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Geography
 Australia

Australia
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.08

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    tectonic, echidna, greeting, koala, outnumber, marsupial, country, kangaroo, continent, region, hemisphere, lies, unique, island, rainforests, often
     content words:    Land Down Under, Great Barrier Reef, Down Under, Barrier Reef

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Australia
By Cindy Grigg 		  
1     Australia is an island. Australia is a country. Australia is a continent. No, wait; it's all three! Australia is the smallest continent on Earth. It is made up of only one country, also called Australia. It is an island, completely surrounded by water. It lies in the southern hemisphere. It is the driest continent where people live year-round.
 
2     Australia is a land of contrasts. The weather there often brings both floods and droughts. About two-thirds of the continent is desert. The region called the Outback is very hot and dry. Not many people live there. Half of the continent is home to only one percent of the population. There are large sheep and cattle ranches called stations in the Outback. Sheep in Australia outnumber people ten to one!
 
3     But Australia is also a land of tropical rainforests. One million animal species live in Australia. Many of these animals are found nowhere else in the world. Along the coasts, there are many beautiful beaches.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
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