GEOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS

Questions How do historians (YOU) research the past? What are primary and secondary sources?

Why We Study History History and the other social sciences provide a framework and way to study human cultures History is the branch of knowledge dealing with the past A historian in an expert in history Why is it important to study the past and cultures from the past?

The Other Social Sciences Anthropology the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind. Economics the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind. Geography the study of the natural features of the earth's surface, including topography, climate, soil, vegetation, etc, and man's response to them

Social Sciences Cont. Political Science a social science dealing with political institutions and with the principles and conduct of government. Psychology the science of the mind or of mental states and processes. Sociology the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human society

The Scientific Method Since history is a part of the social SCIENCES, we can study it using the scientific method The scientific method is Identify the problem Form a hypothesis Design an experiment Organize the results Conclusion How would we apply this to history? Follow the steps of the scientific method to analyze the causes of the Civil War

The Five Themes of Geography Location Place Human Environment Interaction Movement Region

Location Where a place is Exact  Latitude and Longitude  43°18’N 73°34’W  Address  131 Notre Dame Street, Hudson Falls, NY Relative  Where a place is in relation to another  Hudson Falls is an hour north of Albany

Place What is it like there? You identify a place using Landforms Climate Plants Animals Or people As of the census of 2000, there were 6,927 people, 2,876 households, and 1,760 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,763.5 people per square mile (1,453.5/km²). There were 3,120 housing units at an average density of 1,695.1 per square mile (654.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.91% White, 0.45% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 0.68% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race. [1]censuspopulation densityWhiteAfrican AmericanNative AmericanAsianPacific Islanderother racesHispanicLatino [1] The village is on the east bank of the Hudson River at the west border of Washington County, New York. A village green lies in the center of the commercial district.Hudson RiverWashington County, New York village green

Human Environment Interaction 2 parts How an environment affects people  Eskimos use the ice around them to build igloos Way people affect the environment  The feeder canal was built to bring water from the Hudson River to the Champlain Canal

Movement Deals with the movement of people, goods, and ideas from place to place Cars Trains Plains Phones Internet Immigration migration

Region Areas that share common features Can be defined by 2 things Geography  The United States is in the Western Hemisphere Culture  The U.S. is part of the “English Speaking” world

The World

The 7 Continents

The 5 Oceans

The World’s Hemispheres

North America

The United States

New York State

Counties

Washington County

Hudson Falls

Size and Location  Almost as large entire continent of Europe › Only Russia, China, and Canada are larger  The 48 contiguous states stretch about 3,000 miles east to west and 1,200 north to south  Entire northern border is with Canada  Southern border extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and shares 1,900 miles with Mexico

US Regions The United States can be broken into 8 geographic regions New England Middle Atlantic Midwest Southern Southwest Rocky Mountain Pacific Coast Alaska and Hawaii

US Climate All 48 states on the mainland are in the temperate or middle latitudes North of the Tropic of Cancer 23° 30’ South of the Arctic Circle 66° 33’ The climate varies greatly within the country

Natural Resources The US was able to become a leading industrial nation because it has a lot of natural resources Gold and silver was found in western states and Alaska However the presence of other natural resources like petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, and coal was more important to its long term economic success

Location Remember, that location is both absolute and relative Absolute location is where a place is actually located. Most precise way of finding absolute location is using latitude and longitude Relative location is where a place is located in relation to other places For example the United States is located south of Canada and north of Mexico Relative location can change over time For much of its history the US felt relatively isolated from Europe and Asia Changes in technology made relative locations much closer over time

Latitude The latitude of a location is the distance of that place south or north of the equator Latitude is usually measured in degrees The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole is 90° north, and the South pole is 90° south. Each line of latitude is actually a circle and run parallel to the equator

Longitude Longitude is a measurement that specifies the east or west position of a location on the earth’s surface It is also measured in degrees Longitude runs in lines running from the North Pole to the South Pole Lines of longitude can also be called Meridians The Prime Meridian is 0° longitude and passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England

Using Latitude and Longitude To find a specific location using latitude and longitude, all you need to do is see what degrees of each a place is and then see where the two lines meet