Lesson video

Hi, geographers.

My name's Ms. Hoggett, and I'm really excited that you're here to learn some geography with me today.

I'm sure if you try your best, you're going to be absolutely fantastic.

Don't worry too much if you haven't studied this topic before.

I'm here to help you every step of the way.

Today's lesson is titled "Physical Landscapes of the Middle East," and this sits within the unit "The Middle East: How have natural resources changed the Middle East?" Our learning outcome for today's lesson is that I can describe the location and key landscapes of the Middle East.

To help us through today's lesson, we have a number of key terms that are going to be really useful to us.

Tectonic, plateau, desert, and mountain.

Tectonic are the large-scale processes that take place within the Earth's crust.

A plateau is an area of high, flat land.

A desert is an area of land that's extremely dry and receives less than 25 centimetres of precipitation a year.

And a mountain is a natural raised part of Earth that's higher than a hill.

So tectonic, plateau, desert, and mountain are our four key terms that are going to be really useful in today's lesson.

We have three learning cycles in this lesson.

The first, the Middle East as a crossroad of continents, the second, diverse landscapes of the Middle East, and the third, how tectonic movement shaped the landscape.

But we're going to start with our first learning cycle now, the Middle East at a crossroad of continents.

Now, place varies in scale and it's important to recognise the scale of the place that we're talking about.

Now, the first in our scale is often a hamlet and a hamlet is the smallest type of settlement.

It has a few houses grouped together, and it often has no shops or services for the people who live there.

This is followed by a village, and a village is slightly larger than a hamlet.

It usually has a small number of houses, and it could also include a shop, a school, or a church.

This is followed by a town.

Now, a town is much bigger than a village and it has more buildings and services, such as things like supermarkets, schools, train stations, and even health centres.

This is followed by a city, and a city is larger than a town and often has a large population, lots of services, and it might be a really important place for things like business, culture, or government.

Cities will have a cathedral and often they'll have a university as well.

Now, all of these different types of places sit within a much larger scale, and we can start that off with a country.

Now, a country is a large area of land with its own government and borders, like the UK, France, or Japan.

Countries sit within continents, and continents are huge areas of land made up of many different countries.

There are seven continents such as Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, South America, and Antarctica.

And lastly, we have regions.

Now, regions aren't always bigger than continents, but they can span across multiple continents.

Now, the Middle East is a region that covers three different continents, so we're going to look at that in a little bit more detail now.

So there on the map, we can see the region that's typically defined as the Middle East.

Now, this can vary between maps, so it's important to recognise that sometimes these borders might change.

Now on this map, we can see that we have Europe to the northwest, we have Africa to the South, and we have Asia to the east.

So we can see that that darker green section on the map is the Middle East, and that covers three different continents.

So let's check your understanding so far.

Which continents does the Middle East pass through? Is it A, Europe? B, Oceania? C, Asia? Or D, Africa? Pause the video and have a go answering this question.

Well done if you said A, Europe, C, Asia, and D, Africa.

We know that the Middle East crosses three different continents.

Good work, geographers.

Now, the name at Middle East comes from a European point of view, and it was used to describe the region east of Europe, but not quite as far as East Asia, which some people refer to as the Far East.

Now, it comes from the British imperial and naval strategies in the early 19th and 20th centuries.

So it was there to help with navigation.

Now if we look at the map, we can see that we have some different continents listed, such as Europe, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.

But what we can also see is the orange section shaded is where we find the Middle East.

So we notice how it crosses over three continents, and that's where it's located in relation to the rest of the world.

Now Aisha correctly says, "Depending on where you are in the world, the middle could be different, and people from that region don't necessarily call it that." So for some people, the term Middle East is quite confusing and it's important for us to recognise that it's just from a European point of view.

So true or false? The Middle East is a region with clearly defined borders.

Pause the video and have a go at answering this question.

Well done if you said false.

We know that yes, the Middle East is a region, but the borders can vary.

Generally speaking, it stretches from the Eastern Mediterranean in the west to the Iran-Afghanistan border in the east.

