used to draw maps by hand. Today, we use
satellites in space that take pictures and computers
to help us make our maps.
On maps that show countries and on the globe, we
see these tiny black lines that go vertical and
horizontal. The vertical lines are called longitude.
The lines that are horizontal are latitude.
Figure 11. A globe.
The equator is the 0° for the latitude. There are two other special lines of
latitude. The Tropic of Cancer is 23° North above the Equator and the
Tropic of Capricorn is 23° South below the Equator. The weather between
the tropics is hot.
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
The Prime Meridian is the 0° of the longitude. The Prime Meridian goes
through the city of Greenwich, England.
Figure 12. The world map with the Prime Meridian.
We use latitude and longitude to tell us exactly where we are. These are
also the numbers that are told to us by our GPS devices or cellphones on
the map apps.
Every map will have a compass. The compass points north on the map. We
use north to help us figure out where we are. A real compass uses metal
that wants to point to the North Pole.
Figure 13. Different Compasses.
People who travel can also use the stars at night, the Big Dipper and the
Southern Cross are constellations, or groups of stars, that have both
helped people travel without a compass. The tail of the Big Dipper points
north. The Southern Cross is used in the Southern Hemisphere. It points
south.
Figure 14. The Big Dipper
Figure 15. An illustration of the Southern
Cross pointing South.
We describe where we are going and where things are based on directions.
When looking at maps or using your GPS on your phone, we use the
directions: north, south, east, and west. There is usually a compass on a
map telling you which way north is pointing.
Review of Geography Ideas
What are the 5 themes of geography?
1. __________________________________________
2. __________________________________________
3. __________________________________________
4. __________________________________________
5. __________________________________________
Which continent do you live on?
____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Name the ocean to the west of the continent you live on.
_______________________________________________________
Name one example of each of the following from where you live. Hint: the
example could be on another continent if you can’t think of one near where
you live.
Lake
River
Desert
Mountain range
What is the best way to show the Earth?
a) On a map
b) On a computer
c) On a globe.
Draw a compass and label North, South, East, and West.
Which continent are you most excited to learn about?
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America