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1. LOCATION
Every point on Earth has a specific location that is determined
by an imaginary grid of lines denoting latitude and longitude.
Geographers use latitude and longitude to pinpoint a place’s
absolute, or exact, location. Use parallels of latitude to measure distances north and south of the
line called the Equator (0°
latitude). We also use meridians of longitude to measure distances
east and west of the line called the Prime Meridian (0°
longitude). It is also important to know how that
place is related to other place - relative location. Relative location deals with the
interaction that occurs between and among places. You can
identify the relative location of a place by describing where it lies from
another known place, or point of reference. Relative location also refers to
the many ways—by land, by water, even by technology—that places
are connected.
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2. PLACE
All places have characteristics that give them meaning and
character and distinguish them from other places on earth.
Geographers describe places by their physical and human
characteristics. Physical characteristics include such elements
as animal life. Human characteristics of the landscape can be
noted in architecture, patterns of livelihood, land use and
ownership, town planning, and communication and transportation
networks. Languages, as well as religious and political
ideologies, help shape the character of a place. Studied
together, the physical and human characteristics of places
provide clues to help students understand the nature of places
on the earth.
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Listen to the song
entitled "Home on the Range."
Draw a picture that includes the physical
and human characteristics the song describes.
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On the inside of a piece of
folded paper, write the name of a place that is well known and can be easily described
(i.e. a golf course, a baseball field). Each student should write a description of the
place without naming it on the top side of the folded paper.
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Exchange descriptions with another
student and allow them to try to identify the place from its
description alone. What makes one description easier or harder
to guess than another?
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3. REGIONS
A basic unit of geographic study is the region, an area on the
earth’s surface that is defined by certain unifying
characteristics. The unifying characteristics may be physical,
human, or cultural. Using the theme of regions, geographers
divide the world into manageable units for study.
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Use the map of our school and decide with a friend what REGIONS are
in our school. Color each region a different color and list physical
and human characteristics of each region.
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Use an almanac or atlas to find the main climatic REGIONS of the
USA and create a color coded map. How do people from different
climatic regions dress? What different foods do they eat? Name some
overlapping characteristics among the regions.
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Find the
four main
regions of Texas.
Regional Water Planning Groups (click on a county)
Comparing the Regions of Texas (game)
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4. MOVEMENT
People interact with other people, places, and things almost
every day of their lives. They travel from one place to another;
they communicate with each other; and they rely upon products,
information, and ideas that come from beyond their immediate
environment.
Students should be able to recognize where resources are
located, who needs them, and how they are transported over the
earth’s surface. The theme of movement helps students understand
how they themselves are connected with, and dependent upon,
other regions, cultures, and people in the world.
- Make a comparison chart of human-made transportation systems
(cars, planes, communication systems, etc.) and natural movement
systems (weather, erosion, tides, etc.) List the different
“passengers” that are transported by the two different kinds of
transportation systems (tangible goods like foodstuffs,
intangibles like sound and light, ideas).
- Discuss different ways that ideas travel from one place to
another. (Examples might include music, literature, folk tales.)
How do people react–personally, professionally, politically,
technologically–when they are able to freely communicate with
one another? In what ways are people prevented from experiencing
the movement of ideas? (Examples might include censorship,
geographic barriers, language barriers.) What happens when
people are not able to communicate?
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5. HUMAN ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
How do people interact with the environment? How does the
environment interact with humans?
Humans
adapt and modify their environment.
(Click
here to see how rain has impacted our country in the month of August
for this year.)
Residential construction in the desert.
Is this an area undergoing rapid
population change? Why do you think so? What clues do you find
on the photographs?
Are more people moving into this
area or moving out of this area?
How have humans modified the land
here? For what reasons have they done so?
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List ways that people affect their environment
every day (for example, driving cars, using water, disposing of
garbage, smoking cigarettes).
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Make a second list of ways that
people affect their environment through seasonal activities (for
example, watering lawns, burning leaves, fishing and hunting).
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Make a comparison chart of the two lists and discuss which activities are more harmful or more helpful to
their environment. Discuss the findings and
suggest ways that people can change their behavior and improve
their environment.
What environments do you live
in? How do you modify and adapt to your environments? What is a
virtual environment?
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