Unit 1: Texas Geography
On-Level Guided NOTES
I.
Era of Natural Texas and Its People
A.
What is an era?
1. A ____________ period of time characterized by particular ______________, ______________,
developments, or _________________.
B.
Why do historians divide history into eras?
1. Historians divide history into eras in order to create blocks of time that have similar ________________in
order to ______________ and ______________ ____________________ about the past.
II.
6 Geographical Questions:
Location
Place
Regions
Human-Environment Interaction
Human Systems
Physical Systems
A.
Location – Where is it?
1. Absolute Location – The _____________ location of a place on the ______________ ________________
2. Relative Location – The location of a place in ______________ to ______________ ________________
3. The Absolute location and Relative location of Texas affect it in many ways – How has Texas’ relative location
to Mexico affected it?
B.
Latitude and Longitude
1. Using Latitude and Longitude
a. The Absolute Location of a place is given using ________________ and longitude ____________
b. Coordinates are written using a _______________ measurement and a _____________ label.
c. ________________is given first followed by ______________
d. (29° N, 95° W) is the approximate location of Kingwood on the earth’s surface
C.
Place – What is it like?
1. Place refers to the ________________ and ________________ characteristics of a location
a. Physical Characteristics include:
(1) ______________, _________________, plants, animals
b. Human Characteristics include:
(2) _________________, _______________, Architecture, Music, Politics, ways of life
III.
Regions : How does it compare to other places?
A. Geographers divide areas into _______________ in order to better study them.
B. Regions are places that are united based on _______________ characteristics
C. Regions can be based on ______________, _______________, ______________ and other characteristics
D. Human-Environment Interaction
1. How do humans react to their environment and how does it affect them?
a. Ex: ________________, Deforestation, Hurricanes/Tornadoes, _________________, Damming Rivers
to make lakes
E. Human Systems
1. __________________ - How people move through the environment
2. Cultural Diffusion - new ____________ brought by ________________ people become widely ___________
3. People bring ___________ and ____________ with them when they move from one place to another.
F. Physical Systems
1. Geographers analyze physical systems such as mountains, volcanoes, hurricanes, glaciers to see how they
______________ with and _____________ places and regions.
2. They also study plant and animal __________________ that depend on each other and their surroundings in
places and regions for their survival.
G. Why Geography?
1. Geography prepares us for ____________________ _____________
2. People, businesses, governments ____________ on geography ______________ to meet their needs
3. Computer software such as ________ and ________ use geography to help people
IV.
Sizing Up Texas
1.
2.
3.
4.
______________ largest US State
The area of Texas is _______________ square miles
Some parts of Texas are ______________ to the capitals of other states than to Austin.
Texas is the size of all of these states ___________________:
New York
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Illinois
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Massachusetts Vermont
New Hampshire New Jersey and Maine
5. _____________________, Texas is closer to the ________________ Ocean than to Houston.
6. Some students in Texas live _________ hrs from the nearest school