B. People and Environments · Global Communities

The Seven Continents and Five Oceans

B3.1 B3.2 B2About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can name the seven continents.
I can name the five oceans.
I can find the continents and oceans on a world map or globe.
I can tell which continent and which oceans are near Canada.

Words to know

continent
One of the seven very large areas of land on Earth, like North America or Africa.

ocean
One of the five huge bodies of salt water on Earth, like the Pacific Ocean.

country
A land with its own borders and government. Most continents have many countries.

island
Land with water all around it.

coast
The land right beside an ocean or sea.

Big pieces of land, big bodies of water

If you look at a world map, you will see that the land is not all in one piece. It comes in seven very large areas called continents. The water is divided into five oceans.

Every country in the world is on a continent. Canada is on the continent of North America.

The seven continents (in bold) and the five oceans (in slanted letters). The Pacific Ocean is so big that it shows up on both the left and the right side of this map.

The seven continents

Here they are, from biggest to smallest:

Asia
Africa
North America
South America
Antarctica
Europe
Australia

Some people call the part of the world around Australia Oceania, because it also includes many islands in the Pacific Ocean, like New Zealand.

A group of black and white penguins standing on snow beside a dark blue ocean, with huge icebergs behind them. — These Adélie penguins live in Antarctica, the icy continent at the bottom of the world. It is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. AI-generated image

The seven continents from biggest to smallest. Asia has the most land. Australia has the least.

Continent	A fact	Some countries there
Asia	The largest continent. More people live here than on any other continent.	China, India, Japan
Africa	The second-largest continent. It has 54 countries.	Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria
North America	Our continent!	Canada, the United States, Mexico
South America	Home of the huge Amazon rainforest.	Brazil, Argentina, Peru
Antarctica	The coldest continent, covered in ice. No one lives there all year, but scientists from many countries come to study it.	no countries of its own
Europe	A small continent with many countries close together.	France, Italy, Ukraine
Australia	The smallest continent. Australia is a country and a continent at the same time.	Australia

The seven continents

The five oceans

All the oceans are connected, like one giant ocean. But we give different parts different names.

The Pacific Ocean is the biggest and deepest. It is west of Canada.
The Atlantic Ocean is second biggest. It is east of Canada.
The Indian Ocean is south of Asia, between Africa and Australia.
The Southern Ocean goes all the way around Antarctica.
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest. It is at the very top of the world, north of Canada. Much of it is covered by ice.

A memory trick

Count the continents on your fingers: Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (four that start with A), then Europe, and the two Americas: North and South. That makes 7!

For the oceans, remember P-A-I-S-A: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic.

Riddle time

Which ocean is the best thinker?

The Pacific, because it's the deepest!

Worked example

Let's tour the world map

Start at Canada. Find the continents and oceans around it.

Put your finger on the dot for Canada. We are on North America.
Move your finger down (south) along the thin strip of land. You reach South America.
Go back to Canada and move right (east) across the water. You cross the Atlantic Ocean and reach Europe and Africa.
Keep going east past Europe. You reach the biggest continent, Asia. South of Asia is the Indian Ocean and then Australia.
Now go to the very bottom of the map. The long land along the bottom is Antarctica, with the Southern Ocean all around it.

We visited all seven continents and saw the oceans between them.

Worked example

Continent or country?

Sort these names: Canada, Asia, Kenya, Africa, Brazil, South America.

Ask: Is it one of the seven huge pieces of land? Then it is a continent.
Asia, Africa and South America are on our list of seven. They are continents.
Canada, Kenya and Brazil are countries. Canada is in North America, Kenya is in Africa and Brazil is in South America.

Continents: Asia, Africa, South America. Countries: Canada, Kenya, Brazil.

Hands-on activity

Land or water toss

You need: a ball, an inflatable globe or beach-ball globe if you have one (or a world map on the floor and a coin or button), paper and a pencil.

If you have a ball globe: Toss it to a partner 20 times. Each time, check where the partner's right thumb lands. Make a tally: land or water.

If you have a map: Stand up, close your eyes and drop a button on the map 20 times. Tally land or water each time. (If it lands on Antarctica, that counts as land!)

Count your tallies. Which got more? Most people get more water, because most of Earth is water.

Then: Make the seven continents out of play dough or paper, put them in the right places on a blue sheet or towel, and label the five oceans with sticky notes.

Your turn

How many continents are there?

How many oceans are there?

Name the continent Canada is on.

Which continent is the biggest?

Which ocean is the biggest?

Which continent is covered in ice and has no people living there all year?

Name the five oceans.

Which continent is also a country?

More practice: warm-up

Is Africa a continent or a country?

Is Mexico a continent or a country?

Which ocean is at the very top of the world?

Which continent is south of North America?

Which ocean goes all the way around Antarctica?

More practice: on your own

Which ocean would you cross to fly from Canada to Europe? How do you know?

Which ocean is between Africa and Australia?

Sort these: Japan, Europe, India, Antarctica.

Which continent is the smallest?

Name the three oceans that touch Canada and tell where each one is.

Challenge

Sam says, "Africa is a country." Explain the mistake kindly.

Why does the Pacific Ocean show up on both the left and right sides of the world map?

Think about it: A whale swims from the Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean. Did it have to cross land? Why or why not?

Check your understanding

Quiz

How many continents are there?

Which continent is Canada on?

Which is the largest ocean?

Which of these is a continent?

Which continent is the coldest and is covered in ice?

Which ocean is at the top of the world, north of Canada?

Which continent is also a country?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Earth's land is grouped into seven continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Australia) and its water into five connected oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic).

How to help at home:

Sing or chant the names. Many free "seven continents" songs exist, and the P-A-I-S-A trick helps with oceans.
When a country comes up in the news, a book or a family story, ask "Which continent is that on?" and find it together.
Check food labels (bananas, rice, tea) and find the country and continent on a map.

Common difficulties:

Mixing up countries and continents. This is very common. Keep repeating: a continent is a huge area of land with many countries (except Australia and Antarctica). A frequent mistake is calling Africa a country, which also hides how varied Africa is.
Forgetting Antarctica or the Southern Ocean. They are at the edge of many maps. Point to them on a globe.
Note: Some sources group Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands as "Oceania". Either is acceptable at this level.