EUROPE'S COASTLINE

Europe is made up of many peninsulas, thousands of islands, capes, fjords and rias.
The main southern peninsulas are the Iberian Peninsula, the Italian Peninsula, the Balkan Peninsula, the Peloponnese Peninsula and the Crimean Peninsula. In the north, the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Some of Europe's islands are countries: Iceland, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. Others are part of countries: Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands in Spain and the Azores and Madira in Portugal. Greenland (Denmark) is Europe's largest island.

Capes are large areas of land which protrude into the sea. Some of the important capes in Europe are Capes San Vicente and Roca in Portugal, Fisterra and Cabo de Gata in Spain, North Cape in Norway, Cape Matapan in Greece and Land's End in the United Kingdom.

Fjords are inlets in the coast formed by glaciers. The coasts of Norway and Greenland have many fjords.

Rias are river valleys flooded by rising sea levels. The best-known rias are on the coast of Galicia.

 

BLOOD: CIRCULATORY SYSTEM III

Our blood contains three types of cells:

1. Red blood cells absorb oxygen in the lungs and transport it to the organs and muscles.
2. White blood cells fight germs and infections in our body. They attack infected cells.
3. Platelets help to stop bleeding. When you have a cut that's bleeding, platelets stick to the edges of the cut and to each other. In this way, they cover the cut and form a scab, and this stops the bleeding.

 

BLOOD VESSELS: CIRCULATORY SYSTEM II

The blood vessels are tubes that connect the heart to the rest of the body.
There are three types of blood vessels: arteries, veins and capillaries.

1. Arteries are large blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body. This blood is rich in oxygen and nutrients. As arteries get farther away from the heart they begin to branch and become smaller and smaller. The smallest branches are called capillaries.
2. Capillaries: this is where the oxygen of your blood is transferred to your tissues. In exchange, the wastes from your cells are transferred to the blood, including the carbon dioxide. Just beyond this area the capillaries begin to merge together and eventually form larger vessels called veins.
3. Veins lead back to the heart. As the vessels carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart, waste products are routed to other organs where they are removed.

 

THE HEART: CIRCULATORY SYSTEM I

The nutrients we eat and the oxygen we breathe are transported to our organs, bones, brain and muscles by the circulatory system.
The heart is an organ that acts like a pump.
It is divided into four chambers: the two upper are called the atria and the two lower are called ventricles.

When blood enters the heart, it's then pumped to the lungs. In the lungs, the red blood cells absorb oxygen. That oxygenated blood is pumped back into the heart. The heart then pumps the oxygenated blood around the body.
You can see it in this video:

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

The oxygen that we breathe passes into our blood, where it's transported to our muscles.
Our muscles absorb oxygen and expel carbon doxide.
There is an exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen betwee the blood, and the alveoli.
Then we expel this gas as we breathe out.

1. Mouth and nose: air enters the body through the mouth and nose.
2. Vocal cords: as air passes our vocal cords, they vibrate and enable us to speak.
3. Trachea: this long, rigid tube connects our mouth and nose to our two bronchi. Air travels down the trachea into the bronchi.
4. Bronchi: these two smaller tubes connect the trachea to the lungs.
5. Lungs: these two large bags are connected to the bronchi. The bronchi branch into millions of smaller tubes, or bronchioles, here in the lungs.
6. Bronchioles: these are small tubes inside the lungs. At the end of each bronchiole, there are tiny sacs called alveoli. The air we breathe in goes into these tiny sacs and then passes into blood vessels which surround them.

 

 

EUROPE'S RELIEF

The Alps are the most important mountain range in Europe.
They cover Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Germany, France, Italy, and Monaco.
Its highest mountain is Mont Blanc, at 4.810 m.

The Pyrenees form a natural border between France and Spain.

The Urals form a natural border between Europe and Asia. At 2.400 km they are Europe's longest mountain range.

The Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Caspian sea, includes Mount Elbus, the highest mountain in Europe (5.642 m high).

The Apennines run down the middle of the Italian Peninsula.

The Carpathian Mountains are the second longest mountain range in Europe.

The Scandinavian Mountains is a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula.

