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Chapter 1
Geography,
History,
and the
Social
Sciences
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1. Thinking Geography
To understand the issues around the world
and how they change your life we first need
to understand geography.
• What do you think geography is?
• Why study geography?
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Geography is the study of people, their environments, and their resources. A
geographer looks at how the natural environment affects the way we live.
Perspective - meaning the way a person looks at something is an important part
of learning about geography.
What do you think is a natural resource?
A natural resource is a material that humans can take from the
environment to survive and satisfy their needs. For example a
mountain range may contain reserves of coal or iron, while a nearby
river or ocean may supply fish. The iron, coal, and fish are examples
of natural resources.
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Geographers use spatial perspective; they
look for patterns in where things are located
on Earth and how they are arranged. They
try to explain these patterns.
Landscape is the scenery of a place,
including its physical, human, and
cultural features.
Explain what they see!
Geography – Two branches
human geography – study where people live
and work as well as their ways of life.
physical geography – study the Earth’s
natural environments. (soil, water, animals)
Maps and Globes
To locate places, geographers used maps and globes. A
map is a drawing of the Earth’s surface.
A globe is a scale model of the Earth. It is round object
shaped like a ball (sphere) that has a map of the world on it.
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A drawing of a map on a flat surface is
called a map projection.
A person that makes a map is called a
cartographer.
Today they use sophisticated technology
to make maps.
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A map legend, or key, identifies the symbols on a
map and what they represent.
Four Kinds of Maps
Here are four types of maps that we use in our
everyday lives. They are political, physical,
population, and natural resource maps. A
collection of maps in one book is called an
atlas.
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The political map shows the
boundaries (or lines) that people use
to divide their world into countries and
states.
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A physical map shows natural features,
such as, mountains, deserts, rivers and
oceans.
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A population map lets you know how
many people live in different areas of
the Earth.
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A natural resource map shows the natural
resources in an area. A natural resource is
the raw materials, such as minerals, found
on the land areas.
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Latitude and Longitude
Most maps have lines on it that look like lines on a
sheet of graph paper. These graph lines make it
easier for us to locate the exact location of a place.
Lines that circle the globe in east-west and
north-south direction form a pattern called a grid.
These lines on the graph are measured in degrees
°.
Latitude
Longitude
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We use a compass rose to determine directions on a map.
A compass rose shows the directions of North, South, East
and West on a map.
The lines that run north to south (or up and down) are call
longitude.
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The lines that run east to west (or left to
right) are call latitude.
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We divide the Earth in half with an
imaginary line at 0° latitude is
called the Equator.
The Equator divides the Earth into two
halves called hemispheres.
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An imaginary line divides the
earth into two equal east and west
(left and right) halves. This
imaginary line is called the Prime
Meridian.
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1.
2.
What line of longitude passes close
to Bordeaux?
What city is located east of 5◦E and
south of 45◦ N?
Time Zones
Lines of longitude and latitude also help us tell what
time it is all over the world. Why does time differ on the
earth from place to place?
The answer is that the Earth rotates on its axis. As the
Earth moves, the sun appears to rise in some places and
set in other places. Throughout the world people use the
rising and setting of the sun to set their clocks.
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To make this easier the world was divided into 24 time
zones. Each time zone represents 1 hour in time on a
clock. As you move from time zone to time zone you
increase or decrease you clock by 1 hour for each time
zone you cross when traveling. If you head West, you lose
an hour for each time zone you cross. If you head East,
you add an hour for each time zone you cross. Each zone
you cross is called a Standard Time Zone.
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The study of geography is organized into five
important themes.
1. location – the exact or relative spot
of something on Earth.
2. place – physical and human features
of a location.
3. human-environment interaction – the
way people and environment affect each
other.
4. movement – how people and things
change locations and the effects of these
changes.
5. region – organizes the Earth into
geographic areas with one or more
shared characteristics.
The Five Themes of Geography
Location
Historians and geographers try to discover where
something important happened. They also try to figure
out why that event happened? A geographers task is to
try to pinpoint the exact location of an event.
Compass Rose
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Place
A geographer looks at the physical features of a
place. They looked at the climate (weather), plant
life, animal life and bodies of water. People often help
to shape the way a place looks by their ideas and
actions.
