Australia and New Zealand:
PowerPoint Atlas
Physical Geography
• Australia and New Zealand are between the Indian and
Pacific Oceans.
• Australia’s seasons are opposite of the United States
due to their location. (Southern Hemisphere)
• Because of its isolation, Australia and New Zealand’s
plant and animal life are found nowhere else on earth.
• Some of the animals are marsupials, plants, birds, and
koalas.
• The continent of Australia is moving 2 inches per year
towards Asia due to plate tectonics.
• New Zealand is made up of 2 major islands and was
formed by volcanoes.
Where Earthquakes Occur
Physical Geography
• New Zealand has a cooler climate than Australia
because it is farther from the equator.
• Most Australians live on the east and southeast coast
because of the mild climate and good rainfall.
• Australia and New Zealand’s people mostly live along
the coast in cities.
• Australia and New Zealand grow similar crops, produce
iron ore, coal, and natural gas, and raise sheep.
Seismic
Activity
Climate
Landforms
Australia
New Zealand
• Outback
• Great Dividing
Range
• Great Barrier Reef
• Australian Alps
• Warm Climate
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Glaciers
Fjords
Geysers
Volcanoes
High Mountains
Large Forests
Cooler Climate
Unique Animals and Plant Life
of Australia and New Zealand
• What type of
mammals nurse their
young from a pouch?
• Click for Answer
• What geographic
factor has helped
Australia’s wildlife be
unique?
• Click for Answer
Pictures
Koala Bear
Kangaroo
Pictures
Australian Outback
New Zealand
Tectonic Plates
• What continent was
Australia once believed
to be a part of?
• Click for the answer
• How was New Zealand
formed?
• Click for the answer
• Which one is the
youngest, Australia or
New Zealand?
• Click for the answer
New Zealand: Created by
Volcanoes
• As Australia drifted
away, the Australian
plate collided with the
Pacific plate.
• What is formed by the
plates colliding?
• What can they form
over time?
• Click for the answers
Fiord (fjord)
• Define Fiord:
• Click to check your
answer
Geyser
• Define “geyser”:
• Click to check your
answer
Pacific Islands
• The Pacific Islands are archipelagos, which are chains of
islands.
• High islands are formed from volcanoes and are
mountainous.
• Low islands are made up of coral reefs or atolls.
• An atoll is a small coral island in the shape of a ring.
• Coral is a rock like material made up of the skeletons of
tiny sea creatures.
• Fewer people live on low islands than high islands.
• The Pacific is located in the tropics and hot year-round.
• Most islands receive rain year round and can have
typhoons.
• Most islanders depend on cash crops and tourism to
earn a living.
Oceania
Settlement
Map on the Previous Slide
• The map illustrates our current best
understanding of the settlement of the
Pacific, and is based on archaeological
and genetic evidence. And it's important to
note that historical contact between South
American and eastern Oceania.
Pacific Islands
Micronesia
• Made up of low islands.
• Covers an area as large
as the continental U.S.
• Most islands are north of
the equator.
• Most of the 2,000 islands
are smaller than 1 square
mile.
• Formed on coral reefs
Melanesia
• Melanesia has the most
people.
• Most are large, high
islands.
• New Guinea is the largest
and most populated
island.
• Formed by volcanoes.
Polynesia
• The largest island group in the
Pacific.
• It includes Hawaii.
• Dense rainforests on the
islands.
• Mostly formed by volcanoes.
MICRONESIA LOW ISLANDS
Low Island (One of the Marshall Islands)
Sea Level rising severely threatens
the low islands.
"If you were faced with the threat of the
disappearance of your nation, what would you do?“
That's the question Enele Sopoaga, the prime minister
of the tiny Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, asked fellow
world leaders at the United Nations climate summit in
Lima, Peru, in December. It's a question that leaders
of Pacific Island states have been asking for decades.
As a warming climate drives sea levels upward, lowlying island nations face an uncertain future—or no
future at all, say these leaders, who warn of their
nations' imminent disappearance.
Fiji Islands (high islands)
Cultures of Australia and
Oceania
• The Maori settled in New Zealand. They traveled from
Asia to the Pacific Islands to New Zealand 1,000 years
ago. 15% today are Maori.
• The Aborigines settled in Australia, coming from Asia
40,000 years ago.
• In the late 1700’s and 1800’s the British settled in the
region bringing the English language and Christianity.
• It first was a place to send prisoners to jail.
• When gold was discovered the population soared.
• Due to isolation the Pacific islands developed their own
culture, language, and religions.
Aboriginal People
in Australia
• How long ago was the
Aboriginal people believed to
have come to Australia?
• Click for the answer
• What is there goal dealing
with the Australian
government today?
• Click for the Answer
British Settlement of
Australia and New Zealand
• When did the British
Settle Australia and New
Zealand?
• Click for the answer
• What was Australia set
up as by the British?
• Click for the answer
• What discovery made
people want to move to
Australia?
• Click for the answer
Australia Economy
• Today Australia economy
depends on trade with
which countries?
• Click to see the map
• Australia is a world leader
in producing what cash
crop?
• Click to see the answer
• Australia is the world
leader in the production of
what product from sheep?
Click to see the answer
Low and High Islands
• What is an atoll?
• Click for the Answer
• What are the main
features of low islands?
• Click for the Answer
• What are the main
features of high islands?
• Click for the Answer
ADDITIONAL MAPS, GRAPHS,
AND CHARTS
`Uranium Mining
Land Use
Aboriginal Settlement Today
Animal
Husbandry
Economic Factors
THE END