Oklahoma Academic Standard 2. The student will demonstrate knowledge of basic geographic concepts.  

Objective 2.3 Identify the difference between continents and oceans.

In a Nutshell

Students should understand that the Earth’s land surfaces and large bodies of water which are located relatively near one another have been organized and named by humans in order to identify them for exploration and study. Students should also be able to locate the Earth’s continents and oceans on a basic map or globe. 

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Assist students in creating and using basic maps, and other simple geographic models to identify the continents and oceans. 

• Ask and answer geographic questions using information from maps, graphs, and other geographic models representing the Earth’s continents and oceans. 

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• continent, landmass

• ocean, sea, gulf, ocean floor 

• use of globes and physical maps of the Earth's continents and oceans 

• Some students may be confused by the concept of continents in contrast to a landmasses. For example, Europe and Asia share one landmass, but are traditionally and historically considered as two separate continents.

• Some students mistakenly think that continents are floating landmasses or the oceans are not located over land.

Instructional Resources