Australia on the world map

This resource looks at maps of Australia and the world and encourages students to become familiar with continents, countries, states, capitals, oceans and direction (north, south, east, west).

Structure and features

Students start by recording and sharing what they know about Australia the country. Either learn or reinforce that it is made up of 6 states and 2 territories, each with a capital city. Australia has a coastline with mainland and Tasmania is surrounded by an ocean north, east, south and west.
Listen to this fun educational music video. Students can sing along (more than once) to become familiar with Australia's states, territories, and capitals - Australia Country Song by Kids Learning Tube.
Using directions N, E, S, W together with ‘near’ and ‘far’, look at the position of the states and capital cities in Australia (will require help).
Look at the world map.
- Support students to define ‘continent’ and ‘ocean’.
- Talk about the world map by locating all 7 continents and 5 oceans together with North and South poles.
- Discuss the sizes of continents, the countries in each continent and their location in relation to Australia - World map with countries.
Directions including NE, NW, SE and SW might be introduced to describe the position of countries from Australia.
If possible, students can describe and show the 7 continents and 5 oceans on the blank printable world map.
Search the internet for a blank printable map of Australia.
On a map of Australia label the 5 states and 2 territories (with spelling help).