World
Habitats
KS1 Workbook for Teachers
With curriculum links to Art and Design, Design Technology,
English, Geography, History, Information Technology,
Music, PSHE and Science
ACTIVITY 1- CLASSIFYING DIFFERENT HABITATS
Curriculum focus- Science, Geography, English, Design Technology,
Art and Design, ICT.
Key Curriculum linksScience• Sc2 Life processes and living things
o Living things in their environment 5a, 5b
• Breadth of study
o 1a, 1c, 2a, 2b
Geography• Geographical enquiry and skills
o 1a, 1e, 2a, 2c, 2d
• Knowledge and understanding of places
o 3a, 3b, 3d
English• En1 Speaking and listening
o Speaking 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f
o Listening 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e
o Group discussion and interaction 3a, 3b
o Breadth of study 8b, 8d, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b
• En2 Reading
o Reading for information 2a, 2b, 2c
• En3 Writing
o Composition 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e
o Planning and drafting 2a, 2b, 2c
o Punctuation 3c
o Handwriting and presentation 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h
o Breadth of study 9d, 11, 12
Design technology• Developing, planning and communicating ideas 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e
• Working with tools, equipment, materials and components 2a, 2b, 2c,
2d, 2e
• Evaluating processes and products 3a, 3b
• Knowledge and understanding of materials and components 4a
• Breadth of study 5b, 5c
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Art and Design• Knowledge, skills and understanding
• Exploring and developing ideas 1a, 1b
• Investigating and making arts, craft and design 2a, 2b
• Evaluating and developing work 3a, 3b
• Breadth of study 5a, 5b, 5c
I.C.T• Knowledge, skills and understanding
o Finding things out 1a
o Reviewing, modifying and evaluating work 4a, 4c
• Breadth of study 5a
Aims:
• To demonstrate four main ecosystems found in the world through
building a model.
• To encourage students to research the type of plants, animals and soil
found there through reading and ICT skills.
• To emphasise the importance of preservation of the ecosystems
discussed.
Background Teacher Information:
Areas of the world can be classed into several habitats according to their
climate, plants and animal life. These can be roughly divided into:
Taiga
Tundra
Boreal forest
Temperate grassland
Temperate forest
Savannah
Tropical rainforest
Mountains
Desert
Scrub
Oceans
Coastlines
Swamps and Mangroves
Rivers and Lakes
Corals
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There are also isolated habitats to be found in islands as well as the everexpanding regions of urban habitats.
For the purposes of this unit, we shall mainly concentrate on 3 very
different habitats of Tropical Rainforests, Arctic Tundra and Deserts.
Tropical RainforestsThe lands within about 10 degrees of the equator are generally covered
with these dense forests. There is no cold winter or dry season, so the
plants grow bigger than in other habitats. The air is hot and damp and
rain falls nearly every day throughout the year.
The biggest rainforest in the world is the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in
South America. Common trees found are mahogany, rosewood and walnut
and many palms grow along the riverbank (Oil-palm is particularly
important as its fruits provide a valuable export). Trees absorb carbon
dioxide and release the oxygen that we breathe. Rainforests are home to
more species of plants and animals than the rest of the world put
together. 1 in 5 of all the birds found on earth live in Amazonia alone!
Today, rainforests are cut down at an alarming rate in many areas. In
fact, about 2,000 trees per minute are cut down in the rainforests.
Humans clear rainforests for timber, agriculture and development. The
rainforest holds a whole storehouse of natural products that have been
used by the local people for centuries. If the rainforests are cut down
then all the secrets that they hold could be lost forever- e.g. valuable
drugs to fight sickness, new food plants.
Arctic TundraThis is the term used to describe the vast plains in northern North
America, Europe and the Soviet Union where it is too cold and windy for
the trees to grow. To the north of the tundra are the ice and snowcapped Polar Regions. Tundra plants include mosses, lichens and some
dwarf shrubs, and a few stunted birches and Arctic willows. There are
long winters, where the sun may not rise for several weeks or months.
