Australia and New Zealand:Powerpoint

Physical Geography

• Australia and New Zealand are between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

• Australia’s seasons are opposite of the United States due to their location. (Southern Hemisphere)

• Because of its isolation, Australia and New Zealand’s plant and animal life are found nowhere else on earth.

• Some of the animals are marsupials, plants, birds, and koalas.

• The continent of Australia is moving 2 inches per year towards Asia due to plate tectonics.

• New Zealand is made up of 2 major islands and was formed by volcanoes.

Physical Geography

• New Zealand has a cooler climate than Australia because it is farther from the equator.

• Most Australians live on the east and southeast coast because of the mild climate and good rainfall.

• Australia and New Zealand’s people mostly live along the coast in cities.

• Australia and New Zealand grow similar crops, produce iron ore, coal, and natural gas, and raise sheep.

Landforms

Australia

• Outback

• Great Dividing Range

• Great Barrier Reef

• Australian Alps

• Warm Climate

New Zealand

• Glaciers• Fjords• Geysers• Volcanoes• High Mountains• Large Forests• Cooler Climate

Unique Animals and Plant Life of Australia and New Zealand

• What type of mammals nurse their young from a pouch? Pg. 628

• What geographic factor has helped Australia’s wildlife be unique? Pg. 628

Pictures

Koala Bear

Kangaroo

Pictures

Outback

New Zealand

Tectonic Plates• What continent was

Australia once believed to be a part of? Pg. 628

• How was New Zealand formed? Pg. 630

• Which one is the youngest, Australia or New Zealand?

New Zealand: Created by Volcanoes

• As Australia drifted away, the Australian plate collided with the Pacific plate.

• What is formed by the plates colliding? Pg. 630

• What can they form over time? Pg. 630

Fiord

• Define Fiord:

Geyser

• Define “geyser”:

Pacific Islands• The Pacific Islands are archipelagos, which are chains of

islands.

• High islands are formed from volcanoes and are mountainous.

• Low islands are made up of coral reefs or atolls.

• An atoll is a small coral island in the shape of a ring.

• Coral is a rock like material made up of the skeletons of tiny sea creatures.

• Fewer people live on low islands than high islands.

• The Pacific is located in the tropics and hot year-round.

• Most islands receive rain year round and can have typhoons.

• Most islanders depend on cash crops and tourism to earn a living.

Pacific Islands

Micronesia

• Made up of low islands.• Covers an area as large

as the continental U.S.• Most islands are north of

the equator.• Most of the 2,000 islands

are smaller than 1 square mile.

Melanesia

• Melanesia has the most people.

• Most are large, high islands.

• New Guinea is the largest and most populated island.

• Formed by volcanoes.

Polynesia

• The largest island group in the Pacific.

• It includes Hawaii.

• Dense rainforests on the islands.

• Mostly formed by volcanoes.

Cultures of Australia and Oceania

• The Maori settled in New Zealand. They traveled from Asia to the Pacific Islands to New Zealand 1,000 years ago. 15% today are Maori.

• The Aborigines settled in Australia, coming from Asia 40,000 years ago.

• In the late 1700’s and 1800’s the British settled in the region bringing the English language and Christianity.

• It first was a place to send prisoners to jail.• When gold was discovered the population soared.• Due to isolation the Pacific islands developed their own

culture, language, and religions.

Aboriginal People in Australia• How long ago was the

Aboriginal people believed to have come to Australia? Pg. 697

• What ways are the Aborigines trying to improve their culture? Pg. 807 - 808

• What is there goal dealing with the Australian government today? Pg. 808

British Settlement of Australia and New Zealand

• When did the British Settle Australia and New Zealand? Pg. 697

• What was Australia set up as by the British? Pg. 697

• What discovery made people want to move to Australia? Pg. 697

Australia Economy

• Today Australia economy depends on trade with which countries? Pg. 805

• Australia is a world leader in producing what cash crop? Pg. 805

• Australia is the world leader in the production of what product from sheep? Pg. 806

Low and High Islands• What is an atoll? Pg.

635

• What are the main features of low islands? Pg. 635

• What are the main features of low islands? Pg. 635

Review Questions

1) What 2 oceans is Australia between?

2) Name the landform in the Coral Sea to the northeast of Australia.

3) What is the desert area in Australia called?

4) How was New Zealand formed?

5) What is a coral island?

6) What type of island do most people in the Pacific Islands live on?

Review Questions

7) What is a marsupial?

8)What are the major early ethnic groups in Australia and New Zealand?

9)Who settled in Australia and New Zealand in the 1700’s?

10)Name 3 things Australia depends on in their economy.