Transcript Section 1- Geography - Warren County Schools

Part 1 – Geography
Mrs. Burnette
Warrior Social Studies
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ABSOLUTE LOCATION – the precise point
where a place is located on Earth
RELATIVE LOCATION – where a place is
located in relation to another place
DISTORTION – a change in shape, size, or
position of a place when it is shown on a map
MAP PROJECTIONS – a way of representing the
spherical Earth on a flat surface
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PHYSICAL FEATURES – any natural
characteristic of the Earth’s surface, such as
landforms and bodies of water
LANDFORMS – any natural feature of the
Earth’s surface that has a distinct shape.
Landforms include major features such as
continents, plains, plateaus, and mountain
ranges. They also include minor features
such as hills, valleys, canyons, and dunes.
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CLIMATE – the pattern of weather over a long
period of time
VEGETATION – all the plants and trees in an
area
POPULATION DENSITY – the average number
of people who live in a unit of area, such as a
square mile. Population density measures
how crowded an area is.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY - any activity that
relates to the making, buying, and selling of
goods and services
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LATITUDE – imaginary parallel lines that run
east to west across the globe. They are
measured in degrees North or South and are
the first measurement in absolute location.
LONGITUDE – imaginary meridian lines that
run north and south across the globe and
meet at the poles. They are measured in
degrees East or West and are the second
measurement in absolute location.
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HEMISPHERE – half the world. The Northern and
Southern hemispheres are separated by the
Equator. The Eastern and Western hemispheres
are separated by the Prime Meridian.
EQUATOR – 0 degrees latitude; runs east to west
across the center (widest point) of the Earth.
PRIME MERIDIAN – 0 degrees longitude; runs
through the observatory in Greenwich, England.
The reference point for measuring other
meridians of longitude.
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Why do we need to understand GEOGRAPHY
in order to understand HISTORY? Write your
thoughts in a 3-5 sentence paragraph. There
are no right or wrong answers.
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We use maps to find locations of places and how
far apart they are.
Maps show absolute location: your address is an
example of this. Using a grid of latitude and
longitude also shows latitude and longitude.
(Think: when the military wants to launch a
missile, they need it to hit the EXACT target)
Relative location can also be found on maps.
These are directions you may tell your friends. (“I
live up the road past the red barn, third house on
the left.”)
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Because Earth is a 3D sphere and maps are flat
(2D), the size and shape of features get
distorted, or stretched.
Globes are most accurate, but not as handy as
maps.
There are different MAP PROJECTIONS that work
best for what geographers want to study.
The photos on page 4 of your Interactive
Notebook show how distortion can be a problem.
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Every place on Earth can be found using the
latitude and longitude grid. It’s how your GPS
works.
LATITUDE LINES run East to West and are parallel
to the Equator. These lines are measured in
degrees North or South of the Equator.
LONGITUDE LINES are half-circles that run from
the North Pole to the South Pole. The Prime
Meridian is 0 degrees longitude. The
International Date Line is 180 degrees longitude.
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LATITUDE = 0-90 Degrees North or South
LONGITUDE = 0-180 Degrees East or West
Together, these form the coordinates of a
location on Earth. Latitude is ALWAYS listed
first, just like the x-axis on a coordinate
plane in Math.
Bowling Green, Kentucky is near 37 Degrees
North, 86 Degrees West.
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Label the Equator (0 Degrees latitude)
Label the Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude)
Place a dot and label the major cities at the
correct absolute location:
1. St. Petersburg, Russia (60 N, 30 E)
2. Dakar, Senegal (15 N, 15 W)
3. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (23 S, 45 W)
4. Bowling Green, KY, USA (37 N, 86 W)
5. Melbourne, Australia (37 S, 142 E)
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A hemisphere is half the Earth. There are
actually four, depending on how you divide
the Earth. The Equator separates the
Northern and Southern hemispheres. The
Prime Meridian and International Date Line
separate the Eastern and Western
hemispheres.
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Water covers 70 percent of the Earth’s
surface.