During this time, snow covers the ground and the soil is frozen hard.
Average temperatures rise above freezing for only 2 to 4 months of the
year. Even in the height of summer, top temperatures only reach 10oC
(50oF), which is enough to make the top layer of snow thaw. The soil
beneath this remains frozen all year round this is called the permafrost.
Because of the permafrost, water cannot drain away so the ground
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becomes muddy and marshy. This attracts lots of insects, which in turn
provide food for many different types of bird e.g. swans, geese ducks and
wading birds. Snowy owls are also found in these regions where they feed
on Arctic hares and lemmings.
Conditions are so severe that only a few people such as Eskimos live in the
tundra. The tundra contains mineral resources, including oil and natural
gas, and these reserves are being mined and drilled.
DesertsThis is any region where the soil is too dry for plants and trees to grow,
although these areas are not all just ‘seas of sand’. The largest desert is
the Sahara in North Africa where it is very hot by day and dry all year
round. The deserts of central Asia such as the Gobi, have hot days in
summer but are bitterly cold during the winter months.
Most deserts are caused by a lack of rain, although some occur where
rain is not uncommon. In these areas, hot winds dry up the rain as soon as
it has fallen, and in others rain sinks through sandy or rocky soils beyond
the reach of plant roots. Desert soil may be sand dunes, rock, dried clay
or a flat surface of pebbles.
Plants, animals and humans all find it very hard to live in the desert, but
some species have adapted to the harsh environment. Woody bushes in
deserts have long roots and few or no leaves through which water can be
lost by evaporation. The cactus is the most common American desert
plant, with a thick fleshy stem that it stores water in, and no true leaves.
Desert animals must be able to travel long distances without drinking.
They include, reptiles, insects, bats, rodents and a few birds (e.g. vultures
and burrowing owls).
The people of the desert are mostly nomads, or wanderers who depend n
their camels or sheep. People must build wells that are always filled with
water if they are to build a village or town. Some deserts are rich in
minerals such as gold in the Australian desert and oil in the Sahara.
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Materials:
• 1 cardboard box per student (a shoe box is an ideal size)
• Cardboard pieces to fit in the boxes
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Felt pens
• Glue
• Sand, dirt, coconut flakes (snow), potting soil (dark rainforest soil)
• Magazine pictures or plastic animals
• Clumps of grass, branches (trees), rocks (tundra and desert)
• Paper cups
• Coloured paper (used for trees or animals)
• Blue plastic (water)
• Paint brushes for glue
• Paint brushes and paints
• Newspaper or bin liners to protect the work surface
Method:
1. Prepare a completed box before the lesson and show this to the
students at the start.
2. Give each student a box and some card. Ask them to write their name
on the base of the box before they begin the activity.
3. Students should divide the box into 3 equal sections by measuring and
cutting out some card and sticking it into place. You may wish to put
the students in several groups around a table so that they may share
equipment.
4. Students should then label one section with each of the following
titles- TUNDRA, DESERT, and RAINFOREST. Students should be
encouraged to label clearly and may choose to print out the labels
using different fonts on the computer.
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5. Photocopy and out the sheet entitled ‘Habitat in a box’. Students
should use books and the Internet to find one plant, one bird and the
type of soil or ground covering found in each habitat. They must fill in
these in the spaces provided on the worksheet. For younger students,
teachers may wish to give the student a selection of words to choose
from for each category e.g. snow, sand, rich and wet for SOIL.
6. You may wish to stretch the making of the box over several lessons,
concentrating on each part of the habitat at one time. Prior to the
lesson, prepare the materials by filling paper cups with dirt, sand,
potting soil and coconut flakes (1 cup of each per group).
7. SOIL- Students should use the results of their research to choose a
substrate to represent the soil found in each habitat.
