Download About Working with Maps, Globes

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At a Glance
The most important ideas for you are:
◗ Students can use scales on maps and globes to measure distance.
◗ Students can use longitude and latitude coordinates to locate places on
maps and globes.
◗ The Prime Meridian is located at 0º longitude, and the International
Date Line, which generally corresponds to 180º longitude, marks the
change in days from east to west.
◗ Relief maps are special-purpose maps that indicate elevations and
depressions in land height.
◗ Major mountain ranges by continent include the Andes (South
America), Rockies and Appalachians (North America), Himalayas and
Urals (Asia), Atlas (Africa), and Alps (Europe).
◗ High mountains of the world by continent are Everest (Asia), McKinley
(North America), Aconcagua (South America), Mont Blanc (Europe),
and Kilimanjaro (Africa).
What Teachers Need to Know
Background
The study of geography embraces many topics throughout the Core
Knowledge Sequence, including topics in history and science. Geographic
knowledge includes a spatial sense of the world, an awareness of the physical
processes to which people culturally adapt, a sense of the interactions between
humans and their environment, an understanding of the relations between
place and culture, and an awareness of the characteristics of specific regions
and cultures. Many geographic topics are listed throughout the World History
and Geography Sequence in connection with historical topics.
Throughout this section, students should connect the “abstract” concepts
to something more concrete, such as a country of interest or a topic of historical study in this grade. Also look for opportunities to review geography and
map concepts as you study the history topics for this grade; e.g., share maps
of medieval Europe and China.
A. Spatial Sense (Working with Maps, Globes,
and Other Geographic Tools)
Measuring Distance Using Map Scale
Teaching Idea
Review map-reading skills and
concepts from previous grades
as needed.
Cross-curricular
Teaching Idea
Compare the distance using map
scale (usually measured in a straight
line), and talk about the meaning of
the saying “As the crow flies.” Have
students discuss the difference
between traveling as the crow flies
and how they travel using other
means (car, airplane). See also the
map book As the Crow Flies,
referenced in More Resources.
All maps are drawn to scale; that is, they are smaller than the things they represent. Scale is the ratio between the representation and the thing it represents.
A map may be drawn so that 1 inch equals 250 miles, or so that 1 inch equals
1 mile. Maps, as well as globes, almost always indicate the scale at which they are
drawn.
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Cross-curricular
Teaching Idea
Locate countries studied in earlier
grades and/or countries being studied
in this grade on a world map. Using
map scale, measure the distance
between countries studied. Students
can write mathematical word problems
comparing the distances.
Longitude and Latitude, Coordinates, and Degrees
Around the center of Earth is an imaginary line called the Equator. It is 0º latitude and is located halfway between the North and South Poles. The Equator
divides Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Teaching Idea
For a source of latitude and longitude
coordinates for world and U.S. cities,
check world almanacs.
Teaching Idea
Have students play a version of
“Battleship.” Provide each student
with a copy of Instructional Master 13,
Longitude and Latitude. For purposes
of the game, only degrees are shown.
Name
The scale of a map makes a difference in the amount of detail shown on a map
and the kinds of questions that can be asked and answered about what is shown.
A large-scale map (i.e., one closest in size to what it represents) will show less area
but provide more detail about the area shown than a small-scale map. For example, a road map of a state, with a scale of 1 inch per 10 miles, may show public
campgrounds, points of interest, and county roads, whereas a state map in an atlas
with a smaller scale of 1 inch per 60 miles may show only major highways and
major cities. This difference in detail is a function of the scale of the map.
Date
Imaginary lines that run parallel to the Equator are called parallels of latitude,
or parallels. Latitude is measured north and south of the Equator. The North and
South Poles are at 90ºN and 90ºS, respectively. Any area between the Equator and
the North or South Poles is some measurement from 0º to 90º north or south.
The dividing lines for the Eastern and Western Hemispheres are the Prime
Meridian (also called the Greenwich Meridian) and the 180th Meridian. These
two imaginary lines are on opposite sides of Earth. The Prime Meridian refers to
0º longitude, an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole,
passing through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, a suburb of London,
England. The International Date Line also runs from the North Pole to the South
Pole, generally following the 180th Meridian (it deviates in a few places to avoid
dividing Siberia and again to include the Aleutian Islands with Alaska).
