Here is a fun trick. Some land shapes have a water "twin": the same shape, with land and water switched.
Key idea
Opposite pairs: an island (land in water) and a lake (water in land); a peninsula and a bay; an isthmus (a thin strip of land joining two lands) and a strait (a thin strip of water joining two seas).
Why it works
Swap the colors in your head. Make the blue land and the land blue: an island turns into a lake, a peninsula into a bay, and an isthmus into a strait.
Worked example: Two real pairs
The Isthmus of Panama joins North and South America. The Strait of Gibraltar joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Which one is land?
- An isthmus is a thin strip of land.
- A strait is a thin strip of water.
Answer: The Isthmus of Panama is land.
Common mistake
The pairs are easy to mix up. Ask one question: "Is the thin part land or water?" Land: isthmus. Water: strait.
For the grown-up. Draw an island on paper and color the water blue. Then draw the same shape colored blue with land around it: a lake. Do the same with a peninsula and a bay.