Geography

OHIO COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL

MR. JOHNSON’S

CHAPTER 1

Geography

The science of geography is likely the oldest of all sci-ences. Geography is the answer to the question that the earliest humans asked, "What's over there?" Explora-tion and the discovery of new places, new cultures, and new ideas have always been basic components of geog-raphy.Thus, geography is often called the "mother of all sci-ences" as studying other people and other places led to other scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, ge-ology, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, among oth-ers.

THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY:

•Location

•Place

•Human-Environment Interaction

•Movement

•Region

SECTION 1

The Five Themes of Geography

The five themes of geography were created in 1984 by the National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers to facilitate and organize the teaching of geography in the K-12 class-room.

Location:

When studying geography, location is a great place to start! To find a place you need to know it’s location. Location can be absolute or relative.

• Absolute location provides a definite reference to locate a place. The reference can be latitude and longitude or a street address. For example, the absolute location of OCMS is 1404 South Main Street, Hartford, KY 42347.

• Relative location describes a place with respect to its con-nection to other places. For example, Walmart is across the street (if you are at OCMS).

Place:

• Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location.

• Physical characteristics include a description such things as the mountains, rivers, beaches, topography, ani-mal and plant life of a place.

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• Human characteristics include the human-designed cul-tural features of a place, from land use and architecture to transportation.

Human-Environment Interaction

This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the en-vironment. Humans shape the landscape through their inter-action with the land; this has both positive and negative ef-fects on the environment. The ancient Egyptians are a great example of human-environment interaction since they lived near the Nile River. The Egyptians depended on the Nile River to flood each year and fertilize the soil for their crops. Unfortunately, many of the Egyptians homes were destroyed each year by the flooding, so the Egyptians had to adapt by building their homes above the flood plains. Finally, the Egyp-tians modified the environment by digging irrigation ditches and a dam to control the flood waters and irrigate their crops.

Movement

Movement - Humans move, a lot! In addition, ideas, fads, goods, resources, and communication all travel distances. This theme studies movement and migration across the planet.

Region

Region divides the world into manageable units for geo-graphic study. Regions have some sort of characteristic that unifies the area. Regions can be formal, functional, or vernacu-lar.

• Formal regions are those that are designated by official boundaries, such as cities, states, counties, and countries. For the most part, they are clearly indicated and publicly known.

• Functional regions are defined by their connections. For example, the circulation area for a major city area is the func-tional region of that newspaper.

• Vernacular regions are perceived regions, such as "The South," "The Midwest," or the "Middle East;" they have no formal boundaries but are understood in our mental maps of the world.

*This section was adapted from geography.about.com.

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Question: Give one positive example and one negative modern day example that human interaction has on our en-vironment.

Question: What formal region do you live in? Give an ex-ample of a functional and vernacular region that you live

Question: Give one real-world example of migration in the United States.

USING A MAP

1. Direction

2. Distance & Scale

3. Latitude & Longitude

4. Hemispheres

5. Map Symbols & Legends

SECTION 2

MapsDirection

Direction is one of the most important things we can learn from a map. You use direction every day--left, right, forward, backward, up or down. But these directions depend on where you are and which way you are facing. Maps use the 4 major directions called cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. These directions do not change. North is always toward the North Pole. Usually north will be at the top of the map; however, this is not always true. Mapmakers use a compass rose or north arrow to show directions.

Distance

A map is a drawing of a part of the earth. A map as big as the earth would be too large to put in your pocket and carry with you, so maps are drawn so that a certain distance on the map represents a much larger distance on the earth. This makes it possible to show the whole earth on a piece of paper. Dis-tance is shown on a map using a map scale, since a map the exact size of the earth would be very hard to fold and harder to carry around.

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Latitude and Longitude

People need a way to tell exactly where they are on the earth’s surface, their absolute location. People also need the ability to find their way to any other absolute location. Fortunately, this is possible by using a grid system that covers the entire earth. This grid is made up of two sets of lines that cross each other. These lines are called latitude and longitude.

Lines of Latitude, also know as parallels, run east and west and measure distances north and south from the equator, which is 0 degrees latitude. When we give the latitude of a place, we must state whether the place is north or south of the equator. Fore example, the North Pole is at 90° north lati-tude.