Imaginary lines that run east and west from the Prime Meridian are called
meridians of longitude, or meridians. Longitude is measured east and west from
the Prime Meridian, or 0°. The International Date Line marks the difference in
time between east and west. When crossing the International Date Line going
west, a traveler moves forward to the next day (Tuesday becomes Wednesday).
When going east, a traveler goes back one day (Wednesday becomes Tuesday).
Meridians of longitude are not parallel, because Earth is a sphere. The widest
distance between lines measuring degrees of longitude is at the Equator, and the
lines converge as they approach the poles. You can see this clearly on a globe.
Longitude and Latitude
Study the map below. The star on the map represents an airplane in flight. Using lines of
longitude and latitude, you can pinpoint its location as latitude 40°N, longitude 20°W.
These coordinates, or set of numbers, are written as 40°N, 20°W.
Relief Maps: Elevations and Depressions
• First, draw four stars on intersecting lines on the map. Write the coordinates below.
Answers will vary.
• Then take turns giving those coordinates to a partner to draw on his or her map, but
without viewing yours.
• Work together to verify the location of each “plane.”
Purpose: To review longitude and latitude by locating coordinates on a map
Master 13
Grade 4: History & Geography
Use Instructional Master 13.
94
Grade 4 Handbook
Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation
Now use the map to play a “Find the Plane” game with a partner.
Washington, D.C., lies at 25 feet (7.62 m) above sea level. This is its elevation. A relief map, also called a physical map, shows elevations and depressions
of land areas. A relief map shows height and depth above (elevation) and below
(depression) sea level. The map uses different colors to show different levels of
land, and the map key reproduces those colors in boxes along with numerical
equivalents in feet or meters. A relief map, like a road map or a natural resources
map, is a special-purpose map.
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Draw the following example on the board to help you illustrate the map key
for a relief map.
Name
Date
Make a Relief Map
Connect each set of dots that indicate the same elevation. For example, draw a line
to connect all the dots labeled “450 and under.” Once you are done, color the land
according to the chart below.
Harris Campsite
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Jonson's Well
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Land
450 and under
451–500
501–550
551–600
601–650
= 801– 900 Feet
= 701– 800 Feet
= 601– 700 Feet
= 501– 600 Feet
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Scale 1 Inch = 1 Mile
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Elevation
Color
green
brown
yellow
orange
blue
Purpose: To interpret directions to create a relief map
Master 14
B. Mountains and Mountain Ranges
Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation
e
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t h Tr a
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Rockytop Hill
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CK_4_TH_HG_P087_242.QXD
Grade 4: History & Geography
Use Instructional Master 14.
Background
A mountain range is a series of connected mountains considered as a single system because of geographical proximity or common geologic origin.
Mountains are considered to have a common geologic origin if they formed at
the same time by the same set of geologic events.
A large mountain system, like the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern
Canada and the United States, may be called by different names in different
areas. For example, the Appalachians in the southern United States are called
the Blue Ridge, Great Smokies, Cumberland Plateau, and Black Mountains.
Cross-curricular
Teaching Idea
You may wish to teach the Science
section “How Mountains Are
Formed,” on pp. 497–498, prior to
introducing major mountain ranges.
South America: Andes
Name
Date
Major Mountains of North and South America
Study the map and use it to answer the questions that follow.
N
70
N
80
ARCTIC OCEAN
60N
Mt. McKinley
20,320 ft.
N
50
RO
K
CK
40N
OUU
MO
YY M
NORTH
PACIFIC
OCEAN
NORTH
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
NORTH
AMERICA
S
INN
AAI
NNTT
30N
APPALACHIAN
MOUNTAINS
S
20N
With an average height of 12,500 feet (3,810 m), the Andes are the secondhighest mountain range in the world. The Himalayas are the highest.
10N
0
Equator
AN
SOUTH
AMERICA
D
10S
E
S
SOUTH
PACIFIC
OCEAN
20S
MOU
N
W
30S
E
IN
S
N TA
Approximately 50–60% of Peru’s people live in the altiplano. About one-third
of the nation’s population live in the narrow lowlands between the Andes and the
Pacific Ocean. Because the Andes run north to south along the entire length of
Chile, most Chileans live in the Central Valley region between the Andes and low
coastal mountains.
S
0
40S
0
500
1000 miles
500 1000 kilometers
Mt. Aconcagua
22,834 ft.
