UNIT 1 Studying Geography and Introduction to Early

HistoryPart 1 – Geography

Mrs. BurnetteWarrior Social Studies

ABSOLUTE LOCATION – the precise point where a place is located on Earth

RELATIVE LOCATION – where a place is located in relation to another place

DISTORTION – a change in shape, size, or position of a place when it is shown on a map

MAP PROJECTIONS – a way of representing the spherical Earth on a flat surface

DEFINITIONS (p. 1)

PHYSICAL FEATURES – any natural characteristic of the Earth’s surface, such as landforms and bodies of water

LANDFORMS – any natural feature of the Earth’s surface that has a distinct shape. Landforms include major features such as continents, plains, plateaus, and mountain ranges. They also include minor features such as hills, valleys, canyons, and dunes.

DEFINITIONS (p. 1)

CLIMATE – the pattern of weather over a long period of time

VEGETATION – all the plants and trees in an area

POPULATION DENSITY – the average number of people who live in a unit of area, such as a square mile. Population density measures how crowded an area is.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY - any activity that relates to the making, buying, and selling of goods and services

DEFINITIONS (p. 1)

LATITUDE – imaginary parallel lines that run east to west across the globe. They are measured in degrees North or South and are the first measurement in absolute location.

LONGITUDE – imaginary meridian lines that run north and south across the globe and meet at the poles. They are measured in degrees East or West and are the second measurement in absolute location.

DEFINITIONS (p. 1)

HEMISPHERE – half the world. The Northern and Southern hemispheres are separated by the Equator. The Eastern and Western hemispheres are separated by the Prime Meridian.

EQUATOR – 0 degrees latitude; runs east to west across the center (widest point) of the Earth.

PRIME MERIDIAN – 0 degrees longitude; runs through the observatory in Greenwich, England. The reference point for measuring other meridians of longitude.

DEFINITIONS (p. 1)

Why do we need to understand GEOGRAPHY in order to understand HISTORY? Write your thoughts in a 3-5 sentence paragraph. There are no right or wrong answers.

ACCESSING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE (p.2)

We use maps to find locations of places and how far apart they are.

Maps show absolute location: your address is an example of this. Using a grid of latitude and longitude also shows latitude and longitude. (Think: when the military wants to launch a missile, they need it to hit the EXACT target)

Relative location can also be found on maps. These are directions you may tell your friends. (“I live up the road past the red barn, third house on the left.”)

THE GEOGRAPHIC SETTING

Because Earth is a 3D sphere and maps are flat (2D), the size and shape of features get distorted, or stretched.

Globes are most accurate, but not as handy as maps.

There are different MAP PROJECTIONS that work best for what geographers want to study.

The photos on page 4 of your Interactive Notebook show how distortion can be a problem.

DISTORTION

Every place on Earth can be found using the latitude and longitude grid. It’s how your GPS works.

LATITUDE LINES run East to West and are parallel to the Equator. These lines are measured in degrees North or South of the Equator.

LONGITUDE LINES are half-circles that run from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Prime Meridian is 0 degrees longitude. The International Date Line is 180 degrees longitude.

LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE

LATITUDE = 0-90 Degrees North or South LONGITUDE = 0-180 Degrees East or West Together, these form the coordinates of a

location on Earth. Latitude is ALWAYS listed first, just like the x-axis on a coordinate plane in Math.

Bowling Green, Kentucky is near 37 Degrees North, 86 Degrees West.

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

Label the Equator (0 Degrees latitude) Label the Prime Meridian (0 degrees

longitude) Place a dot and label the major cities at the

correct absolute location: 1. St. Petersburg, Russia (60 N, 30 E) 2. Dakar, Senegal (15 N, 15 W) 3. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (23 S, 45 W) 4. Bowling Green, KY, USA (37 N, 86 W) 5. Melbourne, Australia (37 S, 142 E)

PRACTICE (p. 7)

A hemisphere is half the Earth. There are actually four, depending on how you divide the Earth. The Equator separates the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The Prime Meridian and International Date Line separate the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

HEMISPHERES

Water covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface.