Middle East has often been called a crossroad of the world because people, goods, and ideas have travelled through it for years.

This is because the Middle East is located between the three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, making it a natural meeting point for different cultures and trade routes.

For thousands of years, people have passed through this region while travelling, trading, or migrating, bringing with them new goods, beliefs, and inventions.

For example, travelling along the historic Silk Road that connects the Middle East to China.

The Silk Road was a famous trade route that linked China to East Europe in the west.

Traders and travellers would pass through the Middle East as part of their journey.

Along the way, they didn't just trade items like silk, spices, and jewels, but they also shared languages, ideas, and customs. Because of this, the Middle East became a busy centre of trade.

It acted like a huge marketplace where different cultures met and exchanged not just goods, but also knowledge and technology.

This helped the region grow in importance and influence across the rest of the world.

Within this, religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam also began.

So the Middle East is also where three of the world's major religions started.

These religions spread across the globe and still have millions of followers today.

Places like Jerusalem and Mecca are sacred to many people and are visited by religious travellers every single year.

So we're going to practise what you've learned in learning cycle one, and I'd like you to do these two small practise tasks.

So firstly, I'd like you to shade in the Middle East region on your map, and secondly, explain why not everyone calls the region the Middle East.

Pause the video and have a go at completing this practise task.

Well done for giving that are really good go, geographers.

Let's check your answers.

So your map should look like this, and we can see that the Middle East region is shaded there in orange in relation to the rest of the world.

Well done if you've got that spot on.

And for part two, we needed to explain why not everyone calls the region the Middle East.

Now, we know that not everyone calls the region the Middle East because the term is based on a European point of view.

It was created in the 19th and early 20th centuries to describe the region that was east of Europe, but not as far as East Asia.

It sits between Europe and North Africa to the west and East Asia to the east.

Now, if you're from Africa or Asia or even within the region itself, the term middle doesn't make sense.

So that's why some people might disagree on what that region is called.

Well done for having a really good go, geographers.

We're now ready to move on to learning cycle number two, diverse landscapes of the Middle East.

Now, the Middle East is located in the Northern Hemisphere between 12 degrees north and 42 degrees north of the equator.

It contains a variety of different physical features.

Now, these physical features can include lots of different things, but mainly we have really significant rivers.

There's also some really, really tall mountains.

There's plateaus, deserts, and coastlines as well.

Now, what this shows us is that it's not all desert, and it's really important that we remember that the Middle East is not all desert.

It contains lots of other different physical features too, and it has a really diverse landscape.

So true or false? The Middle East is all desert.

Pause the video and have a go at answering this question.

Well done if you said false.

We know that the Middle East has a diverse range of landscapes and physical features, including rivers, coastlines, plateaus, deserts, and mountains.

And what we're going to do now, geographers, is we're going to explore some of those in a little bit more detail.

Now, the Middle East contains a number of different large rivers.

They include the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.

Now, the Nile is the longest river in the world, and it flows through several countries, including Egypt and Sudan.

It's been incredibly important for thousands of years, providing water for farming, transport, and drinking in a mostly dry region.

Ancient Egyptian civilization grew along its banks because of the rich, fertile soil left behind when the river flooded.

The Tigris River flows through countries like Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, and is one of the main rivers in the historic region called Mesopotamia, which means the land between two rivers.

This area is often called the cradle of civilization because it was home to some of the first cities and writing systems in the whole world.

The last really important river is the Euphrates.

Now, the Euphrates River runs nearly parallel to the Tigris and it also flows through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.

Like the Tigris, it played a major role in supporting early farming and settlements.

Together, the Tigris and the Euphrates allowed people in Ancient Mesopotamia to grow crops, build cities, and develop one of the first complex societies.

Now, these rivers are especially important in the Middle East because whilst we know that there is a diverse landscape, much of that land is desert-like, so rivers like the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates have provided that source of life, allowing people to farm and trade and travel.

They also helped shape the history and culture of the region, making the Middle East one of the most important areas in early human history.