SOUTH
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
50S
160W
140W
120W
100W
80W
60W
40W
20W
60S
Purpose: To read and interpret a map featuring major mountains of North and South America
The Andes Mountains were the home of Inca people, whom students in Core
Knowledge schools studied in Grade 1 and will study again in Grade 5.
Master 15a
Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation
The Andes Mountains are over 5,000 miles (8,046 km) in length, the longest
mountain system in the Western Hemisphere. The mountains begin as four ranges
in the Caribbean area on the northeastern coast of South America. In Peru and
Bolivia, the mountains form two parallel ranges that create a wide plateau known
as the altiplano. The Andes then form a single range that separates Chile from
Argentina.
Grade 4: History & Geography
Use Instructional Masters 15a–15b.
North America: Appalachians and Rockies
The Appalachian Mountains are the oldest mountain chain in North America
and stretch from Newfoundland to central Alabama. They are about 1,800 miles
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Teaching Idea
Give students coordinates to locate on
the map. After this becomes effortless,
ask them questions such as “What city
is located near X coordinate, Y coordinate?” Or you might ask them to estimate the coordinates of cities in the
United States.
You can play a game called
“Wet/Dry.” Give students a coordinate
and ask them to determine if they
would be wet or dry if they were at that
coordinate (i.e., would they be on land
or in the water).
You can also play “Hot/Cold”: have
them find a coordinate and say whether
they would be hot or cold at that location. This will reinforce the connections between latitude and climate.
You can also play “Twenty
Questions.” Choose a coordinate and
invite students to try to determine
where you are by asking questions,
e.g., “Is it north of the Equator?” and
“Is it west of the Prime Meridian?”
fifty-three minutes north latitude, and seventy-seven degrees and two minutes
west longitude.” The first set of numbers specifies a latitude north of the Equator,
and the second specifies a longitude west of the Prime Meridian. Although the
Sequence only stipulates that students learn about degrees, you may want to mention minutes as well, since this will enable them to locate places more exactly.
Students need to practice finding coordinates on maps. One way to do this is
to have them work with maps of countries you are studying in this grade (e.g.,
England, Russia, and Japan). Also, activities such as those suggested in the sidebar will help students become familiar with the geographical terms and concepts
they are learning.
Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
The area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N latitude) and the Tropic of
Capricorn (23.5° S latitude) is known as “the tropics” or “low latitudes.” It has the
warmest climate on Earth. The Tropic of Cancer is a parallel that measures 23.5º N
(or 23°27' N) and runs through Mexico, the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India,
and southern China. The Tropic of Capricorn measures 23.5º S (or 23°27' S), and
runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil, and northern South Africa. The
tropics were so-named because of the particular constellations that the sun was in
at the time of their respective solstices, or the time when the sun is the farthest
north or south of the Equator. At the time, the sun appeared directly over the
Tropic of Cancer during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice and directly
over the Tropic of Capricorn during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer solstice.
Earth rotates on its own axis and at the same time, it revolves around the sun.
Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5º, which means that all locations on Earth do not
receive the same amount of direct sunlight. The areas close to the Equator receive
the most direct sunlight and, therefore, have the hottest average temperatures year
round. As a result, the tropics have no sharply defined seasons. The North and
South Poles, the areas farthest away from the Equator—and farthest from the sun—
have extreme cold temperatures year round. The polar regions have two defined
seasons. Because of the tilt of Earth, polar areas—and the high latitudes in general—have 24 hours of sunlight in the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter. The farther a place is from the Equator, the more pronounced the differences
will be between summer and winter in terms of length of the days and nights.
Climate Zones: Arctic, Tropical, Temperate
There are three main categories of climate—arctic (also known as polar),
tropical, and temperate.
Teaching Idea
Note that latitude is not the only indicator of climate. Elevation and location in
relation to landforms and bodies of
water, prevailing winds, currents and
other phenomena also contribute to
climate patterns.
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• The arctic climate is often referred to as the polar climate by geographers
because the term polar makes it clear that the climate includes both the Arctic and
Antarctic areas. Polar climates have cool to cold summers and cold to very cold
winters. Temperatures average below 32ºF year-round on the Antarctic and
Greenland ice caps, and drop to well below 0ºF during the long, dark winter
months. Precipitation is scant, averaging only a few inches each year, and most of
it falls in the form of snow. A band of subpolar climate stretches across northern
North America and Eurasia. Here, one gets short summers with average temperatures above freezing for two or three months; then the temperature plunges
below freezing throughout the remainder of the year. Most of this region receives
between 5 and 10 inches of precipitation, with some areas receiving up to 20
inches. Snowfall can occur during any month.