EUROPE'S RIVERS AND LAKES

There are hundreds of rivers and tributaries in Europe.
The biggest are navigable rivers.
Rivers which flow into the Arctic Ocean: (completely frozen in winter)

• Pechora.
• Dvina.

Rivers which flow into the North Sea:

• Thames.
• Elbe.
• Rhine.

Rivers which flow into the Baltic Sea:

• Oder.
• Vistula.

Rivers which flow into the Atlantic Ocean: (with a high volume of water because of rainfall)

• Loire.
• Seine.

Rivers that flow into the Black Sea:

• Danube (Europe's second longest river).
• Dnieper.
• Don.

Rivers that flow into the Caspian Sea:

• Volga (Europe's longest river, 3.690 km long).
• Ural (It's often frozen in winter).

Rivers that flow into the Mediterranean Sea:

• Ebro.
• Rhone.
• Po.
• Tiber. 

When water collects in a basin, or depression, it forms a lake. Lakes are usually fed by rivers which flow into them but they also receive rainfall.
Lake Ladoga is the biggest lake in Europe.
Other important lake is Lake Constance.

EUROPE'S COUNTRIES AND CAPITAL CITIES

Here you have a list of Europe's countries, and their capital cities: (if you click on the names you'll find where the country is on the map).

Albania (Tirana);
Alemania (Berlín);
Andorra (Andorra La Vieja);
Austria (Viena);
Bélgica (Bruselas);
Bielorrusia (Minsk);
Bosnia-Herzegóvina (Sarajevo);
Bulgaria (Sofía);
Ciudad del Vaticano (Ciudad del Vaticano);
Croacia (Zagreb);
Chipre (Nicosia);
Dinamarca (Copenhague);
Eslovaquia (Bratislava);
Eslovenia (Liubliana);
España (Madrid);
Estonia (Tallín);
Finlandia (Helsinki);
Francia (París);
Georgia (Tiflis);
Grecia (Atenas);
Holanda (Amsterdam);
Hungría (Budapest);
Irlanda (Dublín);
Islandia (Reikiavik);
Italia (Roma);
Letonia (Riga);
Liechtenstein (Vaduz);
Lituania (Vilna);
Luxemburgo (Luxemburgo);
Macedonia (Skopie);
Malta (La Valeta);
Moldavia (Chisinau);
Mónaco (Mónaco);
Montenegro (Podgorica);
Noruega (Oslo);
Polonia (Varsovia);
Portugal (Lisboa);
Reino Unido (Londres);
República Checa (Praga);
Rumania (Bucarest);
Rusia (Moscú);
San Marino (San Marino);
Serbia (Belgrado);
Suecia (Estocolmo);
Suiza (Berna);
Turquía (Ankara);
Ucrania (Kiev).

And if you click on this image you'll play and learn the European capitals:

EUROPE

Europe is the world's second-smallest continent after Oceania.
In the west Europe reaches the Atlantic Ocean.
In the east Europe is separated from Asia by the Urals and the Caspian Sea.
Europe stretches from the Arctic Sea in the north to the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea in the south.
47 countries make up the European continent. 28 of these form the European Union (EU).
Europe has different time zones:

• Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal.
• Central European Time (CET): central European countries. (GMT + 1 hour).
• Eastern European Time (EET): (GMT + 2 hours).
• Moscow Standard Time (MST): (GMT + 3 hours).

 And clicking on this map you'll play and learn where the European countries are:

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Our digestive system takes nutrients and vitamins from the food we eat.

1.- Mouth: digestion starts in the mouth. The teeth crush the food and then mix it with saliva.
2.- Esophagus: the food travels down the esophagus to the stomach.
3.- Stomach: in the stomach, the food mixes with gastric juices.
4.- Liver: the liver produces a liquid called bile that helps break down food.
5.- Small intestine: the food goes into the small intestine. Here it mixes with bile from the liver. Nutrients are absorbed here and they pass into the blood.
6.- Large intestine: the undigested food passes into the large intestine. There it's transformed into faeces.
7.- Rectum: finally, the faeces pass through the rectum and leave the body through the anus.

Food is digested in three stages:

1. Digestion. The mouth, esophagus and stomach all help our body digest the food we eat.
2. Absorption. The small intestine absorbs the nutrients from the food. From the small intestine the nutrients go into your blood.
3. Elimination. The large intestine and rectum transform the undigestes solids into faeces.

