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How are humans affected by their environment?

The environment humans live in affects what economic activities they choose

Economics is: Studying how people use their resources to make a living

Economic geographers study how the location of resources affect the ways people make and use goods and services

 Humans have moved from simple ways of making a living to very complicated methods of making money  Economic geographers have broken this development into four stages…

The Four Stages of an Economy 1.Primary 2. Secondary 3. Tertiary 4. Quaternary

Primary Stage  In the first stage, human beings extract natural resources from the earth  This requires little or no technology, and mostly uses physical labor

Primary Stage Examples: Agriculture, Fishing, Mining, and Forestry

Secondary Stage  Manufacture  In the next stage, humans take resources (raw materials) and convert them into finished, usable products

Secondary Stage  There are two main types of secondary activities:  Heavy Industry: Produces large industrial products, like ships or machines  Light Industry: Produces goods people consume(buy), like clothing, food, or household things

Tertiary Stage  Provide Services  At this stage, humans earn money based on services they provide  These activities involve intangible goods

Tertiary Stage  Examples: Banking, Hospitals, Transportation, Distribution, Entertainment…

Quaternary Stage  In the highest stage, humans produce intellectual goods  These are things that require high technology and education to produce

Quaternary Stage The modern world is so complicated that humans have highly specialized jobs to manage it all Air Traffic Control; Encrypted Communications

Quaternary Stage EExamples: -High tech communication -Computers -Research -Consulting -Colleges

Development  Human beings have spent centuries developing from primary to quaternary activities Some countries are far more developed than others Some countries are far more developed than others

Development Developing or Lesser-developed countries have economies based mostly on the primary and secondary sectors

Development  Developing countries do not have the complex infrastructure of developed countries  Infrastructure : the necessary structures that are needed for economic activities  Roads  Water Supply  Sewage  Electrical Grids  Communications

Development Developed countries earn most of their money from tertiary and quaternary activities, and no longer rely on primary activities

 Tertiary and Quaternary activities are more valuable, so developed countries are wealthier

Examples  Developing  Mexico, most of Latin America  Most of Africa South of the Sahara  India  China  Most of the Mideast Developed Developed The U.S.The U.S. CanadaCanada Most of EuropeMost of Europe JapanJapan South KoreaSouth Korea AustraliaAustralia

Vocabulary  Subsistence agriculture: self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families.  Commercial Agriculture: Large scale farming or ranching done for profit.

Vocabulary, Cont.  Cottage Industry: Home or village based production.  Commercial Industry: Factory-based production.