Interactive Guide Grade 2

33 Explore the Continents

(Excerpts from South America)

South America

1 — CONTINENT OUTLINE MAP

Get out your poster map of South America and study the shape of the continent. Like North America, South America is wide in its northern part and narrow in its southern part. Look up “South America” in the Continents section of your geography encyclopedia. Use the encyclopedia map to label the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. Draw and label a line across South America to mark the Equator. Label Cape Horn. Like North America, South America has a great chain of mountains in the west, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Draw small peaks for the Andes Mountains. South America contains the largest river in the world, the Amazon River. The Amazon River is not the longest river, but it contains more water than any other river. Color a blue line for the Amazon River. Draw a jungle on your poster map for the Amazon Rainforest, the world’s largest rainforest.

The eastern tip of South America is a desert. Color this area tan. The southern half of the continent is covered by grasslands. Color these plains yellow. Don’t forget to explore some of the read aloud titles listed on page 145!

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