GEOGRAPHY
SOUTH AMERICA
Success Criteria• I can identify South America on an atlas and label the
countries and the capital cities.• I understand and can describe a biome• I can identify the main types of biome on a map
Key VocabularyBiomeTundra
To understand what a biome is and use an atlas to label the countries and capital cities in South
America.
WHAT IS A BIOME?
• A biome is a natural
area of plants and
animals. The world is
divided into lots of
different biomes and
they are all different
depending on their
climate.
Types of BiomesForest
Forest biomes are home to
a variety of trees and other
plants. They cover about
30% of our Earth’s surface
and are extremely
important to our
ecosystem as they store
carbon and provide many
materials that we use.
Grassland
The majority of this biome is
made up of a variety of grasses
with very few trees or large
plants. The two main types of
grasslands found are ‘tall-grass’
(humid and wet), and ‘short-
grass’ (dry). This biome is very
popular for farming due to the
rich soil.
Rainforest
Home to a variety of
tropical plants and animals
and found in regions that
are warm all year round.
Unfortunately, rainforests
now cover less than 6% of
our planet but still
produce about 40% of our
oxygen.
Tundra
This is the coldest biome and
therefore has little plant and
animal variety. Tundra biomes
cover approximately one fifth
of the Earth’s surface.
Watch this video, to learn more about different biomes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z849q6f/articles/zvsp92p
A continent that is home to nearly 400 million people, South America consists of 12 countries—Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru,Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana,
and Suriname—plus an overseas department of France called French Guiana.
Covering one eighth of the world’s land, South America is roughly twice the size of the United States. Brazil alone is greater in size than 49 U.S. states combined (excluding Alaska), and Argentina’s land area is larger than Mexico plus Texas.
Even smaller South American countries would loom large in Europe; for example, Guyana rivals the combined areas of Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland.
Biomes of South America
On the map are the different biomes of South America. They are colour coded to help us identify the size of each biome.
Where do you think the largest biome is?
Identify South America in an Atlas. Label the countries and capital cities.
Identify the main types of biomes.
Extension
Define the word ‘biome’ in your own words and give examples of biomes in South America.
Rainforest
https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/rainforest/275197
South America
https://kds.britannica.com/students/article/South-America/277149
Websites to help with the research
Biomes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z849q6f/articles/zvsp92p