PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH ASIA: THE LAND

o ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: HOW HAS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AFFECTED WHERE PEOPLE HAVE SETTLED IN SOUTH ASIA? o LEARNING TARGET: IWBAT EXPLAIN HOW THE CLIMATE HAS INFLUENCED WHERE PEOPLE LIVE IN SOUTH ASIA. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT(S): What three rivers are most important in India?

SOUTH ASIA: THE LAND BELLWORK WHAT KIND OF GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES WOULD YOU EXPECT TO FIND IN SOUTH ASIA? (AKA, MOUNTAINS, LAKES, DESERTS?)

HIMALAYAS FUN FACTS THE HIMALAYAS IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE TALLEST AND YOUNGEST MOUNTAIN RANGES. IN NEPAL, PEOPLE CALLED THE HIMALAYAS BY THE NAME ‘SAGARMATHA' THAT MEANS THE GODDESS OF THE UNIVERSE. THE TIBETANS CALL IT CHOMOLUNGMA. HOWEVER, THE MOUNT EVEREST WAS NAMED BY SIR ANDREW WAUGH, A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.‘ IN HINDU RELIGION, THE HIMALAYA IS KNOWN AS THE GIRI-RAJ, WHICH MEANS THE "KING OF THE MOUNTAINS". THE HINDU PEOPLE BELIEVE THE HIMALAYAS TO BE THE DWELLING PLACE OF GODS. THE TERM HIMALAYA ALSO MEANS ABODE OF SNOW. THE UPPER PORTION OF MOUNT EVEREST (ABOVE 5,500 KM) IS DRAPED WITH SNOW THAT NEVER MELTS. IF YOU EVER DECIDE TO HIKE TO THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST, YOU WILL SEE SOME INTERESTING TRAIL MARKERS.

CLASSWORK TOGETHER, read about landforms on page 591 Write and answer the following questions in your notes: 1. What is a subcontinent? Does South Asia count as a subcontinent? 2. What large mountain range is found in South Asia? What is the tallest mountain in this range? 3. What is one of the only places travelers could cross the mountains from the north into India? 4. What three rivers make up the Gangetic Plain? 5. Besides the Himalaya, what four mountain ranges are found in India?

CLASSWORK TOGETHER, read about water systems on page 592 Write and answer the following questions in your notes: 1. What river is considered to be the most important river in India? List two reasons for its importance. 2. What crops are grown in the Gangetic Plain? 3. What is an alluvial plain? 4. What important resource is the Brahmaputra River used for? 5. What country does the Indus River flow through? What crops are grown on its banks?

GANGES RIVER FUN FACTS IN 1896, A BRITISH BACTERIOLOGIST TESTED A BACTERIA THAT CAUSES THE DEADLY DISEASE CHOLERA, AND FOUND THAT THIS BACTERIUM DIED WITHIN THREE HOURS WHEN PUT INTO THE WATERS OF GANGES. IN A STUDY CONDUCTED BY MALARIA RESEARCH CENTER IN NEW DELHI IT WAS OBSERVED THAT WATER FROM THE UPPER AMBITS OF GANGA DID NOT HOST MOSQUITO BREEDING, AND ALSO PREVENTED MOSQUITO BREEDING IF ADDED TO OTHER WATER SOURCES. HINDUS HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED THE GANGES TO BE PURE, PIOUS AND DRINKABLE. IN MANY HINDU RITUALS (FROM BIRTH TO DEATH) MUCH REVERENCE IS GIVEN TO GANGES WATER.

CLASSWORK AS YOU READ NATURAL RESOURCES (PAGE 593), MAKE A WEB DIAGRAM OF ALL THE NATURAL RESOURCES FOUND IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA. Natural Resources (Hero point to the person who finds the most! Use map on page 630 too!

CLASSWORK Natural Resources Water (drinking, soil, transport, hydroelectric power), fish Iron ore, mica, manganese, chromite, gypsum, copper, graphite, bauxite, coal Precious and semi-precious stones Petroleum, natural gas, uranium Timber (sandalwood, sal, teak, silver fir, oak, magnolia, beech, birch)

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT What three rivers are most important in India? What would you say is the most important fact about each of them?