Features of water

Features of Water

Basic Geography 2

The oceans of Planet Earth have four major parts.

Atlantic OceanPacific

Ocean

Arctic Ocean

Indian Ocean

We often think of these parts as separate oceans, but they are all connected to each other.

What ocean is the arrow pointing to?

Arctic

Indian

Atlantic

Pacific

Oceans are subdivided into smaller bodies of water. Words like “sea” or “gulf” sometimes describe bodies of water that are all or partly surrounded by land.

The Mediterranean Sea is one body of water that connects to the Atlantic Ocean through a narrow passage.

Mediterranean Sea

The Gulf of Mexico is a body of water east of Mexico and south of the United States. Draw an “X” to show

where you think the Gulf of Mexico is.

Can you also find the Gulf of California?

A bay is part of an ocean that is mostly surrounded by land. A bay is usually smaller than a sea or a gulf.

Bays offer shelter to ships. Cities that depend on trade are often located around bays.

Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island, United States, has a history of seagoing trade.

What two countries/regions are near the Bay of Biscay?

Spain and Portugal

France and Spain

France and Algeria

A strait is a narrow channel of water between two land masses.

The Bering Strait is between Russia and the U.S. state of Alaska.

What is the name of the strait that lies between the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania?

Bass Strait

Clarke Strait

Phillip Strait

A lake is a body of water completely surrounded by land. Most lakes contain fresh water.

The Great Lakes on the border of the United States and Canada are some of the biggest lakes in the world.

Lake Baikal contains more fresh water than any other lake in the world because it is so deep.

Circle Lake Baikal on the map.

On the map below of an imaginary world, draw a line from a label to a correct sample land feature. There is more

than one correct answer for most of the labels.

Ocean Gulf or Sea

StraitLake

Bay