UNIVERSAL EDUCATION

ICSE GRADE VI
SUBJECT : GEOGRAPHY
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Chapter 4. Australia Land and Its Resources

A. Fill in the blanks:
1) The Torres Strait separates Australia and New Guinea Island in the North.

2) The Bass Strait separates Australia from Tasmania Island in the South.

3) Pangea broke up into huge two land masses called Laurasia and Gondwanaland.

4) The northern part of the central lowland of Australia is drained by the north – flowing

rivers such as Flinders.

5) Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere.

6) The eucalyptus is also known as the gum tree.

7) The brown kingfisher bird or kookaburra is called the laughing jackass.

8) The most fertile soil is found in the Murray – Darling Basin in Australia.

9) The Great Artesian Basin extends over a vast area in Queensland and New South

Wales.

10) Australia has abundant mineral resources.

11) Australia has limited water resources.

B. State whether the statements are true or false. If false rewrite the correct
statement:
1) Australia is the world’s only continent that is also a country.

Ans. True

2) The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of Australia.

Ans. False.

The Tropic of Capricorn passes through the middle of Australia.

3) Confluence of the Murray and the Darling Rivers which together form the largest river

system of Australia.

Ans. True
4) The pattern of rainfall is the same across the continent.

Ans. False.

The pattern of rainfall varies across the continent.

5) Hot deserts cover a large area of the continent of Australia.

Ans. True

6) Australia is the lowest lying continent in the world.

Ans. True

7) The Great Dividing Range is a barrier for movement.

Ans. False.

The Great Barrier Reef is a barrier for movement.

8) Australia has abundant water resources.

Ans. False.

Australia has limited water resources.

9) Australia has many peculiar native animals.

Ans. True

10) The Murray-Darling Basin is the largest river basin in Australia.

Ans. True

11) Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of iron ore.

Ans. True

C. Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

1) Which latitude passes through Australia?
a) The Equator
b) The Tropic of Capricorn
c) The Tropic of Cancer
Ans. b) The Tropic of Capricorn

2) Australia has summer season during -

a) December - February
b) March - May
c) June - August
Ans. a) December - February
3) Which of the following regions has rainfall throughout the year?
a) The north coast
b) The east coast
c) The south coast
Ans. b) The east coast

4) Which of the following places has the Mediterranean type of climate?

a) Brisbane
b) Perth
c) Adelaide
Ans. c) Adelaide

5) The animal which has many features of birds-

a) Koala
b) Platypus
c) Dingo
Ans. b) Platypus

6) Australia is one of the world’s largest exporter of -

a) Coal
b) Oil
c) Iron ore
Ans. a) Coal

D. Answer the following questions in one sentence each:

1) What is Acacia or mulga?
Ans. Acacia or mulga is a short thorny tree and salt bush grow in parts of the desert.

2) What is a Malee?
Ans. Malee is a short variety of eucalyptus tree which grows along the margins of the
desert.

3) What is Pangea?
Ans. About 200 million years ago, all the continents of the old world were joined together
to form a huge land mass called Pangea.

4) Explain the term Australasia or Oceania.

Ans. A group of adjoining island in the Pacific Ocean such as Australia, New Zealand etc.
are called as Australasia or Oceania.
5) Name the minerals produced in Australia.
Ans. Gold, coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, lead, nickel and copper are the minerals produced
in Australia.

6) Name the chief centres of Australia where gold is produced.

Ans. Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie are the chief centres of Australia where gold is produced.

7) Why is Australia called an island continent?

Ans. Australia is called an island continent because it is surrounded by water on all sides.

8) Name the four physical divisions of Australia.

Ans. The Western Plateau, the Central Lowland, the Eastern Highlands, and the Great
Barrier Reef are the four major physical divisions of Australia.

9) Which part is known as the Australian Alps?

Ans. The southern part of the Great Dividing Range in the Eastern Highlands is called the
Australian Alps.

10) Which part of Australia is affected by monsoon winds?

Ans. Northern Australia is affected by monsoon winds.

11) Which regions of Australia get rainfall throughout the year? Why?
Ans. The east coast of Australia gets rainfall throughout the year because the southeast
trade winds blow from the Pacific Ocean.

12) Which is the most common native tree in Australia?

