Countries
This country is the largest by area in South America and its official language is Portuguese.
What is Brazil?
A large flat area of grassland, especially in Argentina and Uruguay, used for cattle ranching is called this.
What is Pampas?
A dance and music style strongly associated with Argentina, especially Buenos Aires.
What is the Tango?
The mountain range that runs along the western edge of South America and contains many high peaks.
What are the Andes?
Much of the Amazon Basin has this type of climate, with high temperatures and heavy rainfall year-round.
Tropical rainforest (equatorial) climate.
Name the country on the northwest coast of South America that has both Pacific coastline and part of the Amazon rainforest; its capital is Bogotá.
What is Columbia.
The vast lowland plain that stretches across northern South America, much of it covered by rainforest, is called the ___ Basin.
What is the Amazon Basin?
This indigenous language family includes Quechua, widely spoken in parts of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Name the language or the family.
What is Quechua?
The highest mountain in the Andes is Aconcagua. In which country is Aconcagua located?
What is Argentina?
The climate of central Chile is often described as this, similar to parts of California, with wet winters and dry summers.
Mediterranean climate.
This landlocked country lies between Bolivia and Argentina and has Sucre as its constitutional capital.
What is Bolivia.
Narrow, steep coastal plains and heavy rainfall are typical of the coastal region of which western South American country famous for its biodiversity hotspot, the Chocó?
What is Ecuador?
Many South American countries celebrate an annual festival with colorful parades, costumes, and music, notably in Brazil. What is this festival called?
What is Carival?
This volcanic mountain range is found in the northern Andes and includes peaks in Colombia and Ecuador.
Northern Andes
Explain why the eastern coast of Brazil has a different climate from the western Amazon Basin
Differences due to distance from the ocean, elevation, prevailing winds, and the presence of the Andes that create rain shadows and block moisture.
Which country is famous for the Galápagos Islands and has Quito as its capital?
What is Ecuador?
The high plateaus in the central Andes of Bolivia and Peru are often called the ____.
What is Altiplano?
Name one staple food crop domesticated in South America that became important worldwide. Provide one country where it was widely cultivated historically.
Potato — Peru or Bolivia (historically cultivated in the Andes); maize/corn — widely in many countries such as Paraguay or Peru; cassava — Amazon regions like Brazil.
Many Andean communities practice terrace farming on slopes. Name one reason terrace farming is useful in mountain regions.
Terrace farming reduces erosion and creates flat planting areas; it conserves water and prevents soil loss.
The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the driest places on Earth. Name one geographic or atmospheric reason it is so dry.
The Andes block moisture from the east or create a rain shadow; cold offshore currents (Humboldt Current) reduce evaporation and moisture; high-pressure systems and subtropical dryness also contribute.
This South American country is an island nation off the continent’s northern coast and is known for its oil industry; its capital is Caracas.
What is Venezuela?
Describe how an estuary differs from a delta and give one example of an estuary or delta in South America.
An estuary is where a river meets the sea and freshwater mixes with saltwater.
A delta is a deposit of sediment at the river mouth forming multiple channels.
Describe one way in which indigenous cultures have influenced place names or languages in modern South America. Give a specific example (place name or word).
Many place names come from indigenous languages — example: "Uruguay" (from Guaraní), "Iguazú" (from Guaraní), or Quechua words like "Cusco" (Qusqu).
The Andes formed mainly by the collision of which two large tectonic features?
The Nazca Plate is subducting beneath the South American Plate
Describe how elevation affects temperature and vegetation in the Andes. Include an example of a vegetation zone at a particular elevation.
As elevation increases, temperature decreases, causing different vegetation zones: for example, montane cloud forests occur roughly between 1000-3000 m, while above treeline (around 3500-4000 m) you find puna or alpine grassland.