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• Tropical climate includes some belts of climate with hot, wet weather yearround and some with hot weather that is dry part of the year and wet part of the
year. Areas with wet weather all year are typically rainforests. Rainforests can
receive as much as 400 inches of rain annually. Hot areas with alternating wet and
dry patterns are savannas, or plains with tall grasses. Savannas receive about 50
inches of precipitation a year. Temperatures average above 68ºF throughout the
year in the tropics. Tropical rainforests thrive around the Equator in Africa and in
South America, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Borneo, and New Guinea. A large belt
of savanna exists north and south of the rainforests in Africa.
• Temperate zones of climate are found in the middle latitudes, between the
tropics and the polar areas. In general, temperate climates are characterized by
warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters, with variations depending on latitude. Throughout much of these regions, temperatures can rise above 100ºF in
the summer and drop well below freezing in the winter. The temperate zones
experience dramatic changes in seasons, with pronounced periods of spring and
fall. Precipitation varies from a few inches in the midlatitude desert regions to
more than 100 inches in some areas. Snowfall occurs during winter months in
many temperate zone locations. These are regions of considerable variability in
both weather and climate. The northeastern and north United States, western
Europe, and eastern Asia have temperate climates.
Time Zones
Time zones were developed to bring uniformity to the hours of the day as the
sun moves from east to west. Time zones generally follow the rule of one time
zone for every 15º of longitude (360º of longitude divided by 15 equals 24 time
zones, which correspond with the 24 hours of the day). However, the lines dividing time zones are not perfectly straight. Sometimes they zigzag to avoid dividing
countries, states, or metropolitan areas.
To understand why time zones are important, consider this. Imagine there are
three cities, City A, City B, and City C. City B is 100 or so miles west of City A,
and City C is 100 miles west of City B.
Teaching Idea
Create an overhead from Instructional
Master 12, Latitude as Climate
Indicator, and distribute a copy to
each student. As you discuss the
location of the Equator at 0º, the
Tropic of Cancer at 23.5° N, and the
Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5° S, indicate that the tropics are in the low
latitudes; that the area between the
tropics and the polar regions is in the
middle latitudes. Have students label
their maps as you label the overhead.
Then have students create a map key
and color in the regions using different-colored markers.
Divide the class into five teams
and assign each team a region to
research (North frigid zone; North
temperate zone; tropical zone; South
temperate zone; South frigid zone).
Each team member must find and
share 1 unique fact about the region.
Name
Date
Latitude as Climate Indicator
Study the map. Then follow the directions below.
North Pole
150°W 120°W 90°W 60°W 30°W 0° 30°E
CITY B
CITY A
EUROPE
NORTH
AMERICA
ASIA
30°N
Tropic of Cancer
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
0°
PACIFIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
AFRICA
Equator
SOUTH
AMERICA
Tropic of Capricorn
30°S
INDIAN
OCEAN
AUSTRALIA
N
0
W
TEMPERATE
The sun rises first in the easternmost city, which is City A. In actuality, of
course, the sun is not “rising”; rather, Earth is rotating. But from our position on
Earth, it looks as if the sun is rising. After some time passes and the planet rotates
a little more, the sun will rise in City B. Then, after a little more time and a bit
more rotation, the sun will come up in City C. If each city based its time completely on its position relative to the sun, then the time would be slightly different in each city, and this could be very confusing. It might be 8:20 in City C, 8:10
in City B, and 8:00 in City C. And if you were on a train halfway between
City B and City C, it would be 8:05. To avoid this kind of confusion, people have
agreed to divide the globe into 24 time zones, each one hour apart. If City A, City
B, and City C are all in the same time zone, this means that the people in these
locations have agreed to refer to a particular moment in time as 8:00 AM, even
though the actual “solar time” may be a few minutes earlier than that in one of
the cities and a few minutes later in another.
90°E 120°E 150°E
Arctic Circle
60°N
TROPICAL
CITY C
60°E
ARCTIC OCEAN
FRIGID
TEMPERATE
E
S
60°S
1,000
2,000 miles
0 1,000 2,000 kilometers
Scale at Equator
Antarctic Circle
FRIGID
ANTARCTICA
South Pole
1. Color the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn red. This
area is known as the tropics.
