Map task for a 15-year-old: Mark 4 global environments and shade climate zones (7 marks)

Rewritten 7-mark map exercise for a 15-year-old. Instructions to locate and mark the Great Australian Desert, Sahara, Amazon Basin and Greenland Desert, and to colour polar, temperate and tropical zones with hints, latitude guides and a marking scheme.

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Figure 1: World map task — (7 marks)

Rewrite of the instructions:

  1. On the world map, locate and mark the following environments. Use a clear label and a small symbol (for example a dot or shaded area):
    1. Great Australian Desert (in central/southern Australia)
    2. Sahara Desert (across northern Africa)
    3. Amazon Basin / Tropical Rainforest (northern South America around the Amazon River)
    4. Greenland Desert (the ice-covered interior of Greenland)
  2. Colour and label these climate zones on the same map:
    • Polar zones: colour Blue
    • Temperate zones: colour Yellow
    • Tropical zone: colour Green

Hints for finding each place

  • Great Australian Desert: look in the central to western part of Australia (includes deserts such as the Great Victoria, Great Sandy and Gibson). Mark roughly in the middle/south of the continent.
  • Sahara Desert: stretches across North Africa, from the Atlantic coast in the west (Mauritania/Morocco) to the Red Sea region in the east (Egypt/Sudan). Place a long shaded area across northern Africa.
  • Amazon Basin: central and northwestern South America — mainly in Brazil, but also parts of Peru, Colombia and surrounding countries. Shade the area around the Amazon River and its tributaries.
  • Greenland Desert: the large ice-covered island northeast of Canada and east of the Arctic Circle. Mark the central/entirety of Greenland as a cold desert.

How to colour the climate zones (use latitudes as a guide)

  • Tropical zone (Green): between the Tropic of Cancer (about 23.5° N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (about 23.5° S). Colour the band around the equator green.
  • Temperate zones (Yellow): between about 23.5° and 66.5° in both hemispheres. Colour the mid-latitude bands above and below the tropical band yellow.
  • Polar zones (Blue): above about 66.5° N (Arctic) and below about 66.5° S (Antarctic). Colour the extreme top and bottom of the map blue.

Presentation tips

  • Include a neat legend on the map showing your symbols and the three colours with their labels.
  • Write tidy labels next to each marked environment (for example: Sahara Desert, Amazon Basin).
  • Shade lightly so country boundaries or coastlines remain visible.

Suggested marking scheme (total 7 marks)

  • 4 marks — correctly locate and label the four environments (1 mark each).
  • 3 marks — correctly colour and label the three climate zones (1 mark each).

Good luck — follow the latitude guides for the zones and use the continent/river clues to place each environment accurately.

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