Sunday, January 8, 2012

Our Exciting Expedition to South America!



Mrs. Ranney's class was so excited when the National Geographic Giant Traveling Map
of South America came to our school!

We love to learn about geography!




 We used the COUNTRY cards to locate all the COUNTRIES in South America. 
How many countries were there?


Within each country's borders, we found the capital city. We noticed that the capital cities
were marked by a special symbol, a star inside a circle.




Do you know which countries match to these capital cities?









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 Since Brazil is the largest country in South America, 
we were all able to fit inside its borders!



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 We found that the Isthmus of Panama, which is actually part of North America, 
connects North and South America.


 At the southernmost point, we discovered Cape Horn,
which is only 600 miles from the continent of Antarctica!




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 We visited the equator where it is very hot!




 Then it was off to the Atlantic Ocean to cool off!


In the Pacific, some of us took a voyage to the Galapagos Islands!
Do you know about the amazing animals there?




 Later, we trekked to the top of the longest mountain range in the world, the Andes!


Some energetic Andean explorers climbed to the top of Mt. Aconcagua,
the highest point in South America!




Another summit in the Andes is Mount Chimborazo!


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 We even took a journey along the Amazon River!
Do you know in what direction it flows and where its mouth is?



Look what we found lurking in the waters of the Amazon!
Do you know what it is?




Speaking of amazing bodies of water, we also located the
tallest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls!




Still other explorers discovered Iguazu Falls, which are huge 
and beautiful waterfalls in South America!
Do you know in what country Angel Falls and Iguazu Falls are located?

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 It was obvious to all of us that South America is almost surrounded by ocean 
and has many miles of coastline. Only two countries are landlocked


 These travelers were able to locate the landlocked countries.
Do you know which ones they are?



 These explorers noticed that only the narrow country of Chile separates Argentina from the Pacific Ocean!



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 As we explored South America, some of us were surprised to discover cities with the 
same names as cities in the United States!








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 One explorer found the country and city where her mother was born!




Our newest classmate showed us where
he is from!
                                                                                                                            


                                                                        
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 Next, we decided to create a human ClustrMap!




 We studied the South American ClustrMap from our blog and 
noticed that most of our visitors are located on the west coast or in Brazil.


 We scouted out those locations and placed our red dots!



Check out our human ClustrMap!




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Have you ever visited a country in South America? 
If so, tell us about it!
Research and share some interesting facts about South America. 
 You can use World Book Online!
Remember, do not plagiarize!  
(To plagiarize mean you copied someone else's work and are passing it off as your own.)


15 comments:

  1. Dear Class,

    Brasilia is the capital of Brazil. The Amazon River flows west to east and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Angel Falls is in Venezuela and Iguazu Falls is in Argentina. The two landlocked countries are Bolivia and Paruguay.

    Best Regards,
    Josh

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Quynhanh,

    Did you know there are 13 countries in South America? Did you also know that Amazon River begins at a cliff high in the Peruvian Andes, and it ends at Atlantic Ocean off of Brazil?

    Best Regards,
    Nicole

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,

    Did you know that South America is the fourth largest continent. There are two landlocked contries, and they are Bolivia and Paruguay. South America has nearly every type of climate.

    Best Regards,
    Arielle

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,

    I loved visiting the big map, it was super fun! My favorite country there is Brazil because of the rain forests and the exotic animals that live there. I watched an episode about Panama on Animal Planet. Did you know an animal that lives there is the caiman? It is a mix of an alligator and a crocodile, but they're smaller? Every year all the rivers in Panama dry up and caimans try to crawl across the land to the other side where there is water. Some of them bury themselves in mud to keep cool. A lot of them don't make it, but some do. They lay eggs and the eggs hatch.
    It is exciting to know that cities here share the names of cities in South America.

    I hope you enjoyed some of the facts that I've shared with you today.

    Best Wishes,
    Bella

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Class,

    In South America some families live in minifundios. Minifundios are small pieces of land. People who live there work on the land. There is enough food to feed a whole family!

    Sincerely,
    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,

    Did you know The waterfall was known for most of the twentieth century by the name "Angel Falls" after Jimmie Angel, a US aviator who was the first to fly over the falls in a plane?
    It is the world's highest waterfall, with a height of 979 m (3,212 ft) and a plunge of 807 m (2,648 ft). The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyantepui mountain in the Canaima National Park.

    I loved learning about South America! My Grandmother Selda is from Lima Peru.

    I hope you enjoyed some of the facts about Angel Falls!

    Best Regards,
    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class

    We liked finding out what countries are in South America. We also liked finding the city Los Angeles on the map.

    Best Regurds,

    Nate and Alex

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Class,

    Did you that Iguazu Falls consists of 275 of its own waterfalls? This falls ranks among the major tourist attractions on this continent. It has an altogether total of a width of around two miles. The fish in the Amazon was a piranha.

    I hoped you enjoyed the facts we shared with you.

    Sincerely,
    Adam and Josh

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,

    Did you know that about four-fifths of South America's people are living in urban areas? Did you also know that South America covers about 6,884,000 square miles?

    I hope you enjoyed our facts.

    Best Regards,
    Nicole and Arielle

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sydney and FrancescaJanuary 13, 2012 at 9:20 AM

    Dear Bella,

    Your comment is interesting. We never knew that there was a mix of a crocodile and a alligator, and we think that it is sad that most of them do not make it.


    Thanks for sharing a a lot of lovely facts with us.

    Adios ( as they say in South America )
    Francesca and Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hayley and Quynh-Anh ♥January 13, 2012 at 9:24 AM

    Dear Class,

    Did you know that more than one third of South America is covered in tropical rain forests? One of the animals in the Amazon Rain Forest is a Tamarin. A Tamarin is a small monkey that grows up to 12 inches without a tail. The tail is 17 inches long. Tamarin's are multicolored. Red,white,and brown are the most common colors they can be.

    We hope you liked learning about the Tamarin.

    Regards,

    Hayley and Quynh-Anh ♥

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,

    Aviv and Oliver had fun exploring the South America map with the whole class. Aviv and Oliver found Peru on the South America map. Aviv and Oliver also found the capital of Peru.

    From,
    Aviv and Oliver

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs.Ranney and Class,

    Argentina is the second largest country in South America and it's the eighth largest in the world.It's in the southern part of South America.It covers 1,073,519 square miles.Argentina has a lot of natural resources.

    From,
    Adar and Gregory

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,

    Did you know that the Andes Mountains stretch almost about 4,500 miles(7,200 kilometers),from Venezuela in the north to Tierra Del Fuego in the south.

    best reagards,
    Maya and Vanessa

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Mrs.Ranney and class,

    We looked up a Willet which is a South America bird. In winter the Willet flies to Brazil.It is 16 inches (41 centimeters).

    It is mostly gray, but has a little brown on it. The willet makes a loud crying noise when frightened. That's why it has the nickname the "tattler."

    We hoped you enjoyed some of the facts we shared with you.

    Best Wishes,
    Bella and Grace

    ReplyDelete

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