First order landforms

First order landforms

Continents and oceans are grouped as first order landforms. The vast land masses on Earth are called Continents and huge water bodies are called Oceans. There are seven continents. They are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. Asia is the largest continent, whereas Australia is the smallest one.

GEO CONNECT:

Land classification - Sangam period

1. Kurinji- Mountain and its environs

2. Mullai- Forest and its surroundings

3. Marutham - Agricultural land and its adjoining areas.

4. Neithal- Sea and its environs

5. Palai- Desert region

Which of the above land form category do you belong to?

Apart from continents, there are five oceans located on the Earth’s surface. They are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Ocean. Among these oceans, the Pacific Ocean is the largest and the Arctic Ocean is the smallest.

Activity:

Required materials

* A round plate

* 7 slices of one carrot

* A glass of water        

Procedure

Write the abbreviations As, Af, NA, SA, An, Eu and Au on each slice in descending order of its size.

The teacher hangs a wall map of the world.

The students have the expansion of each abbreviation written on the board.

Students now try to place the slices on the plate matching the position of the continents in the map.

They pour some water.

The teacher shows the oceans.

Accordingly the students put their fingers in the respective places and repeat the names of the ocean stirring the water.

The students learn the position, comparative size of the continent and the position of oceans.

Isthumus : A narrow strip of land which connects two large landmasses or separates two large waterbodies.