INTRODUCTION TO WORLD GEOGRAPHY UNIT 1 US History, Fall 2010

Geography – What is it? Geography is the study of the earth and all its features. Geography is the study of the earth and all its features.

Geography – Why Study It? ALL Civilizations have had to control and interact with their surroundings to survive! Geography has impacted the outcome of many historical events that have shaped our present day world.

Themes in Geography 1. LOCATION: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS IT? ?

Two Kinds of Location ABSOLUTE: Pinpoint accurate directions using lines of latitude and longitude. Latitude: Degrees north or south of the Equator. Longitude: Degrees east or west of the Prime Meridian (Greenwich, England) Hemisphere: Half the globe. Example: Singapore is 1° North and 103° East.

Latitude and Longitude Remember Parallels of Latitude by thinking of rungs on a ladder. Remember Meridians of Longitude by thinking of the acronym “SNL”: South/North = longitude Longitude + Latitude = Graticule

Two Kinds of Location RELATIVE: A description of where some place is in terms of other areas. Example: Singapore is an island country on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula near where the South China Sea and Indian Ocean Meet.

Themes in Geography 2) HUMAN / ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION: How do humans change or have been changed by their environment? Deforestation Climate change Acid rain Desertification

Themes In Geography 3) REGION: Any area that has common characteristics such as physical features (landforms or climate) or cultural features (language or religion) Example: We live in the Midwest Region of the United States.

Themes In Geography 4) PLACE: What an area looks like in both physical (landforms, soil, climate, resources) and human terms (cultures, landmarks, monuments). Example: In the physical terms the Midwest has hot/humid summers and cold winters. Culturally, Midwesterners are mostly of European descent.

Themes In Geography 5) MOVEMENT: In geography, movement is the transfer of people, goods, and ideas from one place to another. History is a story of movement.

Representing Geographical Data PROJECTIONS (MAPS): A projection turns every location on earth into a corresponding location on a map. ALL projections distort to some degree. Flat maps cannot show size, shape, and direction all at once with total accuracy. What is the most accurate way to show the earth?

Four Map Projections What are the positive aspects or drawbacks of each map? Goode’s International Homolosine Projection Map Robinson ProjectionPolar Projection Mercator Projection How does The South Pole differ in the various different projections?

Different Types of Maps: PHYSICAL MAPS: Physical maps show the earth’s physical features, such as bodies of water and landforms. (Rivers, lakes, mountains, and vegetation.) POLITICAL MAPS: Political maps show countries and the political divisions within them. (States, Provinces, or Cities).

Physical Maps:

Political Maps:

Different Types of Maps: SATELLITE MAPS: Satellite maps show the earth as it looks from space. THEMATIC MAPS: A special purpose map that focuses on a particular topic. (Movement of peoples, population density, major battles in a war, etc)

Satellite Maps: Guess where this is! Hooray Social Studies wing!

Thematic Maps:

Key Tools For Maps: LEGENDS (KEYS): A legend is a small table within a map that explains what some symbols and lines mean. SCALES: The scale of a map helps you determine the actual size or length of any of its features or of any distance between two points. A map that covers 1,000 miles per inch has a scale of 1:1,000. COMPASS ROSE: The compass rose is a pointed symbol that shows a map’s direction on the globe. It is generally labeled with a N, E, S, W to represent the four Cardinal Directions.

Legends, Scales, Compass Rose: Map Legend Compass Rose Scale

Charts and Graphs: Charts present information in a visual form (tables, flow charts, venn diagrams, population pyramids, etc). Charts present information in a visual form (tables, flow charts, venn diagrams, population pyramids, etc).

Historical Tables

Population Pyramids

Graphs GRAPHS: Show statistics in a visual form. Line Graphs: Used mostly to show change over time. Bar Graphs: Compare numbers or sets of numbers. Pie Graphs: Show relationships among the parts of a whole. Each “slice” of the pie is proportional to the percentage of the whole it represents.

Line Graph

Bar Graph

Pie Graph