Novaya Zemlya

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/novaya-zemlya

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the location?Arctic Ocean, Russia
2. What is the administrative status?Novaya Zemlya District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia
3. Where is Novaya Zemlya and what does it look like?Novaya Zemlya is a group of two big islands in the Arctic Ocean, north of Europe, between the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea. It is covered with ice and has a very cold climate.
4. Why did the Soviet Union test nuclear bombs on Novaya Zemlya?Because the islands are far away and very cold, it was a secret place where the Soviet Union could safely test powerful weapons without many people nearby.

Archipelago: A chain, cluster, or collection of islands.
Cold War: A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc.
Nuclear Detonation: The act of exploding a nuclear weapon, releasing immense energy and radiation.
Thermonuclear Weapon: A type of nuclear weapon that uses a fission explosion to trigger a fusion reaction, creating a much more powerful explosion.