Download Lesson 2 Looking at the Land

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INTERACTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1, LESSON 2
Looking at the Land
Creating Regions
To study the Western Hemisphere, people organize it into
regions. A region includes places with one or more features
in common, such as an area where many people farm or an
area with many mountains. A political region, such as a
country, has a single government. Political regions are
separated by boundaries, or borders. Economic regions are
places where many people do the same kind of work, such
as fishing. Because regions are defined in different ways,
the same place can be in more than one region.
Geographic Tools
Maps and globes are tools that people use to understand
geography. Maps may show political, physical, or thematic
information. As technology improves, so do geographic
tools. Satellites can be used to make more accurate and
detailed maps. New tools such as the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and the Geographic Information System
(GIS) combine satellite networks and computers to better
guide us and to learn new things about Earth.
Map
Flat picture showing Earth's
surface, or part of it
Advantages: Easy to carry
and store, can put many
maps together, can show
varied information
Globe
Round model of entire Earth
Advantages: Most accurate
representation of Earth,
can be political or physical
Aerial Photograph
Photograph of an area of
Earth's surface taken from an
airplane
Advantages: Can show
exactly what a part of
Earth's surface looks like
Satellite Photograph
Photograph of an area
of Earth's surface taken
from orbit
Advantages: Can show
a larger area of Earth's
surface than an aerial
photograph
All-in-One Practice Book
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
5
Find and underline a form of
each vocabulary word.
region noun, an area that
includes places with one
or more features in
common
boundary noun, the edge of
a region
economy noun, a system
people use to produce
goods and services
satellite noun, an object
sent into space to circle
Earth
What kind of region is a
country? Circle the sentence
that tells the answer.
What new tools rely on
satellites and computers?
Highlight the sentence that
tells the answer.
SKILL
Reading Charts
Which box tells why people
would choose to look at
Earth by using a globe?
Circle the correct box.
Use with The United States, Canada,
and Latin America