Geography has a major
affect on the way people
live.
Africa
South America
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It is an essential intellectual building
block for understanding world affairs.
Now more than ever, geographic literacy
is necessary for us to understand global
events.
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Most Americans could be considered
geographically illiterate.
Indeed, educated Americans tend to have
less global awareness than educated
people in other more developed
countries (MDC) of the world.
Countries on quiz: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., England,
France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania,
and Spain.
Countries on quiz: Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia.
Geographically illiterate individuals cannot make informed
decisions about :
1.
Their own economic and social opportunities (housing, jobs,
flood risk, etc.).
2.
Their local government’s policies towards the environment or
social issues.
3.
The federal government’s policies towards the environment,
social issues, or foreign affairs.
Being geographically illiterate also limits an individual’s ability
to enjoy the diversity and opportunities that the planet
offers (especially with regard to travel, or new cultural
experiences).
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The study of the unique combinations of
environmental and human factors that produce
territories with distinctive landscapes and cultural
attributes.
1) Location: the meaning of relative and
absolute position on the earth's surface
 Sample terms: Latitude and longitude, site
and situation, direction, distance, scale
 Skills: Map reading, identification
 Questions: Where is ____? Where is ____
relative to where I am?
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Stand up!
Where were you born?
Where do you live?
Where’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever
been?
a. Location answers
question “Where is
it?”
absolute location:
100 Longwood Rd.
relative location:
south of Middle
Country Rd.
& East of Yaphank
Middle Island Rd.
Five fundamental themes of geography
2) Place: the distinctive and distinguishing
physical and human characteristics of
locales
 Sample terms: Physical and cultural
landscapes, sense of place
 Skills: Description, compare and contrast
 Questions: What does ____ look like? Why?
How is it different from ____?
Five fundamental themes of geography
3) Relationships within places: the
development and consequences of humanenvironment relationships
 Sample terms: Ecosystems, natural
resources, environmental pollution
 Skills: Evaluation, analysis
 Questions: What human-environment
relationships are occurring? How do they
affect the place and its inhabitants?
Five fundamental themes of geography
4) Movement: patterns and change in human
spatial interaction on the earth
 Sample terms: Migration, diffusion,
globalization
 Skills: Explanation, prediction
 Questions: How has this spatial pattern
developed? Will it continue to change?
What does it mean for the places involved?
d.Movement answers the question “How do
people, goods, and ideas move from place to
place?
Five fundamental themes of geography
5) Regions: how they form and change
 Sample terms: Formal vs. functional
regions
 Skills: Synthesis, application
 Questions: How has this spatial pattern
developed? Will it continue to change?
What does it mean for the places involved?
Regions are areas
that share at least
one common feature
Far East
Human-Environment Interaction focuses on the
relationship between people and the
environment
Human-Environment Interaction focuses on the
relationship between people and the
environment
e. Human-Environment Interaction focuses on
the relationship between people and the
environment
Human-Environment Interaction focuses on the
relationship between people and the
environment
Mountains near the village of Sapa, Vietnam
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Geography means “writing about” or “describing” the
earth.
Geographers use technological tools such as sonar,
satellites, and the global positioning system (GPS) to
study locations on the earth’s surface.
Growing in importance are graphic information systems
(GIS), which use computer technology to analyze and
display data about the earth’s surface to solve
geographic problems.
Geographic concepts help organize the way people
think about geography.
Did you know
that how we
“see” the world
depends on how
we project the
world?
The Earth is a sphere. Therefore,
it cannot be projected on a flat
map without distortion. The
question is,
which kind of distortion?
Despite the values of the
Mercator Projection, it
distorts the size and shape
of land areas.
Fact: South America is
8 times as large as
Greenland.
Fact: Africa is 14 times
as large as Greenland.
The Peters Projection is an
“equal area” map. It
represents areas accurately,
but it seriously distorts shapes.
Compare the size of Europe to
Africa on the two maps.
Compare the size of the former
USSR to China on the two maps.
The biosphere is made up of three layers.
