A Mystery

In the Pacific Ocean, 2,680 miles west of Chile, lies a small, mysterious island. Small because it has an area of 64 square miles and is home to only about 3,000 people. Mysterious because its hills are dotted with hundreds of tall statues. Use these links to help you answer the questions below:

Enchanted Learning
Nova Online

1) What is the name of the island?
2) What are the statues called?
3) What is the average height of each statue?
4) When were the statues built?

Photo Credit: Phillie Casablanca
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philliecasablanca/2052720494/

Great Geography Games!

Here is a link to KidsGeo.com, full of great resources and games about geography for kids. There are map matching games for each continent as well as a latitude/longitude game. Take a look!

The Sandwich Islands

Captain James Cook (1728-1779) was one of the greatest sea explorers. He spent much of his time exploring the Pacific Ocean, and accurately filled in more details on the world map than anyone before him. He named one of the archipelagos he mapped The Sandwich Islands. These volcanic islands are located about 2,900 miles WSW of San Fransisco, CA and are known by a different name today.

Use an online atlas or globe to locate these islands. What are they called today?

Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Captain-James-Cook.jpg

Sea or Lake?

The Caspian Sea, the lowest point in Europe, is really not a sea at all. It is a lake completely surrounded by land on all sides (landlocked). In fact, it is the largest lake in the world. There are many other "seas" that are actually lakes. Use a map or an online atlas to figure out if the following bodies of water are actually seas or lakes in disguise! Extra points for telling me what continent each is found on.

1) Aral Sea
2) Yellow Sea
3) Irish Sea
4) Dead Sea
5) Ross Sea
6) Tasman Sea

Quiz Your Geography Noodle

I was exploring the National Geographic for Kids site today and came across a geography activity called "Quiz Your Noodle." Are you a geography "brainiac?" Take this quiz and find out. Please report your score via the comments feature.

Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 1 is Over!

All eight teams in the Volvo Ocean Race reached their first stop safely in Cape Town, South Africa. Greeted by the famous plateau, Table Mountain, the sailors ready their boats for Leg 2's start on November 15th. Their next stop will be Cochin, India.

So during this stop over, see what you can learn about the history, people and places of South Africa via a Time for Kids Virtual Tour. When you are finished exploring take the Africa Challenge. Report your score and any interesting facts your learned through a comment.

Image Source:
http://www.socalsail.com/wp/wp-content/abn_amro2_table_mtn.jpg

Where Are They From?

The current leader in the Volvo Ocean race is the Ericcson 4 team. Their current position is Latitude 23˚15'12"S Longitude 34˚54'17"W. This international crew has sailors from six different countries. Can you name the nationalities of the crew based on their flags? You can use the CIA World Factbook to help you.