1-1: Land and Water
East Asia is made up of how many countries? Name them.
East Asia is made up of six countries:
China, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea, and Taiwan
What plant’s unique root system allows to survive the monsoon season in East Asia?
Bamboo
What is a natural resource? Give an example.
Natural resources are materials found in nature, which can be used to produce the goods people need and that can be traded around the globe.
An example is coal or oil.
What major desert can be found in China and Mongolia?
How big is it?
The Gobi Desert.
It is over 500,000 square miles in size!
Most of Mongolia is made up of what kind of land?
Most of Mongolia is a steppe – a flat, grassy plain with many rivers and lakes.
What is a deciduous tree? What kind of deciduous tree is Japan famous for?
Deciduous trees are those that lose their leaves in the winter. Japan is famous for its cherry blossom trees!
Which East Asian country has the most natural resources available to them?
Why?
Why is this helpful to that country?
China has the most natural resources available to them, because it is the largest country.
This is helpful because it means they have what they need for their people and to power their factories and businesses.
What two major rivers run through China?
The Huang He, or Yellow River, lies in northern China and stretches for almost 3,000 miles.
The Chang Jiang, or Yangtze River, is almost 4,000 miles long and is the longest river in all of Asia.
What is a peninsula?
Which East Asian countries lie on a peninsula?
A peninsula is a piece of land which is surrounded by water on three sides.
North Korea and South Korea lie on the Korean peninsula.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY!!!
Feeding a population of 1.4 billion people in China is difficult, as it is estimated China has just ______% of the world's arable land.
Just 7% of the world's arable land is in China.
What is hydroelectric power?
What East Asian country is well known for its use of hydroelectric power?
Hydroelectric power is electricity created with the energy of running water.
China, which is home to many massive rivers, produces 20% of its power through hydroelectric power stations.
How much of Japan is covered by mountains or mountain ranges?
Name the highest mountain in Japan.
More than 80% of Japan is covered by mountain ranges.
Mount Fuji, an active volcano, is the highest mountain in Japan.
What are the most common landforms in China? How much of China’s landmass is covered in them?
Name one of each type of landform.
The most common landforms in China are mountains and deserts – more than 2/3s of China’s land area is covered in them.
One mountain in China is the Da Hinggan. One desert in China is the Gobi Desert.
What is a monsoon?
What kind of weather can it cause in each season?
A monsoon is a wind that changes direction as the season changes. This change in direction causes a major change in weather.
During the summertime, it blows into the north and west causing very humid weather and heavy rain.
In the winter, it changes direction and blows to the east, bringing icy cold winds from the center of the Asian continent, causing dust storms in China, as well as heavy rains or snows in coastal areas.
What three techniques have East Asian farmers come up with to produce enough food?
Define each one.
Terrace farming: In terrace farming, farmers cut terraces, or horizontal steppes, into the sides of mountains or hills. This creates additional space to plant crops.
Double cropping: the practice of growing two or more crops in the same field at the same time. This lets farmers grow double the food in the same amount of space and time.
Aquaculture: fish farming. This lets farmers produce enough fish to keep up with demand.
What type of land mass is Japan?
What four main islands make up Japan?
Japan is an archipelago, or group of island.
Japan’s four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu.
Name the CAPITAL CITY of each country in East Asia.
China - Beijing
Japan - Tokyo
North Korea - Pyongyang
South Korea - Seoul
Mongolia - Ulan Bator
Taiwan - Taipei
What's the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane?
A typhoon is a violent storm which develops over the Pacific Ocean and moves inland. It has strong winds of 75 miles an hour or more and heavy rainfall, which can cause massive damage.
It's exactly the same as a hurricane except for its location - typhoons form in the Pacific Ocean, while hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean.
(If the same kind of storm forms in the Indian Ocean, it's called a typhoon!)
Define importing and exporting.
What must countries like Japan and South Korea import?
What do they export?
Importing is the process of buying and shipping in resources or products from another country.
Exporting is the process of selling resources or products to other countries.
Japan and South Korea must import most of their mineral resources, like coal and iron, but they export expensive technological goods, like televisions and cars.
What mountain ranges border China in the south? What mountain ranges border China in the north?
China’s is bordered in the south by the Himalayan mountains, the largest mountain range in the world.
China is bordered in the north by two mountain ranges: the Da Hinggan, or Great Hinggan, and the Xiao Hinggan, or Small Hinggan.