It’s really one huge ocean, but geographers divide it into four oceans: Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific.

OCEANS

Continents are the largest landmasses on the planet.

Geographers identify seven of these. From largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.

Even though Europe and Asia are on the same large landmass, they are separated because of history and culture.

CONTINENTS

Trace the Equator and the Prime Meridian Label the four oceans Label the seven continents Circle the ONE continent that is located

entirely in the Southern and Eastern Hemisphere

PRACTICE (p. 9)

A map title, legend, and symbols provide you information.

Grids and scales help you determine absolute and relative location.

All flat maps have distortion. To deal with that, geographers use different types of maps depending on the information they are looking for.

MAPS

Lambert Projection: shows polar regions other projections may distort

Mercator Projection: great for showing directions, but distorts size of land and bodies of water at the poles

Robinson and Eckert Projections: an oval map like on p. 9 of your packet. Most accurate, but landmasses are smashed/flattened at the poles

Goode’s Homolosine Projection: accurate for continents, but cuts up/distorts the oceans

MAP PROJECTIONS

Label each map projection. You can use one of each of the following:

Robinson Projection Mercator Projection Eckert Projection Goode’s Homolosine Projection List one fact with each projection that

justifies it is the type you labeled

PRACTICE (p. 12)

Some focus on physical features and landforms (physical maps/physical geography)

Some show climate (long term patterns of weather) or precipitation (amount of rain or snowfall in a year)

Climate affects the vegetation grown in a region. You can see comparisons of climate maps and vegetation maps.

THEMATIC MAPS

Thematic maps can show human geography Political map – shows borders between

states or countries (how people divided the Earth), and cities or capitals

Population density map – shows number of people in an area, like a square mile

Economic activity map – shows business or industry in an area, or natural resources

THEMATIC MAPS

Titles tell the topic of the map Legends tell you what the map symbols

mean Uses of color might show borders and

regions on a political map, or elevation on a physical map

MAP TITLES & LEGENDS

Geographers have named all of the shapes of the land and water on earth. These are physical features or landforms.

Land has different elevation and shape (mountains, hills, valleys, plains, etc.)

Water has different shapes, sizes, and flows (lakes, oceans, rivers, bays, etc.)

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Each zone has patterns of temperature and precipitation

Patterns can be placed in a climagraph Location affects climate! Latitude is the

most important determiner of climate—the closer to the Equator, the more direct sunlight and the warmer the climate.

Elevation or altitude also affects climate. Higher elevations are generally colder.

CLIMATE ZONES

Vegetation (plant life) adapts to its environment.

Small plants grow in tundra climate (where it is cold), cacti grow in desert climates (with little rainfall)

Elevation, sunlight, and soil also affect vegetation

Geographers divide the Earth into vegetation zones, similar to the climate zones, as plants adapt to climate

VEGETATION

Tells us how crowded a place is—divide the number of people living there by a certain area.

The higher the number, the higher the density (the more people in an area)

Population density affects how people live (houses, apartments, farms…) and travel (personal vehicles, mass transit)

POPULATION DENSITY

LAND = How do people use the land to make a living and meet their needs? (Farming? Mining?)

NATURAL RESOURCES = Lumber from forests; Fish in the ocean; Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, or natural gas; Uranium for nuclear power; Building dams on rivers for hydroelectricity

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

In the graphic organizer on page 28, fill in facts about what you have learned about physical geography and human geography in the appropriate boxes.

In the bottom box, include similarities about the study of physical and human geography.

Find ways these studies connect: How do physical and human geography relate to each other?

PHYSICAL VS. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (p. 28)

LOCATION = where is it? PLACE = what makes it unique? MOVEMENT = how do people, goods, ideas

move around? REGION = how can a place be grouped with

other places with similar characteristics? HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION = how

do people change the environment for their benefit?

FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

You will select a country to research using the 5 Themes of Geography.

The CIA World Factbook is a GREAT resource with LOTS of geographic information:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/Use the drop-down menu to select a country to gain the needed information

COUNTRY PROFILE PROJECT