Wyandanch
revitalization
project
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Interaction Between People and Their Environment
Throughout history, people have adapted and changed
their natural environment. For example, ancient hunters
learned to grow food crops in the Americas.
Later Americans in the Southwest developed methods of
irrigation, or bringing water to dry lands.
People have invented ways to
take oil from the ocean floor.
They have cut down thick
forests to build highways.
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Movement
People move around to different places throughout the world
because their resources (raw materials) are spread unevenly
around the world.
To get resources they had to move place to place. As they
met other people, they exchanged their ideas and
technology. Technology is any new idea or invention used
to improve the life style of people.
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Region
Geographers study regions. A region is an area of
the world with similar characteristics. For example,
the Great Plains is a region because it has fairly
level land, very hot summers, very cold winters and
little rainfall.
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We can also organize the Earth’s land surface into
seven large landmasses, called continents.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
5.
6.
7.
Europe
North America
South America
Landmasses completely surrounded by water are
called islands.
Four Oceans of the World
1.
Atlantic
3.
Indian
2.
Artic
4.
Pacific
Lands and Climates
of the United States
Geographers divide the United
States into several different
physical regions with contrasting
landforms. The Hawaiian Islands
located in the North Pacific
Ocean, consist of a chain of
islands. The Pacific Coast is the
mainland’s westernmost region,
with high mountain ranges
stretching from Alaska to Mexico.
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Types of Landforms
Mountains- are high steep rugged land. They rise
to an elevation (or height) of at least 1,000 feet
above the surrounding land.
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Hill- Hills are areas of raised land, but
they are lower, less steep and more
rounded than mountains.
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Plains- Plains are areas of flat or level
land.
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Plateaus- Plateaus are large raised areas of flat
land.
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A narrow strip of
land that joins two
large areas is called
an isthmus.
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Chapter 2
Section 1
I.
Space and Universe
A.
Astronomers believe that the universe in
10-20 billion years old.
Space is filled with large objects called
stars. Most stars are grouped together in
clusters called galaxies.
B.
The Milky Way is the galaxy in which we
live. The Sun is a medium-size star near
the edge of the Milky Way.
The Sun and the group of bodies that
revolve around it are called the solar
system.
Planets are major bodies that orbit a star.
C.
Moons are smaller objects that orbit a
planet. A body that orbits a larger body is
called a satellite.
Moons are natural satellites. Earth has
one moon.
Mercury and Venus are the only planets in
the solar system with no moons. Saturn has at
least 18.
D.
The diameter of Earth is about 8000 miles.
The diameter of the Sun is about 865,000
miles (more than 100 times greater).
Earth is the third planet from the Sun.
The Moon is about one-fourth the size
of the Earth.
E.
The Moon orbits Earth every
29.5 days, or about once every month.
The Moon has many craters; these
craters were made by the impacts of
meteors and comets.
F.
Most of the Earth’s energy comes from
the Sun. This type of energy is called solar
energy and reaches Earth as light and heat.
One complete spin of
Earth on its axis is one
rotation, which takes 24 hours.
G.
Earth’s rotation allows the entire
planet’s surface to receive the warming
effects of daylight and cooling effects of
darkness.
In addition to rotating on its axis,
Earth revolve around the Sun. It
makes one revolution every
365 ¼ days – one Earth year.
II.
Earth-Sun Relationships
A.
Different places on Earth receive
different amounts of solar energy.
We call these warm areas near the
equator the tropics.
B.
Other places get very little solar energy and
are cold most of the time.
Because these areas surround the
North and South Poles, we call them the
polar regions.
The amount of solar energy that a place
receives relates to the angle at which the
Sun’s rays strike Earth.
C.
We refer to the times of greater and lesser
heat as the seasons.
Four general seasons: winter, spring,
summer, and fall.
Some regions, particularly the tropics,
are warm year-round but have alternating
wet and dry seasons.
D.
The time that Earth’s poles point at the
greatest angle toward or away from the
Sun is called a solstice.
Solstices occur each year about December
21 and June 21.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the
December solstice has the fewest
daylight hours of the year and is the first day
of winter.
