The Landscape

*Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica

*Atolls form when coral reefs build up on the rim of submerged volcanoes.

*Inside of most atolls are lagoons, which are pools of shallow, clear water

*Atolls and Lagoons

*The Great Barrier Reef

*New Zealand

*New Zealand is located 1,200 miles SE of Australia

*The country is composed primarily of two islands (North Island and South Island)

*There is a mountain chain that runs along the western edge of South Island – this chain is called the Southern Alps????

*New Zealand is AWESOME!

*Antarctica

*Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia!

*The continent lies at the very bottom (south) of Earth

*Antarctica is almost entirely covered in ice (98%) and in some areas the ice is almost 2 miles thick!

*Scientists like to study there because the atmosphere is completely unpolluted

You’re so hot! Stop being so frigid…

*Climates

* Climate

*Australia has a wide variety of climates ranging from tropical rain forests, to deserts, to Mediterranean climates!

*Most of the Oceania climates are tropical rain forests with temperatures ranging from 70 – 80 degrees year round…VACATION ANYBODY!?

*In Papua New Guinea there are mountains who remain snow-covered year round

*New Zealand experiences a Marine West Coast climate with summers ranging from 65 – 85 and winters from 35 – 55 degrees

*New Zealand averages 25 to 60 inches of rain per year but the Southern Alps receive up to 315 inches per year!

*Antarctica is Earth’s highest, driest, windiest, and coldest continent!

*Temperatures have reached as low as 129 degrees BELOW ZERO! This is almost 20 degrees colder than dry ice.

*Snowfall on Antarctica averages only 2 inches per year – most of the time it is too cold to snow.

*Despite the harsh conditions there are nearly 800 species of plants that live on Antarctica – with almost half of them being lichen (a fungus that grows with a photosynthetic partner) WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

*The Antarctic Peninsula has flower plants and can reach 60 degrees in the summer!

I’m NOT going out there!