Intro to Latin America

Today’s Objectives
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SWBAT describe the major aspects of the physical and human geography of Latin America.

Keep in mind
In this lesson, we are going to be learning about something scholars often think they know a lot about. They should focus on being
INQUIRERS, asking questions to challenge their thoughts and what they know.

What’s going on there? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kf94OGO5EE

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INTRO TO LATIN AMERICA
VIDEO NOTES
GALAPAGOS
ISLANDS
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Sensitive environment; very little human interaction with the environment
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No homes, hotels, or other human habits there; day visits only; limited number of people each day may visit
 ‘take only pictures; leave only footprints’; anything else is against the law and you could be jailed
Many types of endangered wild life and sea life can only be found here.
 CUSCO, PERU 
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Formerly capital of the Incan Empire (more on the ancient civilizations later)
Mix of Incan and Spanish cultures
 conquistador  Spanish conqueror

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INTRO TO LATIN AMERICA indigenous navigable
LAKE
TITICACA
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People whose ancestors were native to that area
Wide enough and deep enough for ship travel
The name may sound funny/naughty to modern-day sixth graders, but it is a name given the lake hundreds of years ago by the indigenous people of the area
This is the highest lake in the world navigable by ships
The only lake in the world that has TWO navies – the
Bolivian and Peruvian navies (because the lake in split between these two countries.)
High is the Andes Mountains, above the tree line
Floating islands are made of tortora reeds
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Provided safety from invading armies by floating to middle of lake; invaders had no boats and no trees to make them
Today, only land owners pay taxes, so residents of the floating islands pay no taxes!

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INTRO TO LATIN AMERICA
MACHU
PICCHU
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Machu Picchu is often mistakenly referred to as the
"Lost City of the Incas."
About 1450 the Incas built the estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti. The estate is located on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley. There were 400-500 buildings, and as many as 1000+ people lived there.
At the highest point of the mountain where Machu
Picchu is located there are "artificial platforms [and] these had a religious function, as is clear from the Inca ritual offerings found buried under them."
The estate was abandoned a century later. It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travelers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.
It was brought to international attention in 1911 by the
American historian Hiram Bingham; restoration continues to this day.

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INTRO TO LATIN AMERICA
Why do most people in
Latin America speak
Spanish?
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Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas led to a fierce competition by European nations to colonize as much land as possible and take over the resources there.
The four largest navies in the world at that time were
Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal. Great Britain and France headed to North America; Spain and Portugal headed to Central and South America.
The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed in 1494 (just two years after Columbus’ discovery of the Americas) and divided all newly discovered lands outside Europe between
Portugal and Spain along a meridian of about 50 0 W. The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain.
This line of demarcation was about halfway between the
Cape Verde Islands (already Portuguese) and the islands entered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage and claimed for Spain, (Cuba and Hispaniola).
In reality, this Line of Demarcation meant that only Brazil would belong to Portugal, and Spain could claim all of the rest of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Latin America
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Human geography in Latin
America includes the man-made features, such as countries, cities, travel, clothing, food, and language
Physical geography in Latin
America includes mountain ranges, climate regions, rivers, and deserts.

Latin America

Latin America

Latin America

Latin America: The Amazon Rainforest

Latin America: The Amazon Rainforest

Latin America: The Amazon Rainforest

Big Thought
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Why do we call Latin
America a cultural region?

Latin America is known as a culture region due to the common ancestral background and culture that is similar amongst all the Latin
American countries, from Mexico down through Brazil.
They are known as Latin America due to the fact that Latin is the root language of the
Spanish, the Portuguese and the French, all of whom colonized and had control over these areas starting in the 15th century. http://www.answers.com/

Important Question
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What is the difference between
Latin America and
South America?

Latin America refers to that part of the western hemisphere in which Spanish, French and Portuguese (languages being related to
Latin) are spoken predominantly; it is a cultural region that encompasses Mexico and
Central America, the Caribbean and South
America.
South America is a geographic region located in the south-western hemisphere.
http://www.answers.com/

Independent Work
Use your map to answer the following questions:
 What are the connections that you see between the physical geography and the human geography?
 What are trends that you can see all over the continent?
 Based on this, how do you think human geography and physical geography relate to each other?
Use evidence!

Big Thought
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How are physical geography and human geography related?

Physical geography is the study of landforms, bodies of water, and climate; human geography is the study of how humans interact with their physical geography, or environment.
Humans either adapt to the physical geography (they change themselves to fit into the environment), or they modify the environment (they change the environment to fit human needs).