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PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 29:
Political Features of Australia
G’daymate.Welcome to the land down under.Down under what?Australia is south of theEquator
and “down under” most of the earth’s land masses. Australia is one of two continents that lies
completely in theSouthernHemisphere.Write the name of the other continent.
Australia is a continent, a country, and an island. In land area, Australia is the 6th largest country in
the world. It is nearly as large in size as the mainland United States. However, with over 20,000,000
people, it is a rather small country.Becausehugeareas of Australia consist of desert conditions, muchof
the land is not suited tohumanactivity.Becauseof its large land size, and small population, Australiahas
one of the lowest population densities in theworld. Let’s learnmore about this continent.
ACTIVITY 1:
Go to the political map of Australia on the next page and a school or classroom atlas reference. The
countryof Australia ismadeupof sixstatesand two territories.Let’s takeaquick tour throughAustralia
to find out where these places are located.
A)We can locate the places from east towest by using numbers for states and territories.
B) Next, locate and label each state’s or territory’s capital city at its starred location. The country’s
capital, Canberra, has an outlined star by its location.
C) After you have located and labeled each state and territory, find its boundaries and trace it with
colored pencils or markers.
STATESANDTERRITORIES
CAPITALCITIES
1.Queensland
★
Brisbane
2.NewSouthWales
★
Sydney
3.Capital District Territory
✰
Canberra
4.Victoria
★
Melbourne
5.Tasmania
★
Hobart
6. SouthAustralia
★
Adelaide
7.NorthernTerritory
★
Darwin
8.WesternAustralia
★
Perth
ACTIVITY 2:
Use your classroom atlas reference to locate and label three other well known cities of Australia.
1.Newcastle = a coastal industrial city
2.Cairns = a topical tourist city
3. AliceSprings = a desert city
Click
&
Learn
While Australia is know for
its lovable critters, such as
koalas, wombats, and
platypuses, the country
also has some of theworld’s
most venomous (poisonous)
creatures, suchas the funnelweb
spider andbox jellyfish. Australia
also has some of theworld’s
deadliest snakes.
There aremany
interesting
websites on the
Aborigine people.
Ask your teacher
for a
Research
GraphicOrganizer
(
BLM
) to help you
organize your
information.
Australia
