Geography

What is
Geography

The word GEOGRAPHY comes from the

Greek language. GEO means earth and
GRAPHY means to describe or to write.

A literal translation would be "to describe or

write about the Earth".

Geography is the study of all the

physical features of the Earth's surface:
climate, plants, animal, and human life.

The Five Themes

of Geography

In 1984, some scientists got together

and developed a way to teach kids
geography. They called it The Five
Themes of Geography.

The Five Themes are what we will study

in every unit in our Geography book.

The Five Themes are: Location, Place,

Human-Environmental interactions,
Movement and Regions.

Theme 1: Location

Location answers question, Where is it?

Location - Where is St. Thomas of Canterbury

School ?

Location Absolute Location:

4827 N. Kenmore
Chicago, IL 60640

Location Relative Location:

west of Sheridan Road and north of Lawrence Avenue

Kenmore
Lawrence Avenue

Theme 2:Place

Place identifies natural & human features

that make a place different from other
places.

Theme 3:
HumanEnvironmental
Interactions

How People Interact With Their

Environment
People . . .
Adapt to their Environment
Modify their Environment
Depend on their Environment

Theme 4:Movement

Movement answers the question

How do people, goods, and
ideas move from place to place?

Theme 5:
Regions

What Places
Have in
Common
Political
Regions
Everyone in our
classroom lives
in Illinois.

What Places Have in Common

Agricultural Regions and Landform Regions
most Illinois is flat so many people make
a living as farmers.

What Places
Have in
Common
Cultural Regionspeople who live
in Chicago live
in a big city.

Continental Drift

3. The world is divided into seven major land masses

called continents.
a.Africa

b. Antarctica

e. Europe

f. North America

c. Asia

North America

d. Australia

g. South America

Asia
Europe
Africa

South America
Australia
Antarctica

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

Arctic
Ocean

Pacific
Ocean

Atlantic
Ocean

Pacific
Ocean

Indian
Ocean

225 million years ago, the 7 continents

were one large Supercontinent.

Permian

225 million years ago

A Supercontinent is a large landmass formed by

many different continents joined together.

Permian

225 million years ago

The Supercontinent was called Pangaea. It

comes from the language of ancient
Greece. Pan means entire and Gaia
means earth.

Permian

225 million years ago

Millions of years ago, the supercontinent

began to shift.

Triassic

200 million years ago

They shifted because the crust of the earth is

not a solid mass. It is broken up into huge,
thick plates that drift on top of the soft
mantle which lies underneath the crust.

The movement of the huge plates of earth is

called Plate Tectonics.

Jurassic

135 million years ago

The movement of the continents is called

Continental Drift.

Cretaceous

65 million years ago

Plate tectonics are believed to be responsible

for the formation of our oceans and
continents.

Present Day

The earth is divided into four sections called hemispheres.

a. Northern Hemisphere
b. Southern Hemisphere

c. Eastern Hemisphere
d. Western Hemisphere

Four Major
Landforms

People have adapted to different land forms.

There are four major land forms.

plains

mountains

plateaus
hills

Mountains

A Mountain is high, steep, rugged land that

rises above the surrounding land elevation; at
least 2,000 ft. high.

Mountain:
The highest mountain range in the world is the
Himalayas, which was formed 60 million
years ago.

The Himalayas are 1,500 miles long along

border between China, Nepal, & India.

The highest mountain in the world is

Mount Everest at 29,035 ft located in
the Himalayas.

Mountains affect the culture of the people who

inhabit them.
For example, since mountains are rich in
mineral resources many people make a
living by mining

7. Mountains with a lot of trees lead to lumbering

jobs.

Glacial Valley, Stalheim, Norway, Scandinavia,

Europe

The area between

mountains is called
a valley. People
often live there.

People who live in mountains are isolated since it

is difficult to travel and trade in the mountains.
The Italian Alps

Khyber Pass, Hindu Kush, West India

Inca Bridges in the Andes Mountains , Peru 52

feet above the water.

Mountains can form a natural fort for protection.

Hills

Hills are areas of raised land lower and not as steep

as mountains.

Hills are usually more populated than mountains and

transportation and travel is easier.

Many settlements were originally built on hills,

like Ancient Rome, which was built on seven hills,
protecting it from invaders.

Plateaus

Plateaus are large areas of high, flat

land.

ElevationPlateaus can be a few hundred to

several thousand feet high.

The largest and highest plateau in the world is

the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, which is called the
roof of the world.

Texas

Texas

Texas
Texas
CHINA
INDIA

So, the
people of
Tibet live
in the
highest
region in
the world.

Plains

Plains are large areas of fairly level or gently

rolling land.

Plains generally have a low elevation.

Most of the worlds food is grown on plains

and transportation is easy.

Geography has a
major affect on the
way people live.

Water

Oceans, rivers, and lakes affect culture.

People need freshwater for drinking
and irrigation.

Oceans, rivers, and lakes are a source of

food.

Oceans, rivers, and lakes affect culture

because people settle along bodies of
water.

Oceans, rivers, and lakes affect culture because

water is important for transportation.

Oceans, rivers, and lakes effect culture.

Water creates hydroelectricity.

Climate

Climate is measurement of the temperature and

precipitation.

Climate can affect culture.

It determines what plants
will grow.

Pineapples

Climate determines the growing season.

Climate can affect culture. It determines

how people dress.

Climate determines what recreational activities

people choose.

Natural Resources are anything from the natural

environment people use to meet their needs like
fertile soil or clean water.

Trees and minerals are natural resources.

There are two kinds of natural resources:

Renewable Resources which can be replaced
as they are used up; replaced naturally or
grown fairly quickly
1) Forests
2) plant & animal life
3) grasslands
4) rich soil

http://www.kidsgeo.com/images/grassland-biome.jpg

http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/soil.html

http://www.oursoil.org/fossaalterna.php

Nonrenewable Resources cannot be

replaced. They were formed over millions
of years by geological forces. Examples of
nonrenewable resources are fossil fuels like
coal, oil and natural gas.

http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/visual/img_med/coal_formation.jpg

Geography is:

The study of earth in all its variety.

Geography concerns earths land,
water, and plant & animal life.
Geography gives information about:
1) the very diverse groups of
people who live on Earth.
2) places they have created.
3) how those places differ.

Geography has a
major affect on the
way people live.