“Studying Geography" GEOGRAPHY Understanding Social Studies Concepts Chapter 1 Section 1 “Studying Geography" GEOGRAPHY

a study of the world, its people, and the landscapes they create. What is Geography? a study of the world, its people, and the landscapes they create. Science Geographers have to think and act like scientists. They look at data, or information, that they gather about places. To gather data, they might have to crawl deep into caves or climb tall mountains to make observations and take measurements. Other times, they study sets of images collected by satellites orbiting high about Earth. Social Science Not everything that geographers study can be measured in numbers. Some geographers study people and their lives. For example, they may ask why countries change their governments or why people in a place speak a certain language. They visit places and talk to the people who live there. Social Science is a field that studies people and relationships among them.

Looking at the World To fully understand how the world works, geographers often look at places at different levels: local, regional, and global.

Local Local: How do people in a town or community live? What is the local government like? How do the people who live there get around? What do they eat?

Regional Regional: Geographers divide the world into regions that have one or more common features that distinguish it from surrounding areas. For example, mountain ranges, climates or native plants. Other regions are based on human characteristics such as language, religion, or history.

Global Global: Geographers study the world on a global level to find relationships among people who live far apart. They ask how events and ideas from one region of the world affect people in other regions. For example, they may examine the products that a country exports to see how those products are used in other countries.

Geographer’s Tools

Globes Advantage: spherical like the Earth so it can show the world as it really is. Disadvantage: expensive to make, only show location of places and features

Maps Advantage: easier to work with, able to show more information, and able to show small areas like cities Disadvantage: flat and not possible to show a spherical area perfectly on a flat surface so details get distorted or altered

Physical Map

Political Map

Info Map

Satellite Images Satellite Images: information is in the form of images gathered from satellites orbiting above the Earth and helps geographers make accurate maps

Chapter 1, Section 2 “5 Themes of Geography” Geo Skills

Five Themes of Geography Description Example Give an example for your area   Location Describes where something is using either absolute or relative location. Example: the White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave or Canada is north of the United States Place Refers to an area’s landscape, the features that make it different from other places. Examples; land, climate, people Region Areas that share common characteristics Example: Mojave Desert is defined by its distinctive climate and plant life. Movement How and why people and things move. Example: Airports help people move around the world. Human-Environment Interaction How people and their physical environment (land, water, climate, plants, and animals) affect each other. Example: clear forest to plant crops, level fields to build cities, and dam rivers to prevent floods or build houses with thick walls and wear heavy clothing to keep warm.

Examples = Earth, Texas, etc LOCATION

Examples = Trees, Houses, etc. PLACE

Examples = Southwest, Latin America REGION

Examples = Goods, People, Ideas, Trade, etc MOVEMENT

HUMAN / ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION Examples = air conditioning

“The Branches of Geography” Understanding Social Studies Concepts Chapter 1 Section 3 “The Branches of Geography” GEOGRAPHY

Help us understand the world better Branches of Geography Physical study of the world’s physical geographic features – its landforms, bodies of water, climates, solid, and plants Geographers study the physical world to learn how it works. Studying the changes that take place on our planet can help us prepare to live with those changes. Human Geographers study the world’s people, past and present. Where do people live? What jobs do they have? They may choose to study the landscapes where people live or economies, politics or city life. This knowledge can help us understand people in other cultures or help people improve their landscapes or situations. Help us understand the world better

Other branches of geography Cartography – the science of making maps. Computer mapping uses G.P.S. (global positioning system) and G.I.S. (geographic information system). Computers allow geographers to make maps quickly, easily, and more accurately. Hydrology – the study of water on Earth. Meteorology – the study of weather and what causes it.