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