Continents and Oceans

Grade 3 · Social Studies · Study Guide

Learn the names and locations of Earth's seven continents and five oceans.

Look at a globe and you'll see a big blue planet covered mostly in water, with large areas of land scattered across it. Those large land areas are called continents, and there are seven of them: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

Asia is by far the largest continent — it's so big that more than half of all the people on Earth live there! Africa is the second largest and contains the world's longest river, the Nile. North America is where the United States, Canada, and Mexico are located. South America has the mighty Amazon rainforest, the lungs of the Earth. Europe is smaller but packed with dozens of countries. Australia is both a continent and a country. Antarctica is a frozen continent at the South Pole where almost no one lives permanently, only scientists.

Between the continents are the five oceans. The Pacific Ocean is the largest — so large it covers more area than all the land on Earth combined! The Atlantic Ocean separates the Americas from Europe and Africa. The Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean. The Arctic Ocean surrounds the North Pole and is covered in ice. The Southern Ocean wraps around Antarctica.

The oceans and continents are constantly changing — slowly, over millions of years. Scientists believe all seven continents were once joined together in one giant landmass called Pangaea, which slowly broke apart.

The Seven Continents
Continent	Size Rank	Interesting Fact
Asia	1st (largest)	Home to more than half the world's population
Africa	2nd	Contains the world's longest river, the Nile
North America	3rd	Home to the United States, Canada, and Mexico
South America	4th	Has the Amazon Rainforest and Amazon River
Antarctica	5th	Covered in ice; only scientists live there
Europe	6th	Contains over 40 countries in a small area
Australia	7th (smallest)	The only continent that is also a country

Key terms

continent: One of the seven large land areas on Earth
ocean: A massive body of salt water that covers most of Earth's surface
Pangaea: The ancient supercontinent that slowly split apart into today's seven continents
equator: An imaginary line around the middle of Earth that divides it into Northern and Southern Hemispheres
hemisphere: Half of the Earth — either Northern/Southern or Eastern/Western

Flashcards

continent: One of the seven large land areas on Earth
ocean: A massive body of salt water covering most of Earth's surface
Pacific Ocean: The largest ocean on Earth — bigger than all continents combined
Asia: The largest continent, home to more than half of Earth's people
Antarctica: The frozen continent at the South Pole where only scientists live
Pangaea: The ancient supercontinent that split apart millions of years ago

Practice questions

How many continents are there on Earth?
1. 5
2. 6
3. 7
4. 8
Show answer
Answer: 7
Earth has seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth.
Show answer
Answer: True
The Pacific Ocean covers more area than all of Earth's land combined, making it by far the largest ocean.
The ancient supercontinent that split apart into today's seven continents was called ___.
Show answer
Answer: Pangaea
Hundreds of millions of years ago, all continents were joined as Pangaea. Over time, tectonic plate movement broke it apart.
Which continent is both a continent and a country?
1. Africa
2. Antarctica
3. Australia
4. Asia
Show answer
Answer: Australia
Australia is unique — it is both the smallest continent and an independent country (officially the Commonwealth of Australia).
Asia is the smallest of the seven continents.
Show answer
Answer: False
Asia is actually the LARGEST continent. Australia is the smallest of the seven continents.

Fun facts

The Pacific Ocean is so wide that you could fit all seven continents inside it and still have room left over!
Antarctica holds about 70% of all the fresh water on Earth — frozen as ice.

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