8. Students should then apply a thin layer of glue to the base of each
habitat before sprinkling their chosen substrate onto the glue. Tell
students to be as creative as they choose and too ensure that they
share the materials provided between members of their group.
9. BIRD- Students should use the results of their research to choose a
magazine cut out or a plastic figure of their bird. They may need to
draw their animal on construction paper if their chosen bird cannot be
found in a magazine.
10. Students should then stick their chosen bird representative into the
correct habitat section in their box. Creativity should be encouraged
as much as possible.
11. PLANT- Students should use the results of their research to find a
representative object for a plant for each habitat in the school
grounds. Explain to the students before going outside that they are
looking for leaves or plants (preferably those that are not still growing
in the garden!). You may wish to show them how a cactus can be made
by sticking pine needles through a roll of card to give them an idea of
what to look for, but allow them to be as creative as they like with
their choice.
12. Students should then stick their chosen plants into their habitats and
may also create paper plants from construction paper if they wish.
13. The students habitat boxes can then be displayed in the class or for a
parents evening. Students may take their boxes home once the display
is finished.
Further Activity:
1. Ask students to write a short presentation or poem about their box.
They should include in this the names of the habitats, plants, birds
and soils used in their box. They should also include an example of
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where this habitat is found in geographical terms. For this task you
may need to guide the students with lead-in phrases such as:
• The soil in the rainforest is…..
•
Only a few plants are found in the desert such as…..
•
The biggest rainforest in the world is the Amazon
rainforest, it is found in…….
You may wish to choose several students each day to read their speech or
poem to the class, pointing out the items in their box as they read them.
Their poems and reports can then be included in the class presentation in
written form.
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ACTIVITY 2- TROPICAL RAINFORESTS OF THE WORLD
Curriculum focus: Geography, Art and Design
Key Curriculum linksGeography• Geographical enquiry and skills 2a, 2c, 2d, 2e
• Knowledge and understanding of places 3b
Art and Design• Investigating and making art, craft and design 2b
Aims:
•
•
•
To encourage the students to learn about the geographical
location of tropical rainforests.
For students to use their atlas skills to find out the location of
some habitats.
To remind students of the major continents of the world.
Materials:
•
•
•
Coloured pens/pencils
A world atlas
‘Tropical Rainforest’ worksheet
Method:
1. Photocopy the worksheet in the appendix entitled ‘Tropical Rainforest’
and hand out one worksheet per student (note: there are 2 pages to
this worksheet)
2. Ask the students to complete the tasks on the worksheet using
coloured pens.
3. Remind students that they must label their map properly by stating
which habitats each colour represents. They should do this by
extending the key.
Further activities:
1. Ask students to use their atlases to locate the major areas of desert
such as the Sahara or Gobi deserts. Ask them to draw these on the
map and then colour them in with an orange pen.
2. Ask students to use their atlases to locate the areas of polar ice caps
and Arctic tundra. Ask them to draw these on the map and then colour
them in with a grey pen.
Note: a blank world map has been included in the Appendix for this.
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Extension Activity 1:
Key curriculum linksI.C.T• Knowledge, skills and understanding
o Finding things out 1a
Geography• Geographical enquiry and skills 1a, 2a, 2c, 2d
• Knowledge and understanding of places 3a, 3b
English• En1 Speaking and listening
o Group discussion and interaction 3a, 3b
o Breadth of study 10b
• En2 Reading
o Reading for information 2a, 2b, 2c
• En3 Writing
o Composition 1a, 1c, 1d
o Planning and drafting 1a, 1b, 1c
o Punctuation 3c
o Handwriting and presentation 5h
• Breadth of study 9a, 9d, 11, 12
Art• Exploring and developing ideas 1a
• Investigating and making art, craft and design 2b
Aims:
•
For students to learn more about the geography of world
habitats through the Internet and other reference texts.
