South America Study Notes for May 14th Test

Social Study Notes for South America

Hemisphere – The globe can be divided in half two ways.  Each half is called a hemisphere.  When it is divided at the equator,  the southern and northern hemispheres are created.  When it is divided along the Prime meridian and 180 degrees longitude,  the western and eastern hemispheres are created. 

We live in the Northern and Western hemisphere. 

Africa is in the Southern and Eastern hemispheres. 

Andes Mountains

South America contains the longest chain of mountains in the world.   The Andes Mountains run almost parallel with the western coast fo the continent for about 7240 km.  Many of the mountain peaks in this chain are very high.  Some of the tallest peaks are volcanoes. 

The highest mountain in the Andes range is called Aconcagua,  it is 22 831 feet tall. 

The potato is the commonly eaten vegetable which first domesticated in the Andes of Peru,  then carried to the Old World by Spanish explorers.

The animal used as a beast of burden in the Andes is the Llama.

Alpacas are the Andean animal raised for its fine wool.

Amazon Rainforest- The largest tropical rainforest in the world is located in the Amazon River basin.  It is a warm,  rainy, and humid region of lush vegetation, with more species of plants and animals that in all the  rest of the world’s ecosystems combined. 

The Amazon rainforest contains a variety of hardwood trees,  palm trees, and fern trees,  along with other vegetation such as vines and flowers.  Because very little light from the sun can reach the ground,  there is not much undergrowth. 

The Amazon river that runs through the Amazon river Basin is 6,712 km.

Deforestation have caused destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Gran Chaco and Pampas are large plains and grasslands in many parts of South America. 

The Gran Chaco is a low, flat plain in south central South America.  The Pampas is a vast region of plains in central Argentina that is mostly grasslands with few trees. 

Identify and label countries and capital cities in South America along the Atlantic Ocean

Identify capital cities located at points of Longitude and Latitude

1.      Argentina – Buenos Aires 35 S, 58 W

2.      Uruguay – Montevideo

3.      Brazil – Brasilia 16 S,48 W

4.      French Guiana – Cayenne

5.      Guyana - Georgetown
6.        Suriname – Paramarribo

7.      Venezuela – Caracas 11 N, 67 W