South America takes its name from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian cartographer who proved that Brazil and the West Indies represented an entirely new continent distinct from Asia. The continent formed its current shape around 3 million years ago with the formation of Panama connecting it to North America. It is dominated by a single tectonic plate and is home to the Amazon rainforest, river, and Andes Mountains, as well as Arctic birds due to its proximity to Antarctica.

1. South America

2. What is the name's origin?
lAmerigoVespucci was the a cartographer
,among other things, that proved that Brazil
and the west indies did not represent the same
coastal pattern as Asia and thought of it as an
entirely different continent.The name
“America” is his first name in Latin and the
south comes from the fact that it is the
southern most of the two continent discovered.

3. AmerigoVespucci

4. Tectonic Plates
•South America is all on one tectonic plate called the,
"South American Plate"
http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/plate.htm

5. When did it take shape?
lThe most recent transformation of its shape was
3,000,000 year ago when Panama was formed
connecting North and south America.

6. When did it reach it's position?
lIt also reached its present position 3,000,000 years
ago when it became connected to North America.
http://www.worldmapsonline.com/acade
mia/murals/academia_south_america_p
hysical_map_wall_mural.htm

7. Thing unique to the continent
lSouth America contains
lThe Amazon rainforest has an abundance of plant
and animal life
lThe Amazon river which is the largest river in
drainage
lArctic birds because it is the southernmost
continent
lAnimals like llamas, anacondas, and pirana
lThe Andes Mountain

8. What cause it to be to have the life and features it has
now?
lThe continent has the Andes because of the Nazca
plate meeting with the South American plate and
collide making the mountains.
lThe continent has Arctic birds because the shortest
distance from it to Antarctica is 1000 km meaning it
is very close to the south pole and cold enough to
sustain birds like that.

9. Work cited
l"Continents." National Geographic. N.p., n.d.Web. 27
Oct. 2015.
<http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclop
edia/continent/>.
lWheeler, HeatherY. "South America." Natural History
on the Net. N.p., 26 May 2015.Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
<http://naturalhistoryonthenet.com/Continents/so
uth_america.htm>.