Method:
1. Students should research a particular habitat of their choice using
the Internet or reference books. These habitats may include the
Amazon Rainforest, the Sahara Desert, the Polar ice caps, Oceans,
Mangrove swamps etc.
2. Students should use the information they have gathered to write 5
facts about their chosen habitat. They should include information as
to the geographical location of the habitat, as well as the weather,
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animals and birds found there. Encourage the students to be as
creative as possible. For example, they may decide to write as if they
were an animal or person living in that habitat. Teachers may have to
give assistance in choosing facts for display.
3. Students should then copy up their reports neatly and illustrate them
so they may be used in a class display.
4. Once the students have had an opportunity to read each others
reports, initiate a class discussion to decide which habitat students
would most like to visit and why.
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ACTIVITY 3- MAKING A RAIN STICK
Curriculum Focus- Science, English, D.T, Art and Design, Music
Key Curriculum linksEnglish• En1 Speaking and listening
o Group discussion and interaction 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e
Science• Sc2 Life
o
o
o
processes and living things
Life processes 1b, 1c
Humans and other animals 2b
Green plants 3a
Design Technology• Developing, planning and communicating ideas 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d
• Working with tools, equipment, materials and components 2a, 2b, 2c,
2d, 2e, 2f
• Evaluating processes and products 3a, 3b
• Knowledge and understanding of materials and components 4a
• Breadth of study 5b, 5c
Art and Design• Exploring and developing ideas 1a, 1b
• Investigating and making arts, craft and design 2a, 2b, 2c
• Evaluating and developing work 3a, 3b
• Knowledge and understanding 4a, 4b, 4c
• Breadth of study 5a, 5b, 5c
Music• Listening and applying knowledge and understanding 4c, 4d
Aims:
• To discuss the importance of water for life
• The students will be able to use the resources they have to make their
own rain stick and the sound of rain.
Background Information:
Legend has it that the Chilean Indians invented the rain stick to make
rainy weather. Turning the rain stick upside down sounds like rain.
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Originating in northern Chile, the rain stick is a piece of ocotillo cactus
(with spines turned in toward the centre) through which pebbles bounce
to produce a musical sound.
Materials required:
•
•
•
•
•
1 cardboard tube (a wrapping paper tube is ideal)
30 stickpins or long nails
Sticky tape
1 cup of rice
Decorative paper
Method:
1. Each student should have one cardboard tube each.
2. Get the students to stick all 30 of their stickpins into the tube (sharp
end going in), in 5 rows with 6 pins in each row (you may wish to do this
part for younger children before the start of the lesson). If you do
not have long stickpins then nails with a length just under the
diameter of the tube are ideal. The aim is to slow the rice down as it
falls through the rain stick so that the sound is more like that of
falling rain.
3. A strip of tape should be wrapped around each row to hold the pins in
place.
4. Students should tape one end of their tube shut and then pour a cup
of rice into the open end before taping the other end shut. Students
should be encouraged to check they are happy with the sound of their
rain stick before taping the second end as they may wish to add more
rice or larger items such as dried beans or seeds to create the
desired sound.
5. Students can then cover the tube with plain paper, which they can
then decorate with a rainforest theme.
6. The rain sticks can then be turned over and over to create the sound
of rain.
7. Note- for some of the more ‘fiddley’ parts of the method, they may
wish to form pairs so that each person has someone to help them tape
the tube up.
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Discussion:
Begin the discussion by asking students to describe the rainforest in
relation to their hometown. These differences should include:
1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. More animal and plant life
Ask the students what all living things need to survive. These should
include food and water. Discuss what happens to a plant that is not
watered. How does the plant get water (it takes it up from the soil
through its roots)? Discuss how plants need light from the sun to grow.
Many animals eat plants to survive.
Rain sticks in the rain forest are made from dried caches plants and small
pebbles or seeds, making a soothing rain sound. Legend has it that
certain tribes in South America, in the hope that it would encourage rain,
used the rain stick. Ask the students why they think that local people
want it to rain. Use the Internet or other reference material to find
pictures of rain sticks to show the students.
