PENNSVALLEY
102
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Asia
Lesson 52:
Introducing the Continent of Asia
Welcome to the continent of Asia, the land of extremes. Asia is our largest continent. It has some
of the largest and smallest countries, both in area and population. It has the highest and lowest
elevations on earth. It has some of thewealthiest and some of the poorest nations on our planet.The
continent receives some of the highest and lowest amounts of rainfall.Temperatures are some of the
highest and lowest recorded.Climate zones range from polar to tropical.
Where exactly is this continent located?You have studied the continent of Europe. Using a globe,
or large worldmap, locate Europe. Directly to the east of Europe is Asia. Somemapmakers refer to
the two landmasses together as Eurasia.
Theexact linebetweenEuropeandAsia canbe confusing.We thinkanactivityby thenumberswill
help to separate the two continents.However, some countries are located on both continents, such as
theRussian Federation.
Activity:
You are going to drawAsia’swestern border.On the next page, youwill see numbers on amap.Draw
a colored line between the numbers that are stated.Check off each number as you complete it.
0
1.Draw a line between 1 and 2.
0
2.Where you see the
▲
symbol, youwill see the
Ural Mountains
labeled.
0
3.Draw a line between 2 and 3.
0
4.Draw a line between 3 and 4.
0
5. Locate the body of water to thewest of numbers 4 and 5, the
CaspianSea.
0
6.Draw your line along the eastern border of theCaspianSea.
0
7.Continue your line along theCaspianSea’s border to 6.
0
8.Draw a line northwest from 6 to 7.This iswhere the
CaucasusMountains
are located.
0
9. Locate thewater form to thewest of 7 the
BlackSea
.
10.Draw your line from point 7 along the southern border of theBlack Sea to point 8.
11. There are two narrow straits that allow ships to travel from theBlack Sea to theAegean
Sea.They are the called the
BosporusStrait
and the
DardanellesStrait
.
12.Continue your line around
Turkey
’s coastline from point 8 to 9.This is thewesternmost part
of Asia.
13.The
MediterraneanSea
is to the southwest of Turkey.
14.Draw your line south along the coastline from point 9 to 10.
15. The landform feature to the southeast of 10 is theSinai Peninsula. It is part of Egypt, most
of which is located on the continent of Africa.However, the
Sinai Peninsula
is part of Asia.
16.Draw a line from point 10 to 11.This water form is the
Suez Canal
. It connects the
MediterraneanSea to the
RedSea
.
17.Draw your line along
Saudi Arabia
’s andYemen’s coast from 11 to 12.
That completes our long journey of Asia’s western border.
Now that wehave covered thewesternpart of Asia, where is the rest of the continent located?Asia
stretcheseast andwest for 6,000miles from the
MediterraneanSea
to the
PacificOcean
.Thiswould
include the islands of
Japan
and the
Philippines
.The continent also runs north and south for 4,000
miles from the
ArcticOcean
to the
IndianOcean
.Thiswould include the steamy jungles of Indonesia
located on the
Equator
.