Ans. Eucalyptus.

13) What are marsupials?

Ans. Animals which have pouches to keep their young ones are known as marsupials.

14) Which animal has many features of a bird?

Ans. Platypus has many features of a bird.

15) What are artesian wells?

Ans. Wells in which water rushes up to the surface of its own accord are called artesian
wells.

16) Name the three minerals which are the major exports of Australia.
Ans. Iron ore, coal and bauxite are the major exports of Australia.
17) Which areas of Australia have oil fields?
Ans. Bass Strait, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia have oil fields.

18) What is bauxite used for?

Ans. Bauxite is used for aluminium production.

19) What is the shallow ridge built by corals parallel to the coast known as?
Ans. The Great Barrier Reef is the shallow ridge built by corals parallel to the coast.

20) Which is the precious metal found in Australia? Mention where is it found.
Ans. a) Gold.
b) Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie.

21) Name a carnivorous animal which attacks cattle and sheep in Australia.
Ans. Dingo.

E. Answer the following questions in brief:

1) How is Australia able to manage water crisis?
Ans. a) About 60 per cent of water from the Murray and Darling River is utilised for
irrigation, power generation and other purposes.
b) Australia has abundant groundwater resources.
c) The artesian wells in the Great Artesian Basin are also a valuable source of
water in this continent.

2) Describe the working of Artesian wells.

Ans. a) The Artesian basin occur only where the rock layers lie in a basin – shaped
structure.
b) The permeable layer of rocks absorb the rainwater from the surface and this water
remains collected underground above a layer of impermeable rocks.
c) Deep wells dug in this area yield plentiful supplies of water.
d) In such wells, water rushes up to the surface of its own accord.
e) Pumps are not needed to draw water from these wells, such wells are called
artesian wells.

3) Describe the features of platypus.

Ans. a) The platypus is an animal which has many features of a bird.
b) The animal has fur with a duck – like bill and webbed feet.
c) It lays eggs like birds, but suckles its young ones.
4) Describe the Great Barrier Reef.
Ans. a) Great Barrier Reef is located on the eastern coast of Australia.
b) It stretches over 2, 300 km.
c) It is the world’s largest coral reef.
d) The reef is formed of skeletal remains of small marine organisms, called coal
polyps, that live in shallow, warm tropical waters.
e) It is called the Great Barrier Reef because it acts as a barrier for the movement of
ships to the coast.

5) What is Ayer’s Rock?

Ans. a) The Ayer’s Rock is a spectacular monolithic hill formed of red sandstone.
b) It changes its colour from reddish brown at dawn to yellow during the day, at times,
it appears violet too.
c) It has been named ‘Uluru’ in the Aboriginal language, it means the place where the
wind moans between sunset and dawn.

F. Give reasons:
1) Artesian well is better than an ordinary well.
Ans. The artesian well contains water in a synclinal structure and hence there is little
chance of water getting exhausted.

2) Large areas in Australia do not have any rivers.

Ans. Large parts of Australia have no rivers because of the following reasons:
a) It experiences a dry climate.
b) Mountains rise very close to the east coast.
c) Rainfall is more on the east coast while the western part is a rainshadow area.
d) Western plateaus are vast dry land areas.

3) Number of animals in Australia endangered in recent times.

Ans. Nowadays in Australia, many animals are getting endangered because of the
following reasons:
a) Mining and industrialisation
b) Agriculture
c) Building of dams
d) Pasturing
G. Distinguish between:
1) Central Lowland and Eastern Highland
Ans.
Central Lowland Eastern Highland
a) It extends from the Gulf of Carpentaria a) It includes the Great Dividing
in the north to the southern coast of the Range, which runs parallel to the
continents. pacific coast.
b) The northern part is drained by the b) The southern part of the Great
north – flowing rivers such as Flinders. Dividing Range forms the
Australian Alps.

2) Tropical Grasslands and Downs

Ans.
Tropical Grasslands
a) Tropical Grasslands are present in
the interior of the continent.
b) It has tall and brown grasses.
c) These regions receive poor rainfall.
Downs
a) Downs are the temperate grasslands
of the Murray – Darling Basin.
b) It has short and green grasses.
c) These regions receive heavy rainfall.

H. Map work: