Unit 2 of Geography: The physical distribution of human activity: relief, rivers, climes and landscapes. Third Year of Secondary School. This unit was created in the School Year 2019-2020. It was designed in Valencia, for the IES Juan de Garay's students. Teacher: Pau Tobar.

1. UNIT 2
THE PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN ACTIVITY:
relief, rivers, climates and landscapes.
Teacher: Pau Tobar

2. CONTENTS
●
The relief and rivers of Europe
●
The relief and rivers of the Iberian Peninsula
●
The Earth’s climate zones
●
European and Iberian landscapes
●
Climate change

3. EUROPE: RELIEF, RIVERS AND COASTS
●
Main mountain ranges: Ural Mts, Scandinavian Mts, Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines,
Carpathians, Balkans and Caucasus.
●
Tallest mountains: Elbrus and Mont Blanc.
●
Plains: Great European Plain.
●
Plateaus: Meseta Central.
●
Main rivers: Volga, Dnieper, Danube, Po, Ebre, Guadalquivir, Tagus, Duoro, Loire, Seine,
Thames, Rhine and Elbe.
●
Main peninsulas: Scandinavian Pen, Jutland, Iberian Pen, Italian Pen, Balkan Pen and
Crimean Pen.
●
Main islands: Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Balearic Is, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete and
Cyprus.
●
Main seas, oceans and coastal landforms: Arctic Ocean, Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea,
North Sea, English Channel, Atlantic Ocean, Strait of Gibraltar, Mediterranean Sea,
Tyrrhenian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Strait of Bosphorus, Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

4. EUROPE: RELIEF, RIVERS AND COASTS
It’s strongly advised to
go over this map with
educational resources
such as
Interactive Maps in Flash

5. TEST YOURSELF!

6. TEST YOURSELF!
●
Read this description of Europe relief. Work in pairs in order to
check the physical map and complete the blanks. Use these keys
words: Peninsula, Carpathians, plains, basins, mountainous, plateaus.
Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern
regions are more ___________, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps,
Pyrenees, and __________, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern ___________,
which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain.
This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as the Iberian Peninsula and the Italian
________ contain their own complex features, as does mainland Central Europe itself,
where the relief contains many ___________ , river valleys and ________ that complicate the
general trend.
Source: Wikipedia

7. IBERIAN PENINSULA: RELIEF, RIVERS
AND COASTS
●
Main mountain ranges: Pyrenees, Iberian range, Catalanides range, Baetic Cordillera, Sierra
Morena, Central Chain, Cantabrian Mountains, Leon Mountains and Galician Mountain range.
●
Tallest mountains: Teide, Mulhacen and Aneto.
●
Basins: Ebro and Guadalquivir.
●
Plateaus: Meseta Central.
●
Main rivers: Llobregat, Ebre, Turia, Xúquer, Segura, Guadalquivir, Guadiana, Tagus, Duoro and
Miño.
●
Main coastal landforms: Bay of Biscay, Galician Rias, Punta Estaca de Bares, Cape Finisterre,
Cape Saint Vincent, Taugus Estuary, Gulf of Cadiz, Strait of Gibraltar, Gulf of Almeria, Mar
Menor, Cape la Nau, Gulf of Valencia, Ebro river delta, Gulf of Roses, Cape Creus, Gulf of Lion.
●
Main islands: Balearic Islands (Formentera, Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca) and Canary Islands
(Ferro, La Gomera, La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote).
●
Main seas, oceans and coastal landforms: Cantabrian Sea, Atlantic Ocean and
Mediterranean Sea.