It’s really one huge ocean, but geographers
divide it into four oceans: Atlantic, Arctic,
Indian, and Pacific.
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Continents are the largest landmasses on the
planet.
Geographers identify seven of these. From
largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, North
America, South America, Antarctica, Europe,
and Australia.
Even though Europe and Asia are on the same
large landmass, they are separated because
of history and culture.
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Trace the Equator and the Prime Meridian
Label the four oceans
Label the seven continents
Circle the ONE continent that is located
entirely in the Southern and Eastern
Hemisphere
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A map title, legend, and symbols provide you
information.
Grids and scales help you determine absolute
and relative location.
All flat maps have distortion. To deal with
that, geographers use different types of maps
depending on the information they are
looking for.
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Lambert Projection: shows polar regions other
projections may distort
Mercator Projection: great for showing directions,
but distorts size of land and bodies of water at
the poles
Robinson and Eckert Projections: an oval map
like on p. 9 of your packet. Most accurate, but
landmasses are smashed/flattened at the poles
Goode’s Homolosine Projection: accurate for
continents, but cuts up/distorts the oceans
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Label each map projection. You can use one
of each of the following:
Robinson Projection
Mercator Projection
Eckert Projection
Goode’s Homolosine Projection
List one fact with each projection that
justifies it is the type you labeled
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Some focus on physical features and
landforms (physical maps/physical
geography)
Some show climate (long term patterns of
weather) or precipitation (amount of rain or
snowfall in a year)
Climate affects the vegetation grown in a
region. You can see comparisons of climate
maps and vegetation maps.
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Thematic maps can show human geography
Political map – shows borders between states
or countries (how people divided the Earth),
and cities or capitals
Population density map – shows number of
people in an area, like a square mile
Economic activity map – shows business or
industry in an area, or natural resources
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Titles tell the topic of the map
Legends tell you what the map symbols mean
Uses of color might show borders and
regions on a political map, or elevation on a
physical map
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Geographers have named all of the shapes of
the land and water on earth. These are
physical features or landforms.
Land has different elevation and shape
(mountains, hills, valleys, plains, etc.)
Water has different shapes, sizes, and flows
(lakes, oceans, rivers, bays, etc.)
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Each zone has patterns of temperature and
precipitation
Patterns can be placed in a climagraph
Location affects climate! Latitude is the most
important determiner of climate—the closer
to the Equator, the more direct sunlight and
the warmer the climate.
Elevation or altitude also affects climate.
Higher elevations are generally colder.
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Vegetation (plant life) adapts to its environment.
Small plants grow in tundra climate (where it is
cold), cacti grow in desert climates (with little
rainfall)
Elevation, sunlight, and soil also affect vegetation
Geographers divide the Earth into vegetation
zones, similar to the climate zones, as plants
adapt to climate
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Tells us how crowded a place is—divide the
number of people living there by a certain
area.
The higher the number, the higher the
density (the more people in an area)
Population density affects how people live
(houses, apartments, farms…) and travel
(personal vehicles, mass transit)
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LAND = How do people use the land to make
a living and meet their needs? (Farming?
Mining?)
NATURAL RESOURCES = Lumber from forests;
Fish in the ocean; Fossil fuels such as coal,
oil, or natural gas; Uranium for nuclear
power; Building dams on rivers for
hydroelectricity
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In the graphic organizer on page 28, fill in
facts about what you have learned about
physical geography and human geography in
the appropriate boxes.
In the bottom box, include similarities about
the study of physical and human geography.
Find ways these studies connect: How do
physical and human geography relate to each
other?
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LOCATION = where is it?
PLACE = what makes it unique?
MOVEMENT = how do people, goods, ideas
move around?
REGION = how can a place be grouped with
other places with similar characteristics?
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION = how
do people change the environment for their
benefit?
You will select a country to research using the
5 Themes of Geography.
 The CIA World Factbook is a GREAT resource
with LOTS of geographic information:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/
Use the drop-down menu to select a country to
gain the needed information
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