Today, rain sticks are widely used as a percussion instrument and
represent a "back to nature" feeling.
Further Activity:
• Ask the students to use the rain stick as inspiration to design and
create other musical instruments. These instruments should represent
the different habitats that you have discussed in class and the animals
and birds that are found there. E.g. ice cream tub and elastic bands of
various thickness can be used to create a mini guitar; a ‘wobble-board’
can be made using a sheet of thick plastic or OHP paper; a paper towel
tube can be filled with rice and sealed to make a shaker; a tin or pot
can be hit with a wooden spoon to sound like a drum.
Extension Activity 1
Key Curriculum linksPE• Dance activities 6a, 6c, 6d
Music• Performing skills 1b, 1c
• Composing skills 2a, 2b
• Appraising skills 3a, 3b, 3c
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•
Breadth of study 5a, 5b, 5c
Method:
Ask the students to use the instruments they have made to compose a
piece of music to accompany a short dance or mime about their chosen
habitat. As a class, you may even wish to act out a story or perform a
‘rain-dance’ to see if they can make it rain.
Extension Activity 2
Key Curriculum linksEnglish• En1 Speaking and listening
o Drama 4a, 4b
Geography• Geographical enquiry and skills 1a, 1c
PSHE• Preparing to play an active role as citizens 2b
• Respecting the differences between people 4c
• Breadth of opportunities 5g
Method:
Perform a play about tribes that need water for drinking and their crops.
You may wish to start by casting students as tribal people, plants, rain
and sun. They can then act out a story (you may wish to write this
yourself or write it as a group in a class discussion) about people living
during drought, followed by a rain dance and then the benefits of water.
You may then wish for the class to perform their play in an assembly so
that the whole school can see the importance of water.
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ACTIVITY 4- LIVING THINGS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT
Curriculum focus- Design Technology, Art and Design
Key curriculum linksScience• Sc2 Life processes and living things
o Life processes 1c
o Humans and other animals 2b
o Green plants 3a
o Living things in their environment 5a
Design Technology• Working with tools, equipment, materials and components 2a, 2b, 2c,
2d
• Knowledge and understanding of materials and components 4a
• Breadth of study 5b, 5c
Art and Design• Investigating and making art, craft and design 2a, 2b
• Breadth of study 5a, 5b, 5c
Aims:
•
To learn about what local animals eat to survive by constructing
a simple food chain model.
Materials required:
• ½ inch thick strips of paper in various colours
• Glue
• Colouring pencils
• Magazines with pictures of animals and plants from various
habitats
• Longer strips of paper or coloured string
Method:
1. Ask the students to decorate each strip of paper to represent an
animal or plant from a local habitat by drawing or cutting out a picture
from a magazine. A specific coloured strip should be used for each
step of the food chain
e.g. Green- plants
Purple- insects
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Blue- plant eaters
Red- meat eaters
NB/ Do not use yellow strips as these will be used to later represent the
sun.
2. Ask the students to link the strips together to form food chains.
Simple examples include:
• Grass > Rabbit > Fox
• Corn > Chicken > Man
• Leaves > Caterpillar > Bird > Snake > Hawk
• Grain > Mouse > Barn Owl > Eagle
3. Once this has been completed, make a large ring from thick yellow
paper to represent the sun. Ask the students to consider the food
chains that they have made to decide if the sun needs to be added to
them. You may wish to lead them to the correct answer by asking what
grass/leaves/grain needs for them to grow (sunlight and water should
be among the answers).
4. Students can then link their chains to the big yellow ring.
5. When the students have done this, you can then display the chains by
hanging them, with the sun in the middle, to create a food chain
canopy.
