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Where Australians Live…. Location, Climate, & Natural Resources in Australia. GPS: SS6G13 The student will explain the impact of location, climate, distribution of natural resources, and population distribution.
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Where Australians Live… Location, Climate, & Natural Resources in Australia
GPS: SS6G13 The student will explain the impact of location, climate, distribution of natural resources, and population distribution A. describe how Australia's location, climate, and natural resources have affected where people live B. describe how Australia’s location, climate, and natural resources impact trade EQ: How do Australia’s location, climate, and natural resources impact where people live and how they trade?
Location Of Australia • Both a continent & a country • Lies about 2,000 miles southeast of Asia • In the southern hemisphere • Literally the “land down under”!
Task #1 • Using the map on page 34 of the student atlas, complete the first column in your Geography of Australia chart • Relative Location (who remembers this?) • Absolute Location (who remembers what that is?) • One major city (HINT: Use this to approximate your absolute location)
Population • Coastal areas are the most populated • Most people live along east coast • Most populated city is Sydney, in New South Wales • Another populated city: Brisbane, Queensland
Location • Nearly 80% of Australians live in urban areas • Australia is one of the world’s most urbanized countries • 70% of all Australians live in cities of more than 100,000 people • Sydney has 3 and a 1/2 million people • Melbourne has about 3 million people
Climate of Australia • Varies across the continent • It’s south of the equator, so climate is opposite North America: • Summer: December through March • Winter: June through September
Task #2 • Using the map on page 179 of the COACH book, complete column 2 – Climate types by describing the type of climate found in each of the regions.
Climate: North Australia • Northern part of Australia is closest to the equator • Tropical climate and is warm-to-hot all year round • Gets more rain than any other part of the country • Winter: wet and cool • Summer: hot and dry
Climate: Central Australia • Desert is the largest part of Australia • Little rain falls here • Most of this area gets less than 10 inches of rain per year!
Climate: Coasts • Only the southeast and southwest corners have a temperate climate • Summers aren’t too hot & winters aren’t too cold (similar to Georgia) • Climate in these regions is the one that Australians prefer the most • Most Australians live along southeastern coast
Natural Resources of Australia • Outback refers to the dry interior • Mainly open countryside, including vast expanses of grazing land • Few widely scattered settlements in the Outback • Many of them grew up around mining operations…
Natural Resources: Mining • Australians mine for coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, zinc, oil, and natural gas • Lead the world in the production of diamonds, lead, & bauxite (used to make aluminum)!
Natural Resources: Mining • Minerals are often found in areas that are difficult to reach • Roads are expensive to build, but they are needed to get workers & equipment to remote locations • Expensive equipment is needed to move minerals to populated cities to trade
Natural Resources: Arable Land • Land that is good for farming • Enough areas with good land and rainfall to make farming an important business in Australia • Farmers here produce more than Australians can consume, so the food is traded and sold around the world
Task #3 • Using the map on page 182 of the COACH book, complete column 4 of your chart by listing the natural resources found in each region
Task #4 • Using the CIA Fact book, complete column 3 by listing the manufactured goods available in Australia. • Understand that these represent the whole country and not specific regions so turn your chart sideways to make your entries
Questions to Consider: • Where do most Australians live? • What important business is done in the outback? • Why do most Australians live in southeastern Australia?
Postcard Directions: • Front: Illustration of your favorite Australian destination (must be colorful!) • Back: Write a greeting to one of your friends that describes Australia. Be sure to include: • Location • Climate • Land • Resources
“I think I’ll move to Australia.” • In the story, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, Alexander has a bad day and decides his life would be better if he moved to Australia. After listening to the story, write a persuasive letter to Alexander’s mother to indeed let him move to the “Land Down Under.” • Include information from the “Where do Australians Live?” PowerPoint to help justify your point. You will need to include descriptions of Australia’s location, climate, land, and resources.
Credits • Where Australian’s Live retrieved from www.slideshare.net • Alexander image retrieved from www.google.com/images • United Streaming video, A World of It’s Own • Western Australia's Iron Deposits. Prod. Burning Blue Media. Planet Green, 2010. Discovery Education. Web. 22 March 2012. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.