1. The Landscape

2. * Atolls form when coral reefs build up on the rim of submerged volcanoes. * Inside of most atolls are lagoons, which are pools of shallow, clear water

3. * The Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef

6. * New Zealand is located 1,200 miles SE of Australia * The country is composed primarily of two islands (North Island and South Island) * There is a mountain chain that runs along the western edge of South Island – this chain is called the Southern Alps????

7. * New Zealand is AWESOME! New Zealand is AWESOME!

10. * Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia! * The continent lies at the very bottom (south) of Earth * Antarctica is almost entirely covered in ice (98%) and in some areas the ice is almost 2 miles thick! * Scientists like to study there because the atmosphere is completely unpolluted

12. You’re so hot! Stop being so frigid…

14. * Australia has a wide variety of climates ranging from tropical rain forests, to deserts, to Mediterranean climates! * Most of the Oceania climates are tropical rain forests with temperatures ranging from 70 – 80 degrees year round…VACATION ANYBODY!? * In Papua New Guinea there are mountains who remain snow-covered year round * New Zealand experiences a Marine West Coast climate with summers ranging from 65 – 85 and winters from 35 – 55 degrees * New Zealand averages 25 to 60 inches of rain per year but the Southern Alps receive up to 315 inches per year!

15. * Antarctica is Earth’s highest, driest, windiest, and coldest continent! * Temperatures have reached as low as 129 degrees BELOW ZERO! This is almost 20 degrees colder than dry ice. * Snowfall on Antarctica averages only 2 inches per year – most of the time it is too cold to snow. * Despite the harsh conditions there are nearly 800 species of plants that live on Antarctica – with almost half of them being lichen (a fungus that grows with a photosynthetic partner) WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? * The Antarctic Peninsula has flower plants and can reach 60 degrees in the summer!

16. I’m NOT going out there!