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Read each of the following phrases and determine if that phrase describes compass rose or scale.

• helps you find directions on a map

• can be marked in miles

• helps you find distance on a map

• may be marked N, S, E, W

Lines of Longitude, called meridians, run north and south and measure distance east and west from the Prime Meridian, which is 0 degrees longitude. When we give the latitude of a place, we must state whether the place is east or west of the prime meridian. For example, South America is at 60° west latitude.

Hemispheres

What is a hemisphere?Hemi = halfSphere = the shape of a ball (or the earth)Hemi + sphere = half of the earth

A hemisphere is half of a sphere, or ball. People use the word to describe one half of earth. Geographers, or people who study earth, have divided the planet into two sets of two hemi-spheres. These are the Northern and Southern hemispheres and the Eastern and Western hemispheres. The Northern Hemisphere is all of the earth lying north of the equator whereas all the areas south of the Equator are in the Southern Hemisphere. The Western Hemisphere is the left vertical half of the earth, west of the Prime Meridian whereas the Eastern Hemisphere is the right vertical half of the earth, east of the Prime Meridian.

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Map Symbols & Legends

Maps use symbols (map symbols) to help the reader tell kinds of information apart. The meaning of each symbol is ex-plained in a special part of the map call a legend, or key. Each symbol used on the map is shown, along with an explanation of what the symbol means.

*This section was adapted from Building Skills in Geography workbook by Glencoe.

Question: In what two hemispheres is North America located?

Question: In what two hemispheres is Australia lo-cated?

Question: What line latitude divides the earth into two halves?

Question: What line of longitude divides the earth into two halves?

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ITEMS THAT WE WILL WILL FIND ON A MAP

1. Continents & Oceans

2. Landforms & Physical Features

SECTION 3

Find it on a MapContinents & Oceans

The surface of the earth is covered with approximately 71% wa-ter and 29% land. The land is divided into seven continents with six of those continents divided into over 190 nations.

• North America - located above South America and beside Europe. It is located in the northern and western hemi-spheres.

• South America - located under North America and beside Af-rica. It is located in the southern and western hemispheres.

• Europe - located between North America and Asia and above Africa. It is also located in the northern and eastern hemispheres.

• Asia - located beside Europe and above Australia. It is also located in the northern and eastern hemispheres.

• Africa - located under Europe and beside Asia. It is also lo-cated in the northern and eastern hemispheres.

• Australia - located below Asia and above Antarctica. It is also located in the southern and eastern hemispheres. It is the only continent that is also a country.

• Antarctica - located at the bottom center of the earth below all of the continents. It is located in the southern and western/eastern hemispheres.

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Oceans are great bodies of water that covers more than 71% of the earth’s surface and come together around the continent of Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. Oceans can affect the development of a region such as to encourage fishing and trade, and can influence the migration and settlement of peo-ple. It can also affect weather, climate, and the living condi-tions of people.

Historically, there are four major oceans; however, most coun-tries—including the United States—now recognize the South-ern (Antarctic) Ocean as the fifth ocean.

• Atlantic - meets the Arctic Ocean to the north. It covers about 31, 530,000 square miles. The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean.

• Pacific - is the largest and deepest ocean. It covers 63,800,000 square miles or about one-third of the earth’s surface. It is so vast that the Pacific could hold all the conti-nents and stretches about 11,000 miles.

• Indian - is smaller than the Atlantic. It covers about 28,356,000 square miles.

• Arctic - lies at the top of the world north of Asia, Europe, and North America. The Arctic Ocean covers about 3,662,000 square miles. On the west, the Bering Strait links it with the Pacific. On the east, it merges with the Atlantic.

• Southern (Antarctic) - comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally considered to be south of 60°

south latitude. It is considered the fourth largest of the oceans. Some do not consider this to be an actual ocean.

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Question: Name the two continents that are lo-cated completely within the Southern Hemi-sphere.

Question: Which country is also considered a conti-nent?

Question: What two continents are located com-pletely within the Northern Hemisphere?

Question: Name the continent located completely within the Northern & Western Hemispheres.

