Week 17 · Axis 3, Chapter 1 The Nile I Know (B) · 3 lessons
2
Egypt from space
Discover P2 Term 2: Axis 3, Chapter 1
GoalDescribe a picture of Egypt from space, explain why the Nile looks like a green strip, and use a scale to find a distance.
New words
satellite · a machine that goes round the Earth high up and takes picturesscale · a line on a map that shows how far a distance is in real lifeDelta · the wide green land where the Nile spreads out before the sea
Explanation
A satellite goes round the Earth, far above us, and takes pictures of the land. In a picture of Egypt from space, the Nile is a thin green strip. On both sides of it the land is brown, because it is desert. Near the sea in the north, the river spreads out and makes a wide green land called the Delta. We can see that people grow plants where there is water. Giza is a city beside Cairo, and the pyramids of Giza are near it. A map has a scale. One piece of the scale stands for a distance, for example 50 kilometres. If a trip is 3 pieces long, we count 50, 100, 150. The trip is 150 kilometres.
Worked examples
Seif looks at a map of Egypt seen from above. The Nile is a thin blue line with green land beside it. Brown desert is on both sides.
On Mariam’s toy map, each piece of the scale is 50 km. Her town is 3 pieces away from Giza. 50 + 50 + 50 = 150, so Giza is 150 km away.
Cairo is next to Giza, so it is very close. Aswan is far away in the south.
Class activity
Toy scale game. Cut a strip of paper and make it your scale: one strip is 10 steps. Use it to measure from your door to the gate, in steps. Count the strips in tens: 10, 20, 30. Then ask a friend to measure another place. Whose trip is longer?
Practice
1
In a picture of Egypt from space, what colour is the land beside the Nile?
Green, because plants grow where there is water.
2
Why is the land brown on both sides of the green strip?
It is desert: dry sand and rock.
3
One piece of the scale is 10 km. How far is the trip in the picture?
