Transcript Geography Notes

Label Continents and Oceans
on world map
Social Scientists
1. What is the job..
a) Sociologist: to study customs and values of a
culture
b) economists: to study how people, societies, and
nations choose and supply the things they want
c) political scientists: to study how people are
governed
Social Scientists
2. read, observe, investigate, ask questions
3. People are complex
Geography Notes
What is Geography?
• The study of all the physical features of the
Earth’s surface, including people, their
environments, and their resources
Themes of Geography
• Location: absolute, relative
• Place: Physical and human Characteristics
• Interaction between people and the environment
Themes of Geography
• Movement:
– migration
– trade
– ideas
– Diffusion: movement of customs or ideas from one place
to another; spread of cultural features
– Interdependence: mutual dependence of countries on
goods, resources, and knowledge from other parts of the
world
• Region: unifying characteristics
Longitude and Latitude
Lines of Longitude or Meridians
• Runs north-south and meet at the poles (up &
down)
• Measured east/west of the Prime Meridian (00
degrees longitude)
• The direction in which the degrees increase is
the direction from the Prime Meridian
(east/west)
Lines of Latitude or parallels:
• Run east-west (across)
• Measured by degrees north/south of the
equator (00 degrees latitude)
• The direction in which the degrees increase is
the direction from the equator (north/south)
Climate vs. Weather
• Climate: the pattern of changes in weather
over a number of years
• Weather: the condition of air at any one time
Latitude and Climate
• Tropics (low latitudes)
– Between Tropic of Cancer (23.50 N. Latitude) &
Tropic of Capricorn (23.50 S. Latitude)
• Polar Regions (high latitudes)
– arctic circle: 66.50 North
– Antarctic Circle: 66.50 South Latitude
• Temperate Zone (middle latitudes)
– climate varies
arctic circle: 66.50 North
Polar Regions
Temperate Zone
Tropics (low latitudes)
Temperate Zone
Polar Regions
Antarctic Circle: 66.50 South Latitude