Question: What ocean borders the eastern coast of the United States?

Question: What Ocean borders the western coast of Australia?

Landforms & Physical Features

The earth is a very interesting place. Everywhere you turn there is something you have not seen before. Humans seem to have a need to explore, to go places they have never been be-fore. In fact, the travel industry is one of the largest in the world. The earth would not be very interesting if all the places on it looked the same. Your family probably would not travel hundreds of miles to visit a place exactly like your home. The earth does not look the same everywhere because it has many different landforms. Landforms are features of the earth’s sur-face, such as mountains and plains. Below are some examples of landforms that you should know.

• bay - part of a body of water that extends into the land; smaller than a gulf.

• gulf - part of a body of water that extends into the land; larger than a bay.

• delta - land built up at the mouth of a river.

• island - body of land completely surrounded by water.

• isthmus - narrow piece of land connecting two larger pieces of land.

• lake - body of water completely surrounded by land; usually fresh water.

• mountain - raised area of land, usually with steep sides; the highest landforms.

• peninsula - narrow piece of land sticking out into water and surrounded by water on three sides.

• plain - flat or gently rolling land, usually not far above sea level.

• plateau - flat or gently rolling land higher than the surround-ing land.

• river - large stream of water that flows through land.

• basin - a low area of land surrounded by higher land

• straight - a narrow channel joining two larger bodies of wa-ter.

Use Google earth to look at some real-world exam-ples of landforms.

• Bay – Hudson Bay (2nd largest in world) & Bay of Bengal (1st largest)

• Canyon – Grand Canyon• Delta – New Orleans (built up alluvial deposits by the Missis-

sippi River. Also, Nile River Delta.• Gulf – Gulf or Mexico & Persian Gulf• Isthmus – Isthmus of Panama• Lake – Great Lakes & Lake Victoria in Africa• Mountain – Mount Everest, world’s highest mountain,

which is part of the Himalayan Mountains & Rocky Moun-tains

• Peninsula – Florida & Italy

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• Plain – The Great Plains (west of the Mississippi River and East of the Rocky Mountains)

• Plateau – Tibetan Plateau• River – The Mississippi & Nile• Strait – The Strait of Gibraltar & The Bering Strait•

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TYPES OF MAPS

• Types of Maps

• Physical

• Relief

• Political

• Special-purpose

• Map Projections

• Conic

• Gall-Peters

• Mercator

• Robinson

SECTION 4

Types of Maps Types of Maps:

There are many kinds of maps that can show a variety of infor-mation. You should choose a map that focuses on the informa-tion you need. A physical map shows how the land looks. Mountains, rivers, plains, and lakes, the physical features of the land, are shown on a physical map. A relief map is a map that shows the height of land above sea level. A politi-cal map shows how humans have divided the surface of the earth into countries, states, etc... Often, a political map will show some physical features, such as lakes and rivers, because these are sometimes used as boundaries. A political map will show where the boundaries between countries, states or coun-ties are. A special purpose map provides one particular kind of information. For example, a special purpose map could be used to show rainfall, population density or product production.

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A political map of the world.

GALLERY 1.1 Types of Maps

Map Projections:

Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too”? It’s a great way of saying that when we get one thing, often we must give up something else. Choosing a map sometimes means giving up on thing in order to get another. Maps show four things: direction, distance, shape and size. Only a globe can show all four with accuracy at the same time. Maps, however, cannot. A map may show distance well but the shapes of the landmasses may be quite inaccurate. Or, if shapes are shown correctly, distances may not be.

Question: Why don’t we just use globes instead of maps since maps can’t show direction, distance, shape and size as accurately as a globe?

There are many different kinds of map projections. A map projection is a way of showing the rounded earth on a flat piece of paper.

conic projection - map projection used for showing small areas midway between the equator and the poles. (size, dis-tance, and direction are fairly accurate)

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Gall-Peters projection - map projection that shows the sizes of landmasses correctly. However, shapes and distances are not correct. (similar to a Mercator projection)

Mercator map projection - map that shows true direc-tions and land shapes but exaggerates sizes of landmasses.

Robinson projection - most widely used map projection in the world that shows only minor distortions in true size, dis-tance, and shape of landmasses.

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