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Summary: What Is Geography?
Welcome to North Carolina
Geography is the study of people and places on Earth.
Geographers are people who study geography. They help us
to understand our environment. When geographers study the
environment, they think about five big themes: place, region,
location, movement, and human-environment interactions.
Geographers study the physical and cultural features
of a place. Physical features include landforms, bodies of
water, animals, and plants. Cultural features include types of
communities, languages, beliefs, and religions.
Geographers group places into regions. They define
regions by physical features such as North Carolina's
Mountain region. Geographers also define a region by
cultural features such as language.
Location and Movement
Relative location is where a place is in relation to other
places. North Carolina's relative location is south of Virginia
and north of South Carolina. Geographers also think about
absolute location. They use lines of latitude and longitude
to describe a place's absolute location. For example,
Fayetteville, North Carolina, is located at 35 degrees north
latitude and 79 degrees west longitude.
People, products, plants, animals, and ideas can all move
from one place to another. They might move from one place
because of war, unfair leaders, or lack of jobs. People are
attracted to places that offer jobs, peace, and freedom. The
physical environment can affect movement. For example, it
is harder to move through tall mountains than flat land.
People and the Environment
People can change their environment. In North Carolina,
people have built dams on rivers. Dams supply water and
electricity to cities. Dams can also change the flow of a river,
which can harm wildlife.
The environment affects people, too. Early North
Carolina settlers used rivers to move people and crops.
People who lived close to oceans and rivers learned to fish.
Today, people adapt to their environment by building roads
and using airplanes to transport goods.
Find and underline each
vocabulary word.
geography (jee AHG ruh
fee) noun, the study of
people and places on
Earth
environment (ehn VY
ruhn muhnt) noun, all
the surroundings and
conditions that affect
living things
region (REE juhn) noun,
an area that shares one
or more features
relative location (REL uh
tihv loh KAY shuhn)
noun, the location of one
place in relation to other
places
absolute location (AB suh
loot loh KAY shuhn)
noun, the exact spot on
Earth where a place can
be found
REVIEW Name the five
themes that geographers
use to describe an
environment. Circle the
sentence that lists the
themes.
REVIEW What is one way
that people change their
environment? Underline
the sentence that gives an
example of people changing
their environment.
Practice Book
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Use with North Carolina: Geography and History, pp. 6–11
10/05/2007 15:43:33