Transcript Place
Basic Geography Notes Texas History Objectives Understand basic geography terms Understand basic map features Understand basic concepts of geography: 5 Themes of Geography Location Region Geography Terms: Unit 1 Geography Latitude Environment Longitude Culture Equator Ecosystem Prime meridian Urbanization Compass rose Migration Scale Relative location Legend Absolute location Natural region What is Geography? Study of places – both physical features (natural) and cultural (human) Geographers use the 5 Themes of Geography to understand any given place 5 themes help organize information about a place: Movement Place Human Environment Interaction Region Location Location • Absolute Location • Position on the globe • Found using Longitude and Latitude • Only 1 absolute location for a place • Relative Location • What a place is near • Locate by describing the relation compared another place • Several Relative locations Location Longitude and Latitude Used together, they provide coordinates for any location on Earth Latitude • Lines that Run parallel to the Equator • Run East to West • Never touch • Measured in N and S (North and South) • Measure from 0°-90° • North Pole 90° • South Pole 90° Longitude • All touch at North and South Poles • Measure from 0 – 180 • Run North to South • Measure East to West • Lines are all the same length • Prime Meridian – 0 • International Date Line 180 Place • The characteristics of a place distinguish it from other places • Physical Characteristics • Landforms, animals, vegetation, water and climate • Human Characteristics • Culture • Religion, language, ethnicity, jobs (Economy), food Place Regions • An area with similar characteristics • Formal regions • Same characteristics between areas (such as political regions with the same government) • Functional regions • Central place and the surrounding areas • Dallas/Ft. Worth • Perceptional Regions • People view the place as part of a region – Latin America • Natural Region – common physical environment Region DFW: Functional Latin America - Perception Natural Regions of Texas Movement • How things move to, from and within a place • Transportation of: • People • Services and goods (products) • Ideas • Internet, Phones, TV, Newspapers Movement Venice Canal Bullet Train in Japan Human-Environment Interaction • How people use the environment • Technology • Impacts the environment both positively and negatively • Helps people influence and change the environment • Natural hazards – cannot be predicted • Adaptation • People change the environment and the environment changes people Human-Environment Interaction Desert Community Coal Mining Adobe Home Parts of a Map Compass Rose – shows the four cardinal directions for a given map (North, South, East, West) Scale – shows the relationship between the size of the map and the actual size Legend – also known as the “key.” Explains the meaning of various symbols on a map Mental Map On your Unit 1 Cover page, draw the following three maps free hand: • Draw Texas • Draw a map of the United States • Draw a map of the world • Label it! YOU CANNOT LOOK AT A MAP – it’s a “mental map!”