ARTICLE-A-DAY™
Exploring Continents
6 Articles
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A South American Adventure
227 words
The Coldest Continent
227 words
Asia
233 words
Animals of Africa
306 words
European Capitals
294 words
A Country and a Continent
202 words
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A South American Adventure
A South American Adventure
Macaw
South Ame rica is one of the se ve n contine nts of the world. It is the fourth larg e st contine nt. In
South Ame rica, you can find some of the most be autiful place s on Earth. Two of the se place s are
the Amazon rainfore st and the Ande s Mountains. Le t's take a close r look at the se two incre dible
place s.
Imag ine standing in the middle of the larg e st rainfore st in the world,
the Amazon. You may look up to find slim sun rays trying to pe ak
throug h the de nse tre e cove r. If you look around, you may find colorful
maccaws, Howle r monke ys, or lazy sloths. But you have to be care ful!
You don’ t want to run into a dang e rous jag uar or a blue poison dart
frog . The se animals can kill you. And don’ t g e t lost e ithe r! The Amazon
Blue poison dart frog
rainfore st is ve ry big . It stre tche s ove r e ig ht diffe re nt countrie s.
Andes Mountains
But maybe you’ re in the mood for a mountainous adve nture . Look no furthe r than the Ande s
Mountains! The Ande s are the long e st mountain rang e in the world, running throug h se ve n
diffe re nt countrie s. Some of the talle st mountains on Earth are part of this rang e . He re you’ ll find
animals like chinchillas, llamas, and larg e vulture s. You’ ll find rare plants like the Polyle pis
tre e s that have twiste d shape s. You’ ll e ve n find volcanos!
Which South Ame rican adve nture would you like to e xpe rie nce ?
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The Coldest Continent
The Coldest Continent
If you know anything about Antarctica, you may know that it is re ally, re ally cold. In fact, it's the
colde st place on Earth. Antarctica is made up of ice . It doe sn't g e t much snow or rain so it's
conside re d a de se rt.
Give n how cold Antarctica is, it's no surprise that not many pe ople live the re . Most of the pe ople
who stay in Antarctica are scie ntists who study its ice . In the summe r, tourists also visit Antarctica.
Soon e noug h, the se tourists g o back home . In g e ne ral, this contine nt can be a pre tty lone ly place
for humans.
While not many humans call Antarctica home , some animals ce rtainly do. Empe ror pe ng uins live
in Antarctica. The y are the big g e st spe cie s of pe ng uins. We dde ll se als live in Antarctica. The y
spe nd a lot of the ir time in the cold wate rs be low the ice looking for animals to e at. Kille r whale s
live in the oce an wate rs of Antarctica. The y e at othe r animals like se als and se abirds. The y also
e at krill, a small oce an animal that live s in the oce an surrounding Antarctica. Many othe r animals
in the Antarctic also e at krill.
As for plants, not many can be found in
Antarctica. Moss and alg ae are fe w of the
plants that can live in a place that cold.
What do you think? Doe s Antarctica sound
like a place you'd like to visit?
Emperor penguins
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Killer whale
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Asia
Asia
Map of Asia
A contine nt is one of the se ve n larg e st are as of land on the Earth. The se ve n contine nts are Asia,
Africa, North Ame rica, South Ame rica, Antarctica, Europe , and Australia. Asia is the larg e st
contine nt.
Asia is not only the larg e st contine nt, it also has the most pe ople . Ove r four billion pe ople live in
Asia! The re 's se ve n billion pe ople total on Earth. The country with the hig he st population in the
world is China. The country with the se cond hig he st population in the world is India. Both of the se
countrie s are in Asia.
The pe ople of Asia are ve ry dive rse . This dive rsity is re fle cte d in the rang e of lang uag e s you can
he ar spoke n the re . It is e stimate d that ove r 2,000 lang uag e s are spoke n across the contine nt!
Some of the most common lang uag e s are Mandarin, Hindi, Cantone se , and Japane se .
Asia's g e og raphy is also dive rse . For e xample , the re are mountains. The famous Himalayan
mountain rang e runs be twe e n India and Ne pal. The hig he st point on Earth is at the top of Mount
Eve re st. It is part of the Himalayan mountain rang e . The re are also de se rts in Asia. One of the se
de se rts is the Gobi De se rt. It is a cold de se rt. It rare ly rains or snows in the Gobi De se rt. The
contine nt also has rainfore sts in countrie s like Indone sia, Laos, and Cambodia.
The re is so much to le arn about a contine nt as big and varie d as Asia.
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Animals of Africa
Animals of Africa
Africa is home to some of the most maje stic animals on Earth. Le t's take a close look at some of
the se animals.
