class 7 Life in Temperate Regions

Class 7, Geography

Chapter 11: Life in Temperate regions

Write the major difference between Prairies and Velds?

Prairies	Velds
The temperate grasslands of North America are known as Prairies. In Latin “Pratum” means Meadow or Grassland	The temperate grasslands of South America are termed as Velds. In Dutch it means “Field”
These are located in USA and Canada. They stretch between 40⁰N and 55⁰N	These lie South in the southern hemisphere between 25⁰ S and 37⁰ S
They are located between the Great Lakes and Appalachian Highland in east and foothills of Rocky Mountains in the west.	They are located between the Drakensberg Mountain in South East and Kalahari Desert in Northwest.
Winters are extremely cold with -20⁰ C and summers are hot with 21⁰C	The temperature range between 5 to 15⁰ C and goes up to 20⁰ Celsius during summers.
Dominant vegetation is only grasses. But in river valleys where water is available, trees such as willow and poplar are grown.	Due to semiarid climatic conditions only, grass covers the major area. In Bush veld, Red Grass and in high veld Marula and Acacia are grown.
Wildlife in Prairies are dogs, jackals, coyote, rabbit, hawk, antelope, etc.	Wildlife in Velds are Lion, Giraffe, Leopard etc.
Agriculture is the most important occupation.	Sheep and cattle rearing is the major occupation.

One word questions:

Chernozems – Soils in Prairies.
Chinook – Local warm winds of prairies
Combined harvester – big farming machine.
Fodder crops – Crops for animals
Mohair – Angora goat wool.
Prairies – Temperate grasslands of North America
Ranches – Huge cattle farm in Canada
Grasslands covered quarter of total surface area
Temperate grasslands lie between 23 ½ ⁰N of Tropic of Cancer and 23 ½ ⁰S of Tropic of Capricorn.
Arctic ocean – North of Prairies
Gulf of Mexico – South of Prairies
USA – Prairies are drained by Mississippi River and its tributaries
Crops cultivated in prairies are Oats, Barley, Wheat, Corn, Rye oil seeds
Most important crops is Wheat
Reaping, Threshing, winnowing of the grains are done by combined harvester.
Wheat of USA is Winter Wheat.
Fodder crops are Lucerne and Alfalfa
Soil erosion by strong winds are prevented by Strip cropping, Contour ploughing, Crop rotation.
Prairies are the granaries of the world due to the surplus wheat production
Winnipeg is also called as Gateway of Canadian Prairies.
Silos are the grain collecting sheds.
In Velds entire region is drained by Limpopo and orange rivers.
Mohair, long silken hair is obtained from Angora goats.
Major producer and exporter of Wool in the world is South Africa.
Velds are rich in gold, diamond, uranium, coal, iron ore.
Johannesburg is the gold capital
Kimberley is the biggest city known to the whole world for its diamond and gold mines.

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