Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN

(Formerly Botolan Community College)
Botolan Zambales
E-mail: polytechniccollegeofbotolan@gmail.com
Website: www.pcb2009.net

Module in Soc Sci Ac 1

BASIC GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES

I. MODULE TITLE: LESSON 16: WATER FORMS OF THE EARTH

II. EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 Explain the different water forms of the earth.

III. INTRODUCTION
Most of the water on the surface of the earth is found in oceans and seas. Our oceans are so big. They
contain almost 300 million cubic kilometers (1,230 million cubic miles) of water. Do you know that 80,000 cubic
miles of the water in the oceans are carried up to the atmosphere through evaporation? However, about one-
third of the water in the atmosphere goes back to the continents as precipitation or rain.
IV. SUBJECT CONTENT
The oceans of the world cover almost three-fourths or 71% of the Earth's total surface. Therefore, only
about 29% of the Earth is covered by land. Do you know that the ocean basins are interconnected? This
means that the different oceans form part of one global ocean. At present, there are five oceans of the
world. They are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern Oceans.
1. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth. It is almost twice the size of the Atlantic Ocean. It covers
almost one-third of the Earth's surface and is divided into the North Pacific and South Pacific. It is surrounded
by the Americas (lying on its eastern margin), Australia, East and Southeast Asia (on its western margin), the
Aleutian Islands to the north while to its south is the Antartic continent. The Pacific Ocean is so wide. It covers
an area of about 165,000,000 square kilometers (64,000,000 square miles). Its width is about 17,700
kilometers (11,000 miles). Its average depth is 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). The Pacific Ocean reaches almost
halfway around the globe. It is also in this part of the Earth where you will find the Mariana's Trench where the
Challenger Deep, the deepest part on Earth is found. Before this was discovered, the Philippine Deep was
known as the deepest part of the world. However, The Philippine Deep is only about 8,000 meters (26,246
feet) deep, while the Challenger Deep measures to 10,920 meters (35,826 feet). The Challenger Deep was
named after HMS Challenger II, the marine vessel used to explore the ocean floor in 1951. It discovered this
spot along the Mariana’s Trench.
2. The Atlantic Ocean
- separate the Americas from Europe and Africa.
- second largest ocean in the world.
Location:
Body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere
Total Area: 82,000,000 square kilometers (31,660,446 square miles)
- It is divided into North Atlantic and South Atlantic by the equator. Its deepest point is found at the
Puerto Rico Trench which is 8,648 meters (28,374 feet) deep.
3. The Indian Ocean
- separate India from Africa
- third largest ocean in the world.
Location:
Body of water between Africa, Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia
Total area: 73,426,000 square kilometers (28,350,000 square miles).
 4. The Southern Ocean is the fourth largest ocean in the world. It covers an area of 35,000,000 square
kilometers (13,500,000 square miles). This ocean surrounds the continent of Antarctica.
5. The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean in the world. It is also the shallowest of all the oceans. Its area
is about 14,089,600 square kilometers (5,440,000 square miles). This is found at the Pole Abyssal
Plain. It is bounded by Europe, Asia, Greenland, North America and many islands. This ocean is
covered by ice most of the time and little is known about what is found under this ocean.
Sea- smaller than an ocean. A big body of salt water. In fact, it is an extension, a division or a part of an ocean.
Usually enclosed by land. There are about 50 seas on earth and most of them are found in Europe and the
western part of the Pacific Ocean.
Rivers - are large natural streams of flowing water. They are found in every continent, and can be short or
long. Rivers are very important. They carry large amounts of water from the land to the sea. We know that
during the early days, people settled along the river banks. Do you know why? From the rivers, they found fish
and other things to eat. They use the water from the rivers for bathing, cooking, washing their clothes and other
purposes. Rivers also provide ways of transportation. It is even used as a source of power to operate
machines. A River usually comes from a source like a lake or a spring, or from a melting ice or glacier. As the
river flows, its main channel is being fed by other streams. These streams are called tributaries. Rivers and
their tributaries combine together to form a river system. The end of the river is called a mouth. The mouth of a
river opens into another body of water. It may be a larger river, a lake, a sea or the ocean itself.
There are many rivers in the world. The Nile River in Egypt is considered the longest river in the world while
the Amazon River in South America has the largest volume of water. In fact, its water is even greater even if
we combine all the waters of the Mississippi, the Yangtze and Nile rivers. A lake is a body of water surrounded
by land. Lakes are found everywhere, In fact, there are millions of lakes all over the world. Some lakes are very
small while some are very large.
Lake - Some lakes are shallow while others are deep. The world's deepest lake is Lake Baikal in Russia.
Lake Baikal is also the oldest lake on Earth. Some lakes are so shallow that you can even wade across them.?
There are also lakes found on mountains or in the uplands. And there are lakes that are found below sea level.
Lake Titicaca, one of the highest lakes in the world) is found in the Andes Mountains in South America. It is
almost 3,810 meters (12,500 feet) above sea level. Panch Pokhri Lake in Mt. Everest is even higher. It is
about 1.7,758 feet above sea level. There are also several unnamed glacial lakes on Mt. Everest which are as
high as 19,300 feet.
A gulf is a part of the ocean that penetrates towards the land and varies in size, depth and shape. Generally, it
is larger and more deeply indented than a bay.
A bay is like a gulf. It is a body of water partly surrounded by land. It differs from a gulf in that, a bay is smaller
and less surrounded by land. Its mouth is wider than the gulf as it opens to the sea or ocean.
Bays are formed when the ocean overflows a coastline. A coastline could have been sunk because of the
movement in the Earth's crust. Typical examples of bays are the New York Bay and San Francisco Bay in the
United States, the Bay of Bengal in India, the Botany Bay in Australia, and the Manila Bay in the Philippines.
V. SUMMARY
The oceans of the world cover almost three-fourths or 71% of the Earth's total surface. Therefore, only
about 29% of the Earth is covered by land. At present, there are five oceans of the world. They are the Pacific,
Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern Oceans.
Sea is smaller than an ocean. A big body of salt water. In fact, it is an extension, a division or a part of
an ocean. Usually enclosed by land. The Nile River in Egypt is considered the longest river in the world while
the Amazon River in South America has the largest volume of water. The world's deepest lake is Lake Baikal
in Russia. Lake Baikal is also the oldest lake on Earth. Lake Titicaca, one of the highest lakes in the world) is
found in the Andes Mountains in South America. A gulf is a part of the ocean that penetrates towards the land
and varies in size, depth and shape.

VI. SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. Why is the earth often called a water planet?
VII. ACTIVITY
1. Compare the different oceans according to size and depth.
2. Make a poster showing the different uses of water to man.

Prepared by:
IANNE JOY Y.MANIQUIZ
Instructor