The
lithosphere: The solid earth, or outer crust of
rock, sand, and soil.
The
hydrosphere: The watery realm. About 97
percent of it is the oceans.
The
atmosphere: The thin layer of gasses, mainly
nitrogen and oxygen.
The surface of the
earth and the location
of its land
masses have
therefore
had a continuously
changing history.
India
550 Million Years Ago
220 Million Years Ago
130 Million Years Ago
65 Million Years Ago
Laurasia
Gondwanaland
190 Million Years Ago
Today
The earth is divided into four sections.
a. Northern Hemisphere
b. Southern Hemisphere
c. Eastern Hemisphere
d. Western Hemisphere
Most of the earth is
covered by the four
oceans .
a. The Atlantic Ocean
b. The Pacific Ocean
c. The Indian Ocean
d. The Arctic Ocean
Most of the earth is
covered by the four
oceans .
Pacific
Ocean
a. The Atlantic Ocean
b. The Pacific Ocean
Arctic
Ocean
c. The Indian Ocean
d. The Arctic Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean
Pacific
Ocean
Indian
Ocean
The world is divided into seven major land masses
called continents.
a. Africa
b. Antarctica
e. Europe
f. North America
c. Asia
d. Australia
g. South America
The world is divided into seven major land masses
called continents.
a. Africa
b. Antarctica
c. Asia
e. Europe
d. Australia
g. South America
North America
Europe
Asia
Africa
South America
Australia
Antarctica
Millions of years ago, the pattern of oceans and
continents on Earth looked very different to now…..
…..and because of continued change, the pattern
will look very different in the future.
Natural forces are at work shaping our planet………
Elsewhere, millions of
people choose to live
and work in these
dangerous locations.
Why are they there?
We know the Earth used to be covered by millions
of hectares of natural forest and grassland.
Today, these are gone or rapidly
disappearing…… does anyone care?
Many people wonder why geographers spend so much
of their time trying to understand how rivers work……
These people
know why!
Some natural events are fortunately very rare…….
…..in 2004, we remembered
why we need to understand
and plan for these rare
natural events!!
On our beautiful but complex planet, everything that
happens is linked to everything else. When we…..
• drop a piece of litter
• pour a chemical down the sink
• chop down a tree
• burn coal
• build a motorway
• catch some fish
• fertilize the fields
• drive to work or school
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How do scientists classify the
earth’s major physical
characteristics?
What physical processes affect the
earth’s crust?
What theories help scientists
understand the earth’s past?
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Geologists envision three layers to the earth:
the core, or center, the mantle, or a thick layer
of rock around the core, and the crust, the thin
rocky layer on the surface.
Landforms and other surface features make
up the lithosphere.
The atmosphere is the layer of air,
water, and other substances
above the surface.
The water in lakes, rivers, and oceans,
and water beneath the surface is the
hydrosphere.
The large landmasses in the oceans
are the continents.
Landforms are categorized by their differences
in relief, or the differences in elevation from
the highest to the lowest points.
2
Landforms are shaped first by forces that originate
Volcanoes
in the earth’s interior.
 Volcanoes form when
magma breaks through the
Movements in the Crust (Earthquakes)
earth’s crust.
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Stresses between layers of rock can create
folds and faults.
 When lava flows evenly, it
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The hardness of the rock and the strength
forms a plateau-like shield
of the movement determine whether a fold
volcano.
or fault is formed.
 An ash and cinder eruption
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Slow movements of rock layers along a
can produce small
fault produce almost unnoticeable
changes.
cinder cone
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Large, sudden movements
volcanoes.
send
send out shockwaves, causing
 Alternating
an earthqua an earthquake.
explosive
eruptions and
smooth
lava flows produce
distinctive coneshaped
volcanoes.
Map 6 of 76
Map 7 of 76
Map 8 of 76
2
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
-Japan
-South America
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-Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Iceland)
-North Africa
All 3 theories
have the same
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the
Conclusion!
lithosphere is broken up into a number of moving
plates, on which continents and oceans ride.