2. Color the areas north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle blue.
3. Find the areas between the tropics and the arctic climates. Color these temperate
climate areas yellow.
Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation
2/14/06
Prime Meridian
CK_5_TH_HG_P104_230.QXD
Purpose: To read and interpret a map featuring the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic
Circle
Master 12
Grade 5: History & Geography
Use Instructional Master 12.
As noted earlier, longitude is measured east and west from the Prime Meridian,
or 0°, located at Greenwich, England. The 180º line is in the Pacific Ocean; it is
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I. World Geography
called the International Date Line. The International Date Line marks the difference
in time between east and west. (The International Date Line actually zigs and zags
from north to south to avoid running directly through settled islands.) When crossing the International Date Line going west, a traveler moves forward to the next day
(Tuesday becomes Wednesday). When going east, a traveler goes back one day
(Wednesday becomes Tuesday). The International Date Line is a hard concept to
explain. At this age it is sufficient that students know the date line exists and understand that it is related to time zones and to the rotation of Earth. They do not need
to understand exactly why the IDL was created.
Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle
The Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle are imaginary lines that are drawn
around Earth near the North and South Poles. The Arctic Circle is at 66.5º N (or
66º33' N) latitude and the Antarctic Circle is at 66.5º S (or 66º33' S) latitude. The
North Pole is within the Arctic Circle; the South Pole is within the Antarctic Circle.
Earth tilts slightly on its axis. As it makes its 365-day orbit around the sun,
this tilt causes first the Northern Hemisphere and then the Southern Hemisphere
to be tilted toward the sun for a period of months. When this occurs, the polar area
of the hemisphere—either the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle—has six
months of daylight for 24 hours a day. When the hemisphere is tilted away from
the sun, the polar area has 24 hours of darkness per day. This effect lessens further
from the poles, with the Arctic and Antarctic Circles experiencing just one day of
complete light and dark per year. The circle marks the boundary of 24-hour day
or 24-hour night, depending on what time of the year it is in the hemisphere. For
the Southern Hemisphere, 24-hour daylight within the Antarctic Circle—and summer—begins on December 22. For the Northern Hemisphere, December 22 marks
the beginning of 24-hour night and winter within the Arctic Circle.
Teaching Idea
From a Round Globe to a Flat Map
You may wish to review relief maps
with students. Those in Core
Knowledge schools studied relief maps
in Grade 4.
Although globes are more accurate models of Earth than flat maps, you can’t fold
a globe up and take it with you on a trip. Maps—pictorial representations of the location of various places—are a way to make the information on a globe portable.
If Earth were flat, it would be easy to make a map of it on a flat sheet of paper.
But Earth is a sphere. This poses certain difficulties for mapmakers and
cartographers.
Whenever you transfer information about a spherical planet onto a flat piece
of paper, there will be a certain amount of distortion. The act of transferring information from a globe to a flat map is called projection. There are various ways of
projecting information from a globe onto a flat page. Each way distorts the original information in a distinctive way.
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To understand how projection works, take a long, blank sheet of paper and
wrap it around a globe in such a way that the paper touches the globe at the
Equator but not at the poles. Now imagine that the globe is made of transparent
plastic with the continents and other features drawn on the plastic in a darker
color. Also imagine that this transparent globe has a light bulb in the center. If the
light bulb were turned on, the light would shine through the transparent orb and
the marked parts would cast shadows on the paper. You could trace the shapes
cast by the shadows and then unroll the paper to make a rectangular map. In the
places where the paper sits right next to the globe, the sizes and shapes of the
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continents and oceans on your map would be very accurate. However, in those
areas where the paper is a long way from the globe, there would be distortion.
Thus, the areas around the Equator will be rendered very accurately and the areas
near the poles will be distorted and rendered less accurately.
Mercator Projection
In 1569, the cartographer Gerardus Mercator developed a projection scheme
that is still widely used today. Mercator projected the globe’s features onto a cylinder, in roughly the way described above. The Mercator projection is accurate for
the tropics but distorts the areas near the poles (such as Alaska and Greenland),
making them look much larger on the resulting map than they are. The shapes of
the landmasses are accurate but the sizes and distances between areas are not.
Direction, however, is accurate, which is what Europeans moving east and west
between Europe and the Americas during the Age of Exploration wanted to know.
