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Geography
Geography is the study of the earth and the ways we live and work on it.
Geography helps explain why people live the way they do. It also helps to explain
the past by answering questions about why certain events occurred where they
did. Geography is broken down into six categories or elements, that all work
together.
The first element is location. Location serves as a starting point for
something. There are two types of location, absolute and relative. Absolute
location refers to the exact location of a place on the earth’s surface. For
example, the Exeter JHS is located at 151 East 39th Street in Reading, PA and
nowhere else in the world. Relative location refers to the position of a place in
relation to other places. For example, Reifton and the SHS are in relative location
to the JHS. In other words, relative location has to do with places that are nearby.
Los Angeles is not in relative location to the JHS since it is on the other side of the
country.
The second element is place. Place includes features and characteristics
that give an area its own identity. In other words, there are landmarks that make
a place unique from any other place in the world. For example, the Empire State
Building can only be found in New York City. The third element is region. Regions
are areas that share one or more common characteristics. They are usually
defined by their physical or human features, such as the type of land there or
what language is spoken. For example, the Sahara is the largest desert region in
the world and the Amazon is the largest rain forest in the world.
The fourth element is physical systems. Physical systems, like volcanoes,
hurricanes and glaciers act together to shape the earth’s surface. For example,
when hurricane Sandy struck the eastern coast of the U.S. the coastline was reshaped quite noticeably and there was a lot of destruction left behind.
The fifth element is human systems. Human systems look at how people
have shaped our world mainly by studying boundary lines that divide countries
and states and analyze why people settle in certain places and not in others. The
most important theme involved here is that there is a continual movement of
goods, people, and ideas around the world. This is how we have all the items that
we do. Someone had to think of an idea, share it with others, and sell it to
consumers who need that particular product.
The final element is environment. Environment looks at how people
interact with their surroundings. There are two ways that people can do this.
First, we can adapt to our environment. This means that we do not change
anything at all. For example, when it is cold outside people typically wear warmer
clothing to adapt to the cold weather or carry an umbrella when it’s raining. The
other way we interact is to modify our environment. This means that we
physically change our surroundings. For example, building a dam across a river is a
physical modification. Cutting down every tree in South America for paper
products is another physical modification. Sometimes modifying our environment
can be good or bad. Overall, people use the elements of Geography in order to
make the best decisions about how to use earth’s land and resources so they last
a long time and that everyone on the planet gets an equal share.