Mountain Ranges
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Mountain Ranges This lesson explores the difference between a mountain and a hill and what we mean by “mountain range”. You will then be using this information to explore some of the world’s major mountains and mountain ranges. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: ● Use a legend to find areas of higher ground on a map ● Locate key mountain ranges of the world ● Create a fact file Why are different places shaded in different colours? What could we use to help us find out what the colours mean? We can use keys (known as legends) to find out what the colours mean. This legend tells us that the colours on the world map are showing the height of each area above sea level (the more orange/brown an area is, the higher it is above sea level). What do you think these high areas may be more commonly known as? What do you see in the background and the foreground? Mountain Hill What is the difference between the two? Generally, geographers define a mountain as having a summit of at least 600m high. Anything less is a hill. Some mountains are found in groups called ranges, others are isolated summits. Mountain ranges Mountain ranges are a series of mountains that are connected together generally to form a long line of mountains. Large mountain ranges may be made up of smaller mountain ranges called subranges. The Great Smoky Mountains, USA For example, the Great Smoky Mountains are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Isolated summits These are mountains that stand by themselves. Denali in Alaska is the third most isolated summit on Earth. It also has the highest summit in North America, measuring a massive 20,310 feet (6,190m) above sea level! Denali, Alaska Where do you think the highest mountain in the world is located on this map? Do you know what it is called? Mount Everest, Nepal (part of the Himalayas) Do you think the sea bed is flat? Mountains exist on every continent and even beneath our oceans; some of the highest mountains are at the bottom of the sea! For example, Hawaii is at the top of a dormant volcano called Mauna Kea, however, more than half of the mountain is below water! The largest range of mountains is the Mid- Atlantic Ridge in the Atlantic Ocean whilst the deepest part of the Earth's seabed is Challenger Deep which is located within the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. TASK 1 TASK 2 In your resources, you have a copy of the Create an information fact file about one world map. Can you use the internet to of the mountains shown in the resources. find the following mountain ranges and Try and also do some of your own mark them on your world map? research to find out: ● Himalayas ● the height/highest peak (summit) of ● Andes the mountain ● Alps ● the location of the mountain ● Atlas ● which mountain range it belongs to ● Rockies ● any other interesting facts about ● Appalachian the mountain range ● Ural You can complete this fact file using the ● Transantarctic template in resources, or you can create ● Great Dividing Range your own using powerpoint or google ● Karakoram slides..