THE SENSE OF TASTE

The tiny, pink bumps on your tongue are called tastebuds. They can detect special chemicals in the things that you eat and drink. The chemicals mix with saliva and then the tastebuds detect them. The tastebuds produce nerve impulses and transmit them to the gustatory nerves. These nerves are inside the tongue, connected to the tastebuds. These nerves then transmit the impulses to the brain. Finally, the brain interprets the information.

THE SENSE OF SMELL

Smells are made up of gases in the air. When air goes into your nose, the gases go into your nasal passages. The olfactory cells detect the gases and send nerve impulses to the olfactory nerve. The olfactory nerve transmits the impulses to the brain and the brain interprets the information.

THE SENSE OF HEARING

Sound waves go into our ear and hit the eardrum. As a result, the eardrum vibrates.

When the eardrum vibrates, it makes the small bones inside the ear vibrate too.

The cochlea detects the vibrations and produces nerve impulses. The auditory nerve transmits these impulses to the brain. Then the brain interprets the information.

THE SENSE OF SIGHT

Light goes into the eye through the pupil. Then it passes through the lens.

The lens projects an upside down image onto the retina. This information is sent to the optic nerve.

The optic nerve transmits the information to the brain.

The cornea covers and protects the iris and the pupil.

The iris is the coloured part of the eye. It opens and closes the pupil.

The pupil is a small hole that lets light into the eye.

The lens focuses light onto the retina.

The retina detects light and colours. It sends information to the optic nerve.

The optic nerve transmits information from the retina to the brain.

THE SENSE OF TOUCH

Our sense of touch enables us to touch and feel things with our skin or dermis. Nerve endings detect information about the objects that we touch. They produce nerve impulses which the sensory nerves transmit to the brain.

NEURONS

The nervous system is made up of neurons. There are millions of neurons in your brain. Neurons are cells that consist of a cell body, the axon and the dendrites.
To transmit messages they create elctrical signals called nerve impulses.
The cell body controls the neuron and creates nerve impulses.
The axon transmits the nerve impulses to other neurons.
Dendrites receive nerve impulses from other neurons.

HOW DOES THE BRAIN WORK?

The cerebrum is the largest and most complex part of the brain. It controls intelligence, memory, personality, emotion, speech and the ability to feel and move.

The cerebellum is responsible for balance, movement and coordination.

The brainstem coordinates all the messages going in and out of the brain to and from the spinal cord, and controls the involuntary movements.

WHICH ORGANS MAKE UP THE NERVOUS SYSTEM?

The brain is the most important organ in the nervous system. It controls all the other organs in our body. The nervous system connects the brain to the organs, muscles and skin through nerves, which are connected to the spinal cord.

The brain. When our brain receives information it sends a message to a part of the body to tell it how to react.

The spinal cord. The spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body.

Nerves. Nerves connect the spinal cord to our muscles, joints and skin. Sensory nerves receive messages from the muscles, joints and skin and send them to the brain. Motor nerves transmit messages our brain sends to the muscles, joints and skin.

RIVERS IN SPAIN

There are more than 1800 rivers in Spain.
The point where a river stars is named "source".
The point where a river flows into the sea is named "mouth".
A small river that flows into a bigger one is named "tributary".
There are three watersheds.
The rivers that flow into the Cantabrian Sea form the Cantabrian watershed. Two of them are Navia and Nalón.
The rivers that flow into the Mediterranean Sea form the Mediterranean watershed. We will study Ebro, Júcar and Segura.
The rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean form the Atlantic watershed. You should know Miño, Duero, Tajo, Guadiana and Guadalquivir.

To practice where the Spanish rivers are located, click on the image.

MOUNTAIN RANGES IN SPAIN

Spain is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe.

Click on the image and play and learn about mountains in Spain.

PROVINCES

Each autonomous community is made up of one province or more. Spain has 50 provinces. Provinces are subdivided into municipalities.

Click in the image to play and learn the provinces.

Autonomous Communities

Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities.
These were created by the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

Click on the image and you will play and learn the autonomous communities and cities.

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