There's also several mountains, and we can see them listed on this map.

Now, a mountain is a natural raised part of Earth that's higher than a hill.

The Taurus Mountains are what we can see just to the south of Turkey.

And then in Iran, we can see the Zagros Mountains as well.

There's also some areas of really high flat land, and these are called plateaus.

On this topographical map of the Middle East, we can see the Iranian Plateau.

The Anatolian Plateau is another example that we can see listed on the map as well.

Now, the biomes vary across the Middle East.

And in the central and southern parts of the Middle East, there is warm desert.

Notice how desert is spelled with one s, not two.

If it was two, we'd be saying dessert.

Now, a desert is an area of land that's extremely dry and receives less than 25 centimetres of precipitation a year.

The Rub'al Khali covers 25,000 square miles and is mainly in Saudi Arabia.

It's the largest continuous sand desert in the whole world.

So we can see it's got international significance.

Now, the Middle East also has diverse coastlines.

These coastlines have allowed cities to grow, trade, and develop, and allowed people to connect with other parts of the world by sea.

Our first example is in Dubai.

Now, Dubai is a major city in the United Arab Emirates, located along the Persian Gulf.

It has grown rapidly from a small fishing village to a modern city known for its skyscrapers, its ports, and tourism.

Its coastal location makes it an ideal place for trade and shipping, and it's now one of the busiest ports in the region.

Next, we have Abu Dhabi, also located in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE.

Like Dubai, its coastline helped it grow from rich oil exports and global trade.

This city also has many modern buildings, beaches, and ports that make it a key part of the Middle East's coastal economy.

And lastly, we've got Beirut, which is the capital of Lebanon, located on the Mediterranean Sea.

It has a long history as a trading city, dating back thousands of years, Beirut's coastal position helps it to connect Europe and Africa.

And today, it's known for its culture, history, and diverse population.

The sea continues to shape its economy and its lifestyle.

So now we're going to check what you've learned so far in this learning cycle.

So I'd like you to match up the landscape to the examples below.

So in terms of our landscapes, we have rivers, mountains, plateaus, deserts, and coastlines, followed by the different examples listed on the screen.

Pause the video and have a go at completing this practise task.

Well done if you gave that a really good go.

So what we should have done is matched up rivers with places like the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.

Mountains with the Zagros and Taurus Mountains.

Plateaus with the Anatolian Plateau and the Iranian Plateau.

Deserts with the Rub'al Khali.

And coastlines such as those in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Beirut.

Well done for giving that are really good go, geographers.

Now, whilst the land that we can see on the surface is really diverse, interesting, and important, it's really, really key that we consider what's underneath the ground as well.

Now below the surface, the Middle East has a huge amount of natural resources, including coal, oil, and gas.

On the map, we can see where the oil fields are located.

We have some in places like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait.

We know that these are really, really important to people within the Middle East and around the world.

Now, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran have some of the largest oil reserves in the whole world.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia produced 531.

7 million tonnes of oil and Iraq and Iran each produced 213 and 240 million tonnes of oil as well.

So people all around the world are relying on the oil reserves within these countries, and therefore, it's really important we understand where they are.

So we're going to practise what you've learned in learning cycle two about the diverse landscapes of the Middle East, and I'd like you to write a response to Jacob's statement about the physical landscapes of the Middle East.

I'd like you to include specific examples.

So Jacob says, "The Middle East is all just desert." So think about what you've learned in this learning cycle, and I'd like you to write a response to that.

Good luck, geographers.

Well done for giving that a really good go.

Now, we're going to read through an example answer of what you could have said.

You might have written it differently and that's okay.

But let's think about how we can challenge Jacob's statement.

Jacob, you are incorrect.

The Middle East is not just desert.

It contains a variety of different landscapes as it covers such a vast area.

For example, it contains rivers such as the River Nile that flows through Egypt, and the Tigris and Euphrates that flow through Turkey and Iraq.

It also has mountains such as the Zagros and the Taurus Mountains.

There are also big plateaus, such as the Iranian Plateau in Iran and the Anatolian Plateau in Turkey.