E.
The December solstice in the Southern
Hemisphere on the same day has its
greatest number of daylight hours, and
is the first day of summer.
The South Pole is tilted toward the Sun
and receives constant sunlight.
F.
During the June solstice, the Northern
Hemisphere experiences the greatest
number of daylight hours of the year and
the first day of summer.
If you traveled to Australia on the June
solstice, it would be the first day of
winter, which has the fewest daylight hours
of the year.
G.
An equinox occurs twice each year when
Earth’s poles are not pointed toward or
away from the Sun.
Equinox means “equal night” in Latin.
Both hemispheres receive an equal
amount of sunlight – 12 hours.
Equinoxes occur on March 21 and
September 22.
III.
The Earth System
A.
Earth is a complex planet. Its different
parts interact in a vast number of ways.
Geographers call all these interactions
the Earth system. A system is a group
of different parts that interact to form a
whole.
When a volcano erupts, it not only affects
the mountain where it is located but also
the air, water and life around it.
B.
Geographers divide the Earth system into
four major parts.
(1) Atmosphere – is the envelope of gases
that surrounds Earth.
Earth’s gravity holds the atmosphere
around the planet.
These gases sustain life on Earth and
protects the planet from the Sun’s
harmful radiation.
C.
(2) Lithosphere – is the solid crust of the
planet. This outer crust includes rocks and
soil. It forms Earth’s continents, islands,
and ocean floors.
(3) Hydrosphere – is all of Earth’s water.
Water covers about 70 percent of Earth’s
surface.
(4) Biosphere – is the part of Earth that
includes all life forms. It includes all plants
and animals.
D.
Earth’s four spheres make up the
environment, or surroundings.
Many people today are concerned about the
effects humans have on the environment.
People often have different points of view
about environmental issues.
E.
Different views for example:
A new dam could create jobs, prevent
flooding, and increase water supplies.
However, other people might oppose the
construction from concerns that it might
harm the environment.
Some fish species might be threatened if
they could not swim upriver to spawn.
Some land would be permanently flooded to
protect others from occasional floods.
IV.
Weather and Climate
A.
The Sun plays the major role in Earth’s
weather and climate patterns.
Weather is the condition of the
atmosphere at a given time and place.
Weather conditions in a geographic
region over a long time are called
climate.
B.
Solar energy is converted into heat.
measurement of heat is called
temperature.
The
Earth’s atmosphere traps heat energy in a
process called the greenhouse effect.
The greenhouse effect helps keep the planet
warm.
The Earth has gotten warmer in recent
decades known as global warming.
V.
Wind, Oceans, and Currents
A.
Wind is the horizontal flow of air. Wind
always flows from high to low pressure
areas.
Winds move heat and cold across the Earth’s
surface. This movement helps maintain a
global energy balance.
A front occurs when two air masses of
different temperatures meet. Precipitation
often occurs along these fronts.
B.
Oceans also affect climate. Water heats
and cools more slowly than land. Land
near oceans do not have such a great
temperature ranges as areas in the
interior of continents.
Great rivers of seawater, called currents, are
also important to climate.
Ocean currents move heat back and forth
between the tropics and polar regions.
C.
The process by which water changes from a
liquid to a gas is evaporation. Most vapor
that becomes rain is evaporated from the
oceans.
The amount of water vapor in the air is
called humidity. The higher the
temperature, the more water vapor the
air can hold.
D.
When air cools, it will reach a
temperature at which it cannot hold any
more water vapor.
Condensation is the process by which water
vapor changes from a gas into liquid
droplets.
There are four common forms of
precipitation: rain, snow, sleet, and hail.
E.
Storms are sudden and violent weather
events.
Storms may produce thunderstorms and
tornadoes. These twisting spirals of air
affect fairly small areas, but they can
destroy almost anything in their path.
The United States experiences more
tornadoes than any other country.
F.
Hurricanes are rotating storms which can
bring heavy rain and winds higher
than
155 miles per hour.
They begin over warm tropical seas. Those
that strike the United States usually form
in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
Typhoons are hurricanes that form in the
western Pacific Ocean.