The theories of continental drift and seafloor
spreading support the theory of plate tectonics, and it
is thought that the force of convection drives the
movement of tectonic plates.
2
Earthquake
zones
-Himalaya Mts
-Greece/Italy
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Earthquake
zones
-California
-Greece/Turkey
The movement of plates can create rift valleys,
mountain ranges, volcanoes, faults, and earthquakes,
depending the how the plates are moving.
The Ring of Fire is a group of volcanoes and volcanic
islands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean.
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What are the lasting effects of the
two kinds of weathering —
mechanical and chemical — on the
physical landscape of a place?
How do the three most common
causes of erosion — water, wind,
and glaciers — alter the physical
landscape of a place?
3
Weathering is the breakdown of rock at or near the earth’s
surface into smaller and smaller pieces.
Mechanical Weathering
Mechanical weathering
occurs when the rock is
physically weakened or
broken.
The most common
mechanical weathering
occurs when water freezes
in cracks in rock (frost
wedging)
Seeds taking root in cracks
Chemical Weathering
Chemical weathering alters the
chemical makeup of rock.
Water and carbon dioxide are the
most important factors.
(carbonic acid – caves are formed
this way)
Acid rain is a type of chemical
weathering caused by air pollution
and water.
Observing Weathering
The wearing effects of weather can be seen in any old stone structure.
Weathering changes natural landforms over millions of years.
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Erosion is the movement of weathered material such
as gravel, soil, and sand.
Moving water is the single greatest cause of erosion,
especially when carrying sediment.
Wind, the second major cause of erosion, can strip
away exposed soil, but windblown deposits of loess,
mineral-rich dust and silt, can also benefit farmers.
Glaciers, huge, slow-moving sheets of ice, are also
major agents of erosion, as they pick up and drag
along dirt, rocks, and boulders.
During the Ice Ages, glaciers covered up to a third of
the earth’s surface.
In places where glaciers have melted and receded,
they have left behind ridgelike piles of rocks and
debris called moraines.
People have adapted to different land forms.
There are four major land forms.
c. plains
a. mountains
d. plateaus
b. hills
Mountains are high, steep, rugged land
that rises above the surrounding land
elevation and are at least 2,000 ft. high.
The highest mountain range in the world:
•the Himalayas
•formed 60 million years ago
•1,500 miles long
•Along the border
between China,
Nepal, and India
The highest mountain in the world is
Mount Everest at 29,035 ft located in
the Himalaya Mountains .
Mountains effect the culture of the people
who inhabit them.
a. rich in mineral resources:
mining jobs
b. heavily forested: lumbering jobs
c. swift flowing streams: water power
(hydroelectricity)
d. affects where people live: often in valleys
e. barriers to transportation, travel, trade
Inca Bridges
Andes Mountains
Peru
Khyber Pass
Hindu Kush
Mountains
West India
Silk Road from
China to Middle East
f. isolate people
Indian Subcontinent
Hindu
Kush
Himalayas
India
g. form a natural fort for protection
Hills:
•areas of raised land that are lower and
not as steep as mountains.
• usually more populated than mountains
• transportation and travel easier
Plateaus are
•
large areas of high, flat land
•
elevation: a few hundred to several
thousand feet high
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
INDIA
CHINA
Plains:
• large areas of fairly level or gently rolling
land
• generally low elevation
• most of the world’s food is grown here
• transportation easy
Oceans, rivers, and lakes effect culture.
a. freshwater for drinking and irrigation
Oceans, rivers, and lakes effect culture.
a. freshwater for drinking and irrigation
b. source of food
Oceans, rivers, and lakes effect culture.
a. freshwater for drinking and irrigation
b. source of food
c. large cities grow
Oceans, rivers, and lakes effect culture.
a. freshwater for drinking and irrigation
b. source of food
c. large cities grow
d. important transportation route
Oceans, rivers, and lakes effect culture.
a. freshwater for drinking and irrigation
b. source of food
c. large cities grow
d. important transportation route
e. important trade routes
f. hydroelectricity