Lesson 1: A continent to discover

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• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

Let's explore europe! 

Lesson 1: A continent to discover

What will we be doing and why?

For our remaining EIO lessons we will be talking about Europe and the European Union. 

So far, we've talked about ourselves, the Victorian era and technology and innovation. From now on, we will talk about Europe. 

Let's Explore Europe!

For the PDF file that we will be using for our information see the google classroom for EIO. 

What subjects will we talk about?

The continent, languages, transport, climate, farming and the European Union.

But for today, we're just going to talk about the continent of Europe. 

What are the seven continents?

Where exactly is Europe?

Europe is one of the world’s seven continents. The others are Africa, North
and South America, Antarctica, Asia and Australia/Oceania. 

Europe stretches all the way from the Arctic in the north to the
Mediterranean Sea in the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean in the west  to the Ural Mountains (in Russia) in the east. It has many rivers, lakes and mountain ranges. The map on page 4 tells you the names of some of the biggest ones.

The highest mountain

The highest mountain in Europe is Mount Elbrus, in the Caucasus Mountains, on the border between Russia and Georgia. Its highest peak is 5 642 metres above sea level.

The highest mountain in western Europe is Mont Blanc, in the Alps, on the
border between France and Italy. Its summit is over 4 800 metres above sea level.

Lakes

Also in the Alps is Lake Geneva, the largest freshwater lake in western
Europe. It lies between France and Switzerland, goes as deep as 310 metres and holds about 89 trillion litres of water. 

The largest lake in central Europe is Balaton, in Hungary. It is 77 kilometres long and covers an area of about 600 square kilometres.  Northern Europe has even bigger lakes, including Saimaa in Finland (1 147 km²) and Vänern in Sweden (more than 5 500 km²). The largest lake in Europe as a whole is Lake Ladoga. It is located in north-western Russia and it is the 14th largest lake in the world. Its surface covers an area of 17 700 square kilometres. 

Rivers

One of Europe’s longest rivers is the Danube.

It rises in the Black Forest region of Germany

and flows eastwards through Austria, Slovakia,

Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and
Ukraine to Romania, where it forms a delta on the Black Sea coast. In all, it covers a distance of about 2 850 km.

Rivers

Other big rivers include the Rhine (about 1 320 km long) and the Elbe (about 1 170 km), as well as the Loire and the Vistula (both more than 1 000 km).

Transport

Big rivers are very useful for transporting things.

All kinds of goods are loaded onto barges that carry them up and down the rivers, between Europe’s sea ports and cities far inland.

Assignment 1

On the google classroom, you will find a blank map of Europe. Label (perhaps by putting a cross) in all the countries you've been to. Make this marking green. 

When you're finished, mark all the countries you'd like to visit with a blue cross (or something similar). 

Along with this, write, in a few sentences, why you'd like to visit this country. Pick at least 4. 

If you're done early, do the same thing for the world map that is also on the google classroom.