LIWA

South America: Climate, Natural Vegetation, Wildlife; Mineral and Power Resources

ICSE Class 6 · Geography · Chapter 11

What this chapter covers

Key definitions

Climate is the usual weather of a place, taken over many years.

An ocean current is a large stream of sea water that keeps moving in one direction through the ocean.

The equatorial climate is a climate that is hot and wet all through the year, with no real winter.

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on the Earth.

Natural vegetation is the plant life that grows in a place on its own, without being planted by people.

The selvas are the thick, evergreen equatorial forests of the Amazon basin in South America.

A savanna is a tropical grassland of tall grasses and scattered trees, found where there is a long dry season.

The Pampas are the wide, flat temperate grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay.

Wildlife means the animals, birds and other creatures that live freely in nature, without being looked after by people.

Piranhas are fish with very sharp teeth.

Petroleum is a thick, dark, oily liquid found deep under the ground, from which petrol, diesel and kerosene are made.

Power resources are the sources of energy that people use to run machines, light homes and work factories.

Key points

Questions answered

Why is most of South America warm?
The Equator passes through the north of the continent, and most of the land lies in the tropics, where the Sun is high all year.
When it is winter in India, which season is it in Argentina? Why?
It is summer, because Argentina lies in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed.
Give two reasons why the Atacama Desert is so dry.
A cold ocean current along the coast keeps the air cool and dry, and the Andes block the damp winds from the east.
What are the selvas? Name two useful trees that grow there.
The selvas are the thick, evergreen equatorial forests of the Amazon basin. Useful trees include mahogany, rosewood, the rubber tree and the Brazil nut tree.
Name one animal of the selvas, one of the Andes and one of the Pampas.
Jaguar or sloth (selvas); Andean condor or vicuña (Andes); rhea (Pampas).
Which country leads the world in copper, and which country has the largest known stores of petroleum?
Chile leads in copper. Venezuela has the largest known stores of petroleum.
What is shifting cultivation, and why do farmers in the Amazon basin move to a new patch?
Shifting cultivation is farming in which a forest patch is cleared and burnt, used for a few years, and then left. The heavy rain washes the goodness out of the soil, so the farmers move on.
Give two differences between lumbering in Canada and life in the Amazon basin.
Any two: Canada is cold but the Amazon basin is hot and wet; Canada's forests have one kind of softwood tree together, but the selvas have many kinds of hardwood trees mixed; Canada uses many machines, while forest people of the Amazon use simple tools.