Geography Basics
Chapter One
Pre Test
• Fill out the 50 states without help from your
neighbor.
Bellringer
• Why is Geography important to you?
• Do you think it is relevant?
Atlas
• Take a look at the various atlas’ in
the front of the book.
Maps: http://video.about.com/geography/How-toRead-a-Map.htm
Geography Basics
• Defined as: The study of Earth and
its people
• This is studied in “themes”
– Five in total
Place
• Refers to where things are and
what makes it distinctive
Location
Refers to the position of a place
This can be broken into two kinds:
1. Absolute: Exact spot on Earth you are
2. Relative: An approximate area
Human Environment
Interaction
• Studies the natural surroundings
and its affects
Movement
• Why goods, ideas, and
people move from place to place
Regions
• Refers to the areas of the world
that have common things like
people, resources, population, food, etc
Take 5
• Share one example of each theme with a
partner
• Be ready to share your answers with the class
Five Themes Game
• Be the first group to identify the word as the
correct theme and win!
• I will say each word. When you know the
answer raise your hand.
Time
•
•
•
•
•
Time is broken into blocks:
Year: 365 days
Decade: 10 yrs
Century: 100 yrs
Millenium: 1000 yrs
GPS and GIS
• GPS: Global Positioning System – uses radio
signals to determine an exact location
• GIS: Global Information System – gathers,
stores, and analyzes geographical information
Map Projections
• Page 23 in your book:
•
•
•
•
Goodes Interrupted Knuckle Map
Robinsons Projection – Flat top and bottom
Mercator Projection – Flat Map
Winkel Triple Projection – Short Circle Map
Types of Maps
• Physical: Shows landforms and water features
• Political: Names and boundaries of countries
• Historical: Show events over time
• Contour: Has lines for change in elevation
• Vegetation: Shows types of plants in a region
Latitude
• Imaginary Circles that run East to West around the
globe
• AKA – parallels
• The Equator is the center line
• The letter N or S that follows the degree of latitude
tells you if it is N or S of the equator
• Example 60 N, 35 S
Longitude
• Run from the S. Pole to the N. Pole
• Known as Meridians
• The Prime Meridian is ) degrees longitude and
runs through Greenwich, England
• The Letter E or W follows if it is East or West
of the Prime Meridian
Lines of the World
• Equator: The center parallel of the earth
• Tropic of Cancer: The most Northern point
the suns is centered on the earth: Summer
solstice is that date: June 21st
• Tropic of Capricorn: The most Southern point
the suns is centered on the earth: Winter
solstice is that date: Dec. 21st
Both the tropic
of cancer and
Capricorn are at
23.5 °
The Circles are
at 66.5 °
Hemispheres
• There are four hemispheres in the world
International Date Line
• Is the 180 degree mark of longitude
• It is half way around the world from the
Prime Meridian
Finding Location:
To mark a spot on the earth you use both the
latitude and longitude
Example: Tokyo, Japan is 36 N 140 E
Map Drawing
• Using all the information about the Earth we
have learned so far lets draw them out on a
map and see where they are.
Where am I?
• Follow the instructions on the sheet provided
for Longitude and Latitude lines
Continents
• There are seven continents in the world:
– Africa
– Antarctica
– Asia
– Australia
– Europe
– North America
– South America
Africa
Antarctica
Australia
Europe
Asia
South America
North America
US Time Zones
Reading Time Zones
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=widWLhIIb
zs
• See Time Zone Activity
– 24 hrs a day = 24 time zones
– 360 degrees/24 = 15 – Therefore every 15 degrees
is a new time zone!
– Lets practice
Major Oceans of the World
•
•
•
•
•
Pacific: The largest
Atlantic: Between Europe and N. America
Indian: Below India to Australia
Southern: North of Antarctica
Arctic: The Smallest
Climate and Weather
• http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/climatechan
ging/climatescienceinfozone/exploringearthscli
mate/1point1.aspx
Wind
• Wind is caused by air pressure colliding with
each other
• When high and low pressure hit each other
wind is felt here on earth
Weather
• Made from differences in air pressure
• Air pressure is made from air molecules.
– High Pressure: More weight
– Low Pressure: Less weight
• On high pressure days there are less clouds
because the weight keeps them from forming
Precipitation
• Rain, Snow, Hail, and Sleet are all precipitation
• They are formed in clouds
• When dust particles meet water vapor in a cloud
they are to big for the cloud to hold and they fall
• Snow: Frozen particles
• Sleet: Freeze on the way down to Earth
• Hail: Rain droplets wont fall and keep freezing to
each other then drop
Tornados
• Caused by colliding winds and an unstable
atmosphere
• In the Great Plains dry air from the Rockies
and Moist from the Gulf of Mexico collide
Hurricanes
• Also called Typhoons or Cyclones. Only
Atlantic storms are Hurricanes
• If it is above the equator they spin
counterclockwise, opposite for Southern storms
• Moist air rises leaving low air at the surface.
This rises and spins and its feeds itself.
• More moist hot air means more storms and
bigger storms
Hurricanes
Test Tomorrow
• Be prepared on all material since the beginning
of school
– Five themes – Weather
– Fill in the Blank
– Matching
– Multiple Choice
– Short Answer
– 100 Points