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Extension Activity 1 - Worms:
Key curriculum linksDesign technology• Working with tools, equipment, materials and components 2a, 2b, 2c,
2d, 2e, 2f
• Evaluating processes and products 3a, 3b
• Breadth of study 5b, 5c
Science• Sc2 life
o
o
o
o
processes and living things
Life processes 1c
Humans and other animals 2e
Green plants 3a
Living things and their environment 5a
Aims:
•
•
To see how worms take dead plant matter (e.g. leaf litter) and
digest it to form droppings that are good food for plants,
packed with nutrients necessary for growth.
To see how even the smallest organisms contribute to the
balance of a habitat and consider the effects if they are
removed.
Materials:
• 2 clean, clear plastic fizzy drinks bottles, one thinner than the
other.
• Scissors
• Water
• Dead leaves
• Grass cuttings
• Gravel
• Peat
• Sand
• Black bin liner (large sheet of thick light-proof plastic)
• A black bin liner under which to catch your worms
Method for making the wormery:
1. Wash and rinse out both fizzy drink bottles. Cut the top off the
fatter bottle.
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2. Half fill the thinner bottle with water and stand it inside the fatter
bottle. This both helps to keep the wormery cool and stops it from
falling over.
3. put a layer of gravel into the space between the two bottles. Add
alternating layers of peat and sand, starting with peat. (Gravel, peat
and sand are all available at garden centres.) Make each layer about
2cm deep. Continue until the wormery is almost full. Lastly, add a
thick layer of dead leaves and grass cuttings.
4. Make a drawing of the wormery and label each layer. You will then be
able to see how it has changed during the experiment.
5. Put a few worms on the top layer of dead leaves. (see below for
catching worms activity) Now wait for them to burrow down into the
peat. Encourage the students to wash their hands after touching
worms and soil.
6. Make a cover for the wormery, by wrapping it within a sheet of thick
dark plastic through which you can’t see the light (remember that
worms are used to living underground). This should be big enough to
form a tube around the outer bottle. Put the wormery in a cool,
sheltered place. The soil should be kept damp, but should not become
soaked with rain, as the worms could drown. Leave the wormery
outside in a sheltered place for 2 weeks.
7. After two weeks, bring the wormery indoors and take off the cover.
Get the students to compare what they see now with their pictures
made before the worms were added. The different layers of leaves
and sand and peat will show how the worms moved in the soil.
Note: Don’t keep the wormery indoors for longer than one or two days.
Finally, return the worms to the place where they were found.
Method for catching the worms:
Worms usually only come to the surface of the soil at night, when there
are very few birds about and so they are not in danger of being eaten.
They particularly like to come top the surface when it has been raining.
This is because the rain loosens the soil and makes it easier for the
worms to travel through it.
Suggested extra activity:
Ask the students to suggest ways to mimic these environmental
conditions. Ideally they will suggest watering the ground to create ‘rain’
then placing a black bin liner over the damp ground to give the illusion of
‘night’. Students should consider the problems with the black liner blowing
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away and so should weigh it down with stones. Check under the plastic
every ten minutes or so until worms are found.
Discussion:
• Discuss why worms are important- they make food for plants.
• Discuss what would happen to the floor of a forest if there were
no worms to break down the dead plant matter- there would be a
lot of leaves on the floor and there would be no food for the trees
and plants to grow.
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Activity 1- Classifying different habitats
HABITAT IN A BOX
Find out about each habitat to fill in the table below. You must list at
least 1 plant or bird found in each habitat.
HABITAT
SOIL
PLANT
BIRD
TUNDRA
DESERT
RAINFOREST
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TROPICAL RAINFORESTS WORKSHEET
Key
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TROPICAL RAINFOREST WORKSHEET ACTIVITY 2
Colour in your map in the colours listed below. You may need to use your atlas to check where the major
rivers and lakes are found:
1.
Colour the rainforests of the world GREEN on your map.
2.
Colour the rest of the earth’s land YELLOW
3.
Colour the oceans, seas and lakes BLUE on your map.
4.
Colour the line representing the equator RED.
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