What is Geography?

 More than just map skills!

Geography: More Than Just Maps  The tools of geography help us understand places.  The tool most identified with geographers is the map, but they also use different kinds of statistical information, photographs and images of many kinds, and a wide variety of data collected by other methods.  They also rely upon their own observations and those of others found in such sources as descriptive geography texts, histories, diaries, and journals.

Why Teach Geography?

Geography teaches students important skills  Through the study of geography, students learn to read maps and interpret information at geographical scales, from local to global.  They are able to use data from maps, tables, graphs and texts to recognize patterns and solve problems.  Students also can integrate concepts from many different areas of science, social science and the humanities and apply critical thinking to understand and dealing with current issues of local, national and international importance.

Geography and Citizenship  Knowledge of geography helps us to be better citizens. Through geography we learn to locate important events.  We can understand the relationship between geography and national or international policies and we can use geographical knowledge to make informed decisions regarding the best use of the nation's resources.  Finally, geographic knowledge helps us to ask important questions about policies that lead to changes in landscape and land use.  Geographically informed students will be effective leaders for our country.

Geography and economics  There is a close relationship between geography and economics.  The location of natural resources, the shape of transportation networks and the technology they use, the level of industrialization or energy production and many other geographical factors influence the kind of economy a country or region will have.  Trade patterns are fundamental elements of both geography and economics.

Geography and history  Geography provides important clues to the past.  Landforms and climate are related to migration patterns, land use and the rise and fall of civilizations.  How people use the land also has a strong bearing on the economic progress of countries and regions.  Thus, knowing what the landscape was like in the past is important for understanding historical processes, as is knowing who lived in a place, how they lived and how they used the land.

Geography and the environment  Many human geographers examine the relationship between humans and the environments in which they live and physical geographers are concerned with how natural systems work.  Geographers conduct research to understand the impact of environmental factors on individual and group behaviour, to identify the ways in which humans change the environments in which they live and to determine the long-term environmental impacts of social processes such as population growth and technological development.

Teaching With Geography A Sample Lesson for Grade 6

Geography of Greece Living in a Small Country

Curricular Outcomes  How landforms, bodies of water, and natural resources affect the quality of life in Canada  How natural resources and physical geography determine the establishment of communities  6.S.3 Construct and interpret various types of maps  6.S.3 Use scale to determine distance  6.S.3 Identify geographic problems and issues and pose geographic questions

Greece is a small country  Total area is 131, 957 sq. km. (Alberta is 661, 190 sq. km.)  No place is farther than 100 km from the sea (Alberta is 1200 km North to South and 600 km West to East)  Athens to Sparta is 120 km  Athens to Troy was 180 km

Greece is a rugged country  The Pindus Mountains run through central Greece from the north to the south  In the north, the mountains are high enough to get snow in the winter  In the south, the mountains divide the country into small valleys

75% of the land is mountainous

Villages are on hillsides

Transportation and Travel are difficult

Climate of Athens  Average January temperature 10 C (Edmonton is –14 C)  Average July temperature 28 C (Edmonton is 16 C)  Most rain falls in winter—total is 400 mm (Edmonton gets 483 mm rain and 121 cm snow)  Summers are very dry (Edmonton’s wettest month is July)

Predictions for life in Greece ClothingShelterWaterFoodTravel

The Rise of City-States

Geography More than just map skills!