Not to mention the diverse coastlines that surround the Middle East in places such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Jordan.

Of course, there are some deserts, such as the Rub'al Khali in Saudi Arabia, but that's not the full picture of the Middle East.

So even though we haven't covered every single corner of the Middle East, we can see through our answers that there is a really diverse landscape and we've challenged Jacob's statement successfully.

Well done, geographers.

So we're now ready to move on to learning cycle number three, how tectonic movement has shaped the landscape.

Now, this is really important because we want to understand why the Middle East has such a diverse landscape.

Now, some of the landscapes in the Middle East were formed by tectonic processes.

Tectonic refers to the large-scale processes that take place within the Earth's crust.

The Earth's crust is split into different tectonic plates, and these can be made up of oceanic crust or continental crust.

Oceanic crust is the crust that's found underneath the ocean, and continental crust is where we have the land that we stand on.

So what are the two types of the Earth's crust called? Pause the video and have a go at this question.

Well done if you said oceanic and continental.

We know that the Earth's crust is divided into different plates, and these can be made up of oceanic and continental crust.

Good work, geographers.

Now, Earth's tectonic plates are always moving and they can move in different directions.

The first is a conservative boundary where tectonic plates slide past each other.

They don't move smoothly.

Friction causes them to get stuck, and when they suddenly release, it can cause an earthquake.

No new crust is made or destroyed here.

The next is when they move away from each other or a constructive plate boundary.

As they pull apart, magma rises from the mantle to fill the gap in the centre, creating new oceanic crust.

This often happens under the sea and forms things like mid-ocean ridges or volcanic islands.

Our last type of plate boundary is where they move towards each other, and we would call this destructive.

This can happen when an oceanic plate meets a continental plate.

The denser oceanic plate is forced underneath in a process called subduction.

This can cause volcanoes and earthquakes.

Now, when two continental crusts move towards each other, they push up to form mountains, and this is how the Zagros and the Taurus were formed.

They are both examples of fold mountains formed by the collision of the Arabian and the Eurasian plate.

So let's check what you've understood from that.

So what direction do tectonic plates move to form fold mountains? Is it A, past each other? B, towards each other? Or C, away from each other? Pause the video and have a go at answering that question.

Well done if you said B, towards each other.

Absolutely spot on.

So we're going to think about what we've learned so far for this final practise task.

And firstly, I would like you to name the plate boundary shown by the diagram.

And secondly, I would like you to explain how tectonic processes shape the landscape in the Middle East.

I would like you to use the following terms, tectonic, fold mountains, continental, Zagros, and Taurus.

Pause the video and have a go at completing this practise task.

Well done for giving that a really good go, geographers.

Let's check your understanding.

So we know that the plates that move past each other could be our conservative plate boundary.

When the plates move away from each other and construct new crust, they're constructive.

And when they move towards each other, they can be destructive plate boundaries.

So well done if you've got those spot on.

For part two, we needed to explain how tectonic processes shaped the landscape in the Middle East, so you could have written something along these lines.

Tectonic processes shaped the landscape of the Middle East when the continental crust in the Arabian and Eurasian plates slowly collided.

This movement caused the land to crumple and rise, forming fold mountains, such as the Zagros Mountains in Iran and Iraq and the Taurus Mountains in Southern Turkey.

These dramatic landscapes were created over millions of years by powerful tectonic forces deep within the Earth.

Well done if you got that absolutely spot on.

So we've come to the end of this lesson, looking at physical landscapes of the Middle East.

And within this lesson, we've learned a number of really key points.

The Middle East lies a crossroad of continents.

We know it covers continents such as Europe, Africa, and Asia.

It has deserts, mountains, plateaus, and fertile valleys.

The Rub'al Khali is the largest continuous sand desert in the world, and the Zagros and Taurus Mountains were formed by tectonic movement.

Geographers, you've been absolutely fantastic today.

Well done for giving this lesson a really, really good go.

I hope you have a brilliant rest of your day, and I will see you soon for our next lesson.