Teaching Idea
Create an overhead from Instructional
Master 13, Three Different Map
Projections, to illustrate the differences among the Mercator, conic,
and Robinson projections.
As you explain the distortions,
have students point them out by identifying the continents and oceans
where the differences are apparent.
Name
Date
Three Different Map Projections
Study each map projection below. Then discuss their differences with your teacher.
Mercator Projection
Conic Projection
In a conic projection, a piece of paper is twisted into a cone and placed over
the globe so that the circular “top” of the cone touches the globe. Features on the
globe are then projected onto the paper. The resulting map is reproduced as a rectangular map with curved parallels and meridians. This is different than the
Mercator projection, which has straight lines. A map made using conic projection
is most accurate for the areas on the globe that touch the cone. Conic maps are
not good for showing large areas, like the whole globe. However, they are good
for showing smaller areas, especially smaller areas in the middle latitudes.
Direction and distance are also relatively accurate.
Plane Projection
Purpose: To distinguish between a Mercator projection, a conic projection, and a plane projection
Master 13
Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation
Conic Projection
Grade 5: History & Geography
Use Instructional Master 13.
Plane Projection
In a plane projection a flat sheet of paper is placed against the side of globe
so that it touches the globe at one point only. (Recall that in a Mercator projection the paper was wrapped around the globe to make a cylinder and made contact with the globe all along the Equator.) Plane projection produces a map that
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I. World Geography
is accurate at the point where it touches, but is less accurate as you move away
from the point of contact. The plane projection is also called the azimuthal
[AZ-em-MUTH-al] projection. A common form of this projection is a polar projection, in which the North or South Pole is used as the central point of contact.
Teaching Idea
Note that the convention of north at the
top of maps came about because navigators used a magnetic compass to
determine direction. In Grade 4, students in Core Knowledge schools
learned about the invention of the compass by the Chinese. Point out compass
roses on a variety of maps.
Robinson Projection
Name
The Robinson projection is the most commonly used representation in textbooks. It is called a “compromise projection” because it tries to strike a compromise between some of the other kinds of projection. The goal is to minimize the
limitations and distortions inherent in the other schemes while capturing their
strengths. In a Robinson projection, the shape and size of continents is somewhat
distorted, but less so than with the Mercator projection. The areas around the
poles appear somewhat flatter than they are on a globe, but the areas at the
eastern and western edges of the projection are fairly accurate. As is the case
with conic projections, the parallels and meridians on the resulting map are
curved.
Date
Great Lakes of the World
Fill in the chart with information about the great lakes of the world.
Name
Location
Lake Superior
Lake Michigan
Lake Huron
Lake Ontario
Lake Erie
Lake Titicaca
Latitude/
Longitude
B. Great Lakes of the World
Elevation
Approximate
Surface Area
Saltwater or
Freshwater
Characteristics
Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation
Background
Master 14a
Grade 5: History & Geography
A lake is a large inland body of water. A river may feed into a lake and a
river may flow out of it. The Great Rift Valley of East Africa has several lakes
and rivers running through it. There are lakes on most continents and most
of them contain fresh water. Lakes are often important sources of water for
irrigation and hydroelectric power, as well as transportation and recreation.
Use Instructional Masters 14a–14b.
Asia: Caspian Sea and Aral Sea
Teaching Idea
Before introducing the lakes on each
continent, take stock of what students
already know about each continent. For
example, before talking about Asian
lakes, discuss what students already
know about Asia.
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Grade 5 Handbook
The Caspian Sea actually lies between Europe and Asia, in the area known as
Eurasia. The Caspian borders the countries of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
Iran, and Azerbaijan. It is the world’s largest inland sea, spanning 143,000 square
miles (370,368 sq. km), and has no natural outlets to the ocean; a canal links the
Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. The sea lies 92 feet (28 m) below sea level and is
fed by rivers such as the Volga. In recent years, the sea has been shrinking because
water is being drawn off the rivers that feed it for use in irrigation. The Caspian
Sea is used for fishing, especially in the northern regions, and is an important
source of oil and natural gas.
The Aral Sea is bordered by Uzbekistan to the south and Kazakhstan to the
north. The Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest lake. However, in recent
years, it, too, has been shrinking due to diversion of the rivers that feed it to irrigate fields devoted to cotton production. In fact, it has shrunk by more than 40%
since the 1960s. This has caused the water in the sea to become highly saline,