World Cultures Geography Exploring the World Around Us

World Cultures & Geography Exploring the World Around Us

Geography: the study of the Earth • Geography comes from the Greek word geo meaning “earth” and graphy meaning “science of”. • Study of people, environment, and resources. • Maps, globes, charts, and graphs.

5 Themes of Geography Location Place Interaction between people and Environment Movement Region

Location: Position on the Earth’s surface. Two ways to determine location: 1) Absolute - 2) Relative –

Location (continued) Absolute Location: A place’s exact location on the Earth. Example: 37. 9319˚ N (Latitude), 121. 6958˚ W (longitude). Latitude/Parallels: Are imaginary lines that run horizontally around the globe: East & West. Longitude/Meridians: Are imaginary lines that circle the globe vertically: North to South.

Location (continued) • Relative location: This term explains where a place is by describing places near it. – Oakley/Brentwood area is about 60 miles southeast of San Francisco Turn to a partner & give them a relative location of a store of your choice.

Place: Physical and human characteristics or features of a location. 1) Physical features • Water • Climate (hot or cold) • Land (hilly, flat, etc. ) 2) Human characteristics • Reasons why people live in a certain area • How many people live in a certain place • What kind of work people do

Place Turn to a partner & give them the physical features and human characteristics of a place of your choice. BE PREPARED TO SHARE OUT.

Human-Environment Interaction • HEI: The theme of how people affect their environment, the physical characteristics of their natural surroundings, and how their environment affects them. • People change their environment – Examples: Clearing forests, damming rivers, and digging tunnels. • Consequences of people’s actions: – Environmental impact such as erosion, pollution, and fertile land.

Human-Environment Interaction (continued) • People adapt – People change to suit environment • Eskimo’s • Chinese stir fry – People change environment • deserts to fertile land • valleys flooded for lakes, dams, etc.

Human-Environmental Interaction Turn to a partner & brainstorm different HEI’s Brentwood/Oakley has had in the last 10 years. BE PREPARED TO SHARE OUT.

Movement: helps explain how people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another • Migration: the movement of people from one country or region to another in order to make a home – Why migrate? • food, work, trade (imports and exports) – Ideas spread – Cultural changes and Mix of cultures – Interdependence • globalization and trade

Regions: Areas with their own unique characteristics which unify their locations. – – Geographical or land Culture or history Political or economic Religion or beliefs • Geographers use theme of regions to make comparisons. – On maps, geographers use color and shape or special symbols to show regions – A place can be part of several regions at the same time • Houston, Texas is both a plains region and an oil producing region

Remembering the 5 Themes • If you can’t remember what they are, just ask MR. HELP M – Movement R – Regions He – Human Environment interaction L – Location P - Place