World Geography
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What is geography? This is a question many students ask when they start 7th grade at Clark
Lane Middle School. A simple answer would be: geography is the social studies class that all 7th graders
must complete in Waterford before moving onto U.S. History in 8th grade. While this information is
true, it still does not give you a good understanding of the field of geography.
The word “geography” can be broken into two smaller parts: “geo” and “graphy”. The prefix
“g
geo” is taken from a Greek word that means “earth” and the suffix “g
graphy” means to “write” or
“picture”. When you put the two root words together you get “to picture/write about the Earth”.
Geography is a subject in school in which you learn about the Earth.
Geography has been around for a really long time. A scholar from ancient Greece named
Eratosthenes is considered to be the “father of geography.” He was studying geography back in 276
B.C.E! Cartography, or the art of making maps, is a very important aspect of geography. Maps have
been around for a really long time. The world’s oldest map was found in Spain and historians believe
that it was created 14,000 years ago! The maps that people used back during Eratosthenes’ time
looked very different than the maps that we use today.
Think About It….
Why do you think ancient maps look so different from modern maps? _______________
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While it’s true that the Earth has changed in the last 2400 years (i.e. The Greek Empire is much
smaller today than it was back then), there is another explanation for the differences that we see
between ancient and modern maps. The technology that exists today, such as satellites and computer
drafting programs, allows cartographers (map- makers) to make much more accurate maps.
Examining the Two Branches of Geography
While maps are an important part of geography, they are not the whole story. There is a lot
more to geography than just maps. In fact, just about everything in the world (food, books, cars,
trees, plants, sports, school, music, hurricanes, roads, donkeys…even the kitchen sink) is connected to
geography. Given that geography is such a large subject to study, geographers have broken it down
into two smaller branches: physical geography and cultural geography.
Physical geography is the study of the natural world (meaning non-man made things on
Earth). Some of the things that you will study when we examine the physical geography of a place
are: landforms (mountains, deserts, hills, plateaus), bodies of water (rivers, oceans, lakes), climate,
vegetation (trees, plants), animal life and natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, floods).
Cultural geography is the study of people and their customs (meaning all of the man made
things on Earth). When studying the cultural geography of a place, you will examine different forms
of government (how do people make and enforce rules), economies (how to people make and
distribute goods), education (what are schools like), foods (what do people eat), music (what do
people listen to), transportation (how do people get from one place to another), communication
(what languages do people speak, what forms of technology do people use to communicate) ,
entertainment (what do people do for fun), sports, fashion (what do people wear), just to name a few
things 
So, what is geography? Geography is the social studies class that you take in 7th grade. Geography is picturing or writing about the Earth. Geography is a subject in which we use maps to learn
about the world in which we live. Geography is a subject that is so large, that it must be broken down
into smaller branches. Geography is the study of nature’s beauty and ferocity and geography is the
study of people and the things that people do.
Name:
Date:
Core:
World Geography
Name That Handout!!!
A Reader Response Question!
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What do you think would be a good title for this article? Support your answer using
information from the text (ATIC).
a. The Many Definitions of Geography
c. Maps & Cartography
b. The History of Geography
d. Cultural & Physical Geography
(A) I think that a good title for the article would be:__________________________________________
because:___________________________________________________________________________
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A.T.I.C.
(T) In the text it says ________________________________________________________________
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(I) This helped me pick the best title because:_____________________________________________
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(C) As you can see: _________________________________________________________________
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