WELCOME TO SOCIAL STUDIES 9TH GRADE 2015-2016 Introduction to Geography Quarter 1

Weeks 1-2 Geography Skills Longitude & Latitude Human Geography Demographic Indicators. (Eg: Cities & Population) Physical Geography Topography (The Shape of the Land) Eg: River, Mountains, Lakes, Desserts Geography of China (A Brief Introduction)

Week 2: Oral Assignment: Introduction to My City/ My Region: Oral Presentation You will be asked to introduce your city or region in an oral presentation. The focus will be on human and physical geography. A detailed task sheet will be provided next week.

GEOGRAPHY SKILLS What is latitude? Horizontal Lines across the global. Formal Definition: The angular distance north or south from the equator from a point of the earth’s surface. Usually expressed in degrees and minutes.

What is longitude? Vertical Lines Across the global Also know as meridian. The imaginary lines that bisect the north and south pole.

http://latitude-longitude.net/help.html

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/latitude_and_longitude_finder.htm

What is the Prime Meridian? The prime meridian is a meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographical coordinate system at which longitude is 0°.

GMT: Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich, England (a suburb of London) has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884.  GMT is sometimes called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.  Greenwich is the place from where all time zones are measured.

Where is Greenwich, England? Longitude 0° 0' 0" Latitude 51° 28' 38"N (North of the Equator) Greenwich Mean Time is international time, the basis of the world time clock.  GMT marks precision time and military time (sometimes called Zulu Time). Defines date and time and the exact time.  The atomic time clock is adjusted by leap seconds to maintain synchronicity with GMT.

World Standard Time Zones

International Date Line The International Date Line sits on the 180º line of longitude in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and is the imaginary line that separates two consecutive calendar days. It is not a perfectly straight line and has been moved slightly over the years to accommodate needs (or requests) of varied countries in the Pacific Ocean. Note how it bends to include all of Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Tokelau in the Eastern Hemisphere. If you travel east across the International Date Line a day, or 24 hours, is subtracted. If your travel west across the International Date Line a day, or 24 hours is added.

International Date Line

Longitude & Latitude Coordinates By using longitude and latitude (with a high degree of accuracy) it is possible to locate any place /destination place in the world with a high degree of accuracy. Go the following website: http://www.purposegames.com/game/longitude-and- latitude-quiz

Physical Geography Physical Geography refers to all natural geographical features (eg: rivers, mountains, desserts, grasslands etc)

What are the 10 longest rivers in the world? Source: http://graphs.net/worlds-longest-rivers.html

What are the 10 highest mountains in the world?

China – Geography/ Regions of China Refer to the Supplied Activity