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Texas History
Fort Burrows
The Geographic Setting of Texas
Chapter One Section One (1.1) – READ pgs 2 – 7
“ The geography of Texas influences the lives of its citizens. The occupations of many Texans are
linked directly to the state’s geographical features and natural resources. Climate affects the
decisions that Texans make every day.”
Timeline – 1500s – Europeans explore the Americas and Texas
They meet the Native Americans of Tejas
1600s - European nations begin building empires around the world
They begin settling in America, along with their enslaved Africans
1700s – Independence movement leads to the ‘Birth of a New Nation’
July 4, 1776 – the Americans gain Independence from Great Britain
( also known as England, the Mother Country, or just Britain )
1800s – Millions of immigrants move to the United States
1900s – Industrialization Changes America’s way of Life
2000s - The technological advances bring peoples of the world closer
Efforts to protect the environment increase
Main Idea - Geography is the study of the Earth’s surface. It helps us understand the factors that
shape a place – and how that might change in the future.
Vocabulary:
immigrants – the movement of people from one nation or state to another
landforms – shapes and types of land
( examples: mountain and hills, places where the land rises toward the sky; plains,
large areas of flat land; plateaus, flat areas that rise above the surrounding land. )
plate tectonics – parts of the Earth’s surface that float on top of a layer of liquid rock or
magma and create or change the Earth’s surface or landforms
climate – the average weather of a place over a period of 20 to 30 years
( ex. The climate over El Paso is ‘Hot and Dry’. Always warm and not much rain )
vegetation – the plant life that grow in an area
culture – the customs, ideas, beliefs, and skills of a people
physical geography – learning about land and its features
human geography – learning about people and their ways
aquifer – underground layer of porous rock that contains water
geology – study of the structure of the Earth
biology – study of living things
economics – study of how people make, distribute, and consume goods
The Physical Earth
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Geographers study the Earth’s landforms (shapes and types of land) and the forces that created
them
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The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s surface is broken into plates. These plates
float on top of a layer of liquid rock called magma. The movement of these plates causes
different landforms
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Texas History
Fort Burrows

Studying of landforms and how they are made
 mountain and hills, rise above the surface land
 plains, large areas of flat land
 plateaus, flat areas that rise above the surrounding land
 deserts, barren and dry
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Earthquakes change the surface when plates meet
Wind and Water – create erosion
Glaciers – plowed deep gouges into the surface land and melted, filling up the area to create
lakes
Climate and Vegetation
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Climate determines the growth of vegetation
Texas experiences almost every kind of climate known
Plant life that grows in an area, affect the types of animals in an area
The Human Element
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People help shape and define a place
 By building cities, roads, bridges, houses, lakes
Culture of the people from that live in each area: the languages they speak and the foods they
eat
People and Places
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Understanding the connection between Physical geography and Human geography is the key to
understanding a place
There are many varied reasons (3) to study the geography of a place
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To learn what a place is like, and how it got that way
To gain a better appreciation of a place
To prepare for extreme weather
 Example: Galveston Island. After the ‘Great Flood’ of 1900, they built a seawall to
protect the city
To help predict the future of a place
To learn how a region uses resources
Growth patterns of cities allow forecasting of future needs for roads, highways, water, etc
To understand fully the geography of a region, geographers use information from other
disciplines:
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Geology, to understand the physical structure of a region
History - to understand the past events that shaped a region
Archaeology - to study objects made by ancient people
Anthropology - to study the developments of humans
Biology - to study the living things in a region
Economics - to learn how people make, distribute, and consume goods
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Texas History
Fort Burrows
WHAT IS
GEOGRAPHY ?
The study of the earth.


1.
Physical geography –
the physical earth,
climate, vegetation
Human geography –
culture.
HOW DO WE
STUDY GEOGRAPHY?

Helps us understand a
place as it is now

Helps us understand a
place as it may be in the
future
 Use information from
geologists, archeologists,
anthropologists, biologists,
economics
 Use the five themes of
geography
The study of the Earth’s surface used to understand factors that shape a place is called?
A. biology
2.
WHY STUDY
GEOGRAPHY ?
B. geology
C. geography
D. economics
Mountains, deserts, plateaus and plains are examples of ?
A. plate tectonics
B. landforms C. vegetation
D. climate
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