Download The Project: New Continent Project NAME: The Point: The point of

The Project: New Continent Project
NAME:_______________________________
Your job, as leader of the world’s foremost geo-engineering corporation, is to design and create a new continent in the
middle of the ocean! You may make the continent wherever you wish, in whatever shape you wish, as long as you allow
settlers from the other continents to settle there. Will it have islands? Snowy mountains? Huge rivers? Jungles? Vast
deserts? That is up to you. You also have complete control over politics in the new continent. You may decide to allow
several different countries to occupy your land, or you may create one enormous empire. You may allow a dictatorship, a
democracy, even a monarchy. Remember that your new land will be inhabited by refugees from the other continents, but
whole new cultures and languages may arise, too.
The Point: The point of this project is to demonstrate your knowledge of:
Types of maps
Elements of a map
Logical placement of landforms
Types of political and economic systems
Application of the five themes of geography
What you have to do:
To do this project right, you must create a display with the following things:
Two Maps:
1. A physical map, labeled with at least 10 major landforms/bodies of water (plains, seas, mountains). They
must be logically placed. Examples and definitions of landforms/bodies of water in your textbook.
2. A political map, showing the countries and capital cities on your continent. (To save yourself time, you may
create one outline map and copy it, so you don’t have to do everything twice.)
Note: Each map should have a legend, a compass rose, and a scale indicator.
MR. LIP:
1. Location. Give your continent’s latitude and longitude (absolute location) and its relative location. What other
continents is it near? What ocean is it in, and part of the world?
2. Place. This includes both human and physical (natural) characteristics. What is the land like? What is the
climate? What is the shape of the land and what are the major types of vegetation? Is it urban or rural? What
are the man-made features of this place? Any famous landmarks?
3. Human-environment interaction. This includes how people depend, adapt and modify (change) the
environment. How do people use the land or protect the land here? Do they mine, or farm? Have you built
dams, or planted forests? Are there any environmental problems to solve?
4. Movement. How do people, goods and services and ideas move from one place to another? Do people come
and go here, or is it isolated from the outside world? Where do most of your immigrants come from? Do people
migrate from one region to another? What are your trade routes between
towns and countries? Are there roads, railroads, airports, or some other form of transportation? How do people
get where they need to go?
5. Region. Describe the formal and functional regions in your continent. Describe the vernacular. What
languages are spoken there? Are there other names for different regions? Do particular cultures tend to
congregate in certain areas? Are there particular areas that are dedicated to one industry, like farming or
fishing? Is the continent divided into countries, or states? Are there major rivers or bays that tie certain areas
together?
When is it due?
There are three parts to the project, and you will have some classroom time to complete it. You should be able
to do a good deal of this project in class. The whole project is due: Thursday, May 22, 2014. Whatever you do
not finish at school, you will need to finish at home.
Here's an Example:
Narrative: This section must be typed. Please use the format sample below AND include your name 
1. Location.
Colorandia's absolute location is 40ºN, 40ºW, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It is exactly halfway between
North America and Europe, and south of Greenland. (relative location)
2. Place.
These are the physical characteristics of Colorandia. There is a mild to cool climate. There is a huge glacier at the
highest elevation, and the middle of the continent is divided by the Brownpeak Mountains. There are two major
rivers -- the Azul, which runs through the Argent Plains in the south, and the Greenwater, which runs north
through the cool, dry lands of the Yellow Plains. The most famous natural landmarks are the Sand Canyon,
which is three times larger than the Grand Canyon in North America, and the Yellow Mesa, which is a rock
climber's dream -- ascending a thousand feet straight up. The biggest manmade features, also called the human
characteristics, (except of course for the whole continent, which is of course man-made) would include the
Genghis Dam on the Azul River, which generates millions of kilowatts of power, and the Isthmus of Shadows,
which gets its name from the enormous manmade tunnel that allows high-speed traffic to and from the
Beigefinger Peninsula. The vegetation on the continent varies. In the south, the forests are mixed. In the
north, there are coniferous forests, though the east part of the continent is mostly prairie or desert.
3. Human-environment interaction.
The People's Republic of Beigefinger has a terrible record of abusing the land. They have modified the land by
mining for gold and silver, with no thought for the environment, and their cheap factories, which now produce
most of the world's plastic items, pollute the air and water. The Azul Republic created the Genghis Dam to
harness electricity from the river, but it did cause problems when the wetlands upstream started drying up.
Most people in the countryside of the Republic are farmers or ranchers. They depend on the forests for wood.
They have a shortage of wood, because they have very few forests. In the Kingdom of Brownpeak, the people
use their forests for timber. They also mine for coal. The kingdom is mostly industrial -- making steel, iron, and
titanium products. The No Man's Land is cold, and there is little to live on. The people here have to be tough to
survive. In every region, people have to adapt various types of natural disasters like tornados, drought, and
flooding.
4. Movement.
Immigration is unrestricted to Freeport, where most people stop on their way into Colorandia. It is very difficult
to get into Beigeland, which is controlled by a strict communist government. Brownpeak requires a visa and
many immigration fees. The king decides who to let in and who to kick out. Azul has an open immigration
policy. The immigrants come equally from Asia, America, and Europe, with a smaller percentage from Africa.
Most Americans settle in Azul. Most Europeans settle in Brownpeak. There is an excellent highway system in
both the north and the south, though there are only three passes through the Brownpeak Mountains,
and each has a customs checkpoint. All major cities have an international airport, though immigrants must pass
through inspection at Freeport first. No Man's Land is the most backwards area. There are no roads, and most
travel is done by foot or horse. There is a high-speed rail system between Greenwater City and Yellow Mesa to
accommodate tourists. Most of the imports and exports pass through the ocean ports of New Dallas, New
Beijing, or Greenwater.
5. Region.
The regions of this continent are formal regions, set by the government. There are three major language regions
-- English in the South, German in the North, and Mandarin Chinese on the Peninsula. The largest functional
region is the Azul River Basin, in which almost all activity is connected to the river. No Man's Land is another
region, defined by its harsh environment and its state of anarchy. The Brownpeak Mountains is a region
dedicated to heavy mining.