African Elephants
African e le phants are the larg e st animals on Earth that live on land. The y trave l in g roups calle d
he rds. The se he rds are usually made up of re late d fe male e le phants and the ir calve s. Male s
normally trave l by the mse lve s. But some time s the y also form small g roups with othe r male s.
Like all e le phants, African e le phants have ve ry long nose s calle d trunks. The y suck in wate r
throug h the ir trunks and spray it ove r the ir bodie s. This he lps the m stay cool in the he at. The y
also bre athe and g rab thing s with the ir trunks.
African e le phants e at roots, g rasse s, fruit, and tre e bark. The y can e at up to 300 pounds of food in
a day!
African Elephants
Giraffes
Giraffe s are be autiful spotte d animals. The y have ve ry long ne cks. The y're also the talle st
animals to walk the e arth. Giraffe s live in are as cove re d by g rass. The se are as are calle d
g rasslands.
Giraffe s have g re at vision. With the he lp of the ir he ig ht and vision, the y can e asily spot pre dators,
such as lions, from a distance . It's be lie ve d that othe r animals such as ze bras form g roups ne ar
g iraffe s for this re ason! The y know if dang e r is coming , g iraffe s will se e it.
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Animals of Africa
Giraffe
Lions
Eve ryone knows lions are the king s of the jung le , rig ht? We ll, the y don't actually live in jung le s!
The y live in g rasslands, just like g iraffe s. The y also live in de se rts.
Lions form g roups calle d pride s. Anywhe re from 3 to 40 lions may live in one pride . Fe male lions
(calle d lione sse s) raise the cubs and hunt for food. The y hunt mainly at nig ht in small g roups.
Male lions de fe nd the are a whe re the pride is staying . The y use the ir loud roars to scare off othe r
animals trying to g e t too close .
Lionesses
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European Capitals
European Capitals
A capital is a ve ry important city in a country or state . The g ove rnme nt of a country or state is
locate d in its capital. You may be familiar with Europe an capitals such as Rome , Paris, and London.
But have you he ard of Prag ue , Budape st, and Lisbon? The y are also capitals of diffe re nt countrie s
throug hout Europe . Le t's take a close r look at e ach city.
Prag ue is the capital of the Cze ch Re public. A rive r calle d the Vltava Rive r runs throug h the city. In
Prag ue , you will find famous historical place s that pe ople from all ove r the world visit. One of
the se place s is the Charle s Bridg e . It crosse s ove r the Vltava Rive r. It has 30 statue s of re lig ious
fig ure s. Prag ue is also home to the larg e st ancie nt castle in the world. Prag ue Castle is about the
size of se ve n football fie lds!
Charles Bridge in Prague
Furthe r southe ast, you will find the city of Budape st. It is the capital of Hung ary. Like Prag ue , it
also has a rive r running throug h it. It is calle d the Danube Rive r. This rive r splits the city into two
parts. One part is calle d Buda, the othe r is calle d Pe st. The y are on opposite side s of the rive r.
Buda sits on hig he r hills ne ar the rive r. Pe st is built on a flatte r are a.
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European Capitals
Budapest
Now le t's trave l furthe r southwe st to the city of Lisbon. Lisbon is the capital of Portug al. It is the
olde st city in We ste rn Europe . It ove rlooks the Tag us Rive r and is the country’ s main port. A port
is a town or city with a place whe re ships load or unload. Hundre ds of ye ars ag o, some of the
g re ate st e xplore rs e ve r known se t out on ships from Lisbon to e xplore the re st of the world.
Port in Lisbon
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A Country and a Continent
A Country and a Continent
The Outback in Australia
Do you know which country in the world is also a contine nt? It's Australia! Australia is the
smalle st contine nt in the world. But it's also one of the larg e st countrie s in the world, too!
It's be lie ve d that Aborig inal pe ople have be e n living in Australia for at le ast 40,000 ye ars.
Aborig inal me ans native to an are a. In the 1700s, Europe an e xplore rs trave le d to Australia and
soon starte d to se ttle the re . The y starte d to take ove r the land of the Aborig inal pe ople and form
the ir own colonie s.
The Europe an e xplore rs starte d to se ttle the e ast coast of Australia. Late r on, the y starte d to
e xplore more of the Australian outback. The Outback is the dry de se rt are a that cove rs most of the
Australian contine nt. Te n major de se rts make up this are a. Not many pe ople live in the Outback
be cause it is ve ry dry and harsh.
Many animals, on the othe r hand, do live in the Outback. You can find kang aroos in the Outback.
Wild dog s calle d ding os live in the Outback, too. Birds calle d budg e rig ars and cockatoos also call
the Outback home .
Think about what you've le arne d about Australia so far. What part of Australia would you like to
e xplore more ?
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