Geography for Kids
Physical Geography
Australia
Capital:
Canberra, Australia
Southeast of Australia
North of Tasman Sea
South of Sydney, Australia
North of Australian Alps
Absolute Location:
35 degrees South and 149 degrees East
Seasons
Australia gets ALL the four seasons throughout the year.
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
- Winter
The ONLY DIFFERENCE is that Australia's seasons are opposite of the seasons that we (North America) have, so...
- North America= Summer; Australia=Winter
- North America= Winter; Australia= Summer
- North America= Spring; Australia= Fall
- North America= Fall; Australia= Spring
But WHY?
The tilt of the globe places Australia facing the sun at the same angle that North America would, but there is ONE difference.
Australia is in the SOUTHERN HEMPISPHERE; North America is in the NORTHERN HEMPISHERE
Land and Water Forms
- Indian Ocean- created when Earth formed, and got its name from explorers.
- Fraser Island- wind packed sand together for thousands of years
- Kimberley Plateau- oceans and seas eroded the ground away
- Tasman Sea- named after the explorer, Abel Janszoon Tasman
- Great Victorian Desert- high rainfall and chemical weathering eroded rocks
- Lake Eyre- water was leftover in a ditch after evaporation
- Shark Bay- during the Ice Ages, floods and cold/warm phases changed the coast
- Spencer Gulf- named after Earl Spencer, the first lord of Admiralty
- Darling River- water from oceans and seas cut through the land for thousands of years
- Victoria Reservoir- man made; humans created
Indian Oceam
West of Australia
Great Victoria Desert
Southwest in Australia
Tasman Sea
Southeast of Australia
Climate
Australia is not JUST HOT. When you read in the "Seasons" section, you can see that Australia experiences ALL the four seasons.
- North- hotter
- South- cooler, sometimes with icy winds
The climate is MAINLY tropical.
In the tropical regions, there are "wet" and "dry" climates throughout the year.
Biomes
Australia has THREE biomes:
- Desert- high rainfall and chemical weathering eroded many rocks, creating sand
- Grassland- found on every continent except Antarctica around the coastal areas of Australia.
- Rain forest- A northern area of Australia in between the tropic of cancer and tropic of Capricorn. There is lots of rain and many trees.
Natural Disasters
- HURRICANES/TSUNAMIS- the mixing of warm and cold currents in the surrounding bodies of water
- WILDFIRES- dry lands (deserts), droughts, and high temperatures cause many fires
- FLOODS/CYCLONES- long and high rain seasons