8. IBERIAN PENINSULA: RELIEF, RIVERS
AND COASTS
It’s strongly advised to
go over this map with
educational resources
such as
Interactive Maps in Flash

9. TEST YOURSELF!

10. TEST YOURSELF!
Read this description of Spain relief. Work in pairs in order to check
the physical map and complete the blanks. Use these keys words:
Teide, volcano, mountain ranges, Iberian Peninsula, mountainous, Meseta Central,
plains , Mulhacén, plateaus, Pyrenees, rivers.
“Mainland Spain is a ________ country, dominated by high __________ and mountain
chains. After the ________ , the main _____________ are the Cordillera Cantábrica
(Cantabrian Range), Sistema Ibérico (Iberian System), Sistema Central (Central System),
Montes de Toledo, Sierra Morena and the Sistema Bético (Baetic System) whose highest
peak, the 3,478-metre-high (11,411-foot)________, located in Sierra Nevada, is the highest
elevation in the _________. The highest point in Spain is the __________, a 3,718-metre
(12,198 ft) active ________ in the Canary Islands. The _____________ ____________ (often
translated as "Inner Plateau") is a vast plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain.
There are several major _________ in Spain such as the Tagus (Tajo), Ebro, Guadiana,
Douro (Duero), Guadalquivir, Júcar, Segura, Turia and Minho (Miño). Alluvial ___________
are found along the coast, the largest of which is that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia.”
Source: Wikipedia

11. IBERIAN HYDROGRAPHIC WATERSHEDS
A Hydrographic Watershed
gather all the main rivers (and
their tributaries) which flow into
the same sea or ocean.
Characteristics:
- Cantabrian watershed
rivers: Short rivers flowing
strongly.
- Atlantic watershed rivers:
Long rivers that receive water
from numerous tributaries. High
volume but it lows in summer.
- Mediterranean watershed
rivers: Short and low flowing
rivers (apart from Ebro). They
are irregular rivers. They can
suffer floods in rainy autumns
and even dry up in summer.

12. TEST YOURSELF!

13. THE EARTH’S CLIMATE ZONES

14. FACTORS AFFECTING THE CLIMATE

15. THE EARTH’S CLIMATE ZONES:
ACCORDING TO LATITUDE

16. TEST YOURSELF!

17. THE EARTH CLIMATE ZONES

18. THE EARTH CLIMATE ZONES

19. TEST YOURSELF!

20. THE CLIMATE GRAPH

21. WORLD CLIMATE GRAPHS
Work in pairs:
Check if these climate
graphs agree with the
main characteristics of
each climate.
Search each country
depicted in the graphs
in the Earth’s climatic
zones map.
Check if that kind of
climate corresponds to
these areas.

22. TEST YOURSELF!
Work in pairs, find out
the type of climates
depicted by the
charts.
Then look for them in
the Earth’s climate
zones map.

23. EUROPEAN LANDSCAPES
Work in pairs:
Look for a climate graph
of these municipalities:
Athens, Brest, Moscow, Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria,
Isafjördur, Breuil Cervinia.
Find out the climate they
belong to and discuss your
conclusions.

24. EUROPEAN
LANDSCAP
ES

25. SPANISH LANDSCAPES
Work in pairs:
Find out the
landscapes of
each climate
graph.

26. CLIMATE CHANGE
Al Gore explains the
Global Warming
in this fragment of the film
“An Inconvenient truth”
(2006).
Watch also
this other funny fragment.

27. CLIMATIC CHANGE: TEST YOURSELF!
Causes and consequences:
Work in pairs: Find out news and iconic photographs that show each of the consequences of climate
change.
Explain the climate change causes and consequences in a personal composition. Use the examples of the
former exercises to support your arguments. Remember to organize it: Introduction, Body and Conclusions.
Share it with your classmate!

28. CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL WARMING!

29. CLIMATE CHANGE:
GLOBAL WARMING IN EUROPE

31. CLIMATE CHANGE:
CO2 EMISSIONS AND GLOBAL WARMING

32. GLOBAL EMISSIONS

33. GLOBAL EMISSIONS: THE FOOTPRINT
Work in groups: Analyze the
emissions charts and read this article
published by The Guardian. Summarize
and write your conclusions and explain
them to the rest of your classmates.

34. Work in groups: Choose ten coastal
cities in the world and search the
surging sea projections on the Climate
Center site. Make a screen shot and
share it on google drive. Calculate the
population living in the affected areas.

35. WHAT COULD WE DO?
Work in group:
How could
average people
reduce the global
warming impact?
Summarize the
main actions
and make a
poster
publicizing them.