From Sea to Shining Sea

GEOGRAPHY OF THE AMERICA’S:*Understanding geography is important to our understanding of the past and present.

-Geography is linked to history.

-To understand history, you must understand geography.

-All of human history has taken place in the environment.

Columbus landing in New World in 1492.

General George Washington at Valley Forge in 1777.

Erie Canal in New York in the 1800’s.

Question: What do all 3 events have in common?Answer: ALL 3 took place in the environment.

GEOGRAPHY: The study of the physical, biological, and cultural features of the Earth’s surface.

●Geography is the environment in which we live.

ENVIRONMENT: The surroundings in which we live.

●Geography includes: 1. Physical/geographic features

2. Climate3. Weather4. Natural resources5. Human, animal, and plant life

Rivers and mountains are physical or geographic features.

Gold, trees, and cotton are examples of natural resources.

Plants and animals are part of the geography.

GEOGRAPHY:

WEATHER: The condition of the Earth’s atmosphere at a given time and place.

CLIMATE: The average weather of a place over a period of 20-30 years. -Made up of temperature and precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail)

5 Themes of Geography:●To understand geography, historians study the 5 Themes of Geography.

1. Location: Uses Latitude and Longitude lines on maps. 2. Place:3. Interaction Between People and Their Environment:4. Movement:5. Region:

1. Location: Tells where a place is. A. Relative Location: Tells where a place is in relation to another place.

Example: Gloversville is 1 hour northwest of Albany, New York.

B. Exact (Absolute) Location: Tells where a place is by using Latitude and Longitude lines on maps.

LATITUDE: Lines on a map that measure distance north and south from the Equator. LONGITUDE: Lines on a map that measure distance east and west from the Prime Meridian.

LOCATION: Location can be found using lines on maps called Latitude and Longitude lines.

Latitude: Lines that run north (above) and south (below) of the equator. They go left to right on the map.

Longitude: Lines that run east (right) and west (left) of the Prime Meridian. They run up and down the map.

Equator

Prime Meridian

When you combine the two sets of lines, you get a grid. This allows you to find exact or absolute locations on the Earth’s surface.

UNDERSTANDING GEOGRAPHY: AMERICA’S LOCATION: ●The United States is part of North America. ●North America is one of the seven continents on the Earth.

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AMERICA’S LOCATION: America’s location is in the Northern and Western Hemisphere’s.

North America North America

POLITICAL/SOCIAL REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES:

The United States is broken down into 6 general sections. This breakdown is for political/social purposes.

1. Northeast 3. Midwest 5. Mountain States

2. Southeast 4. Southwest 6. West

NortheastMidwest

West

SouthwestSoutheast

Mountain States

MAPS:●Maps are used to help study geography.●There are many types of maps:

-Political, physical, demographic, economic, natural resource.Political Map: Shows boundaries between states and nations.

Physical Map: Shows physical or geographical features of an area such as mountains, rivers, and lakes.

2. Place: Describes an area’s physical and human features.

A. Physical Features: (LANDFORMS, GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES) -Features on the Earth’s surface such as mountains, rivers, lakes, and deserts.

NATURAL RESOURCES: Materials humans can take from the environment to use to survive.

Ex: Plants, Trees, Gold, Oil, Water, Sun

B. Human Features: Houses, transportation, jobs, language, and religion.

Lumber: Used for paper products, building materials.

Water: Used for irrigation, drinking, recreation.

Fertile Soil: Used for growing crops to eat.

Animal Life: Used for food, leather.

PHYSICAL FEATURES: (LANDFORMS, GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES)

Mountains

Lakes

Plains

Deserts

Rivers

3. Interaction Between People and Their Environment:A. People adapt to their environment by

changing the way they live in order to survive. B. People change the environment by

physically changing it.

●As humans, we can either change our environment, or we have to change to fit into it.

These pictures show land that has been cleared by humans in order to plant and grow crops. Clearing land and planting crops is an example of humans changing the environment to suit our needs.

Sometimes, humans cannot change the environment. Therefore, humans need to change to fit into and survive in the environment. For example, we cannot change mountains or stop snow from falling. Therefore, we need to change to survive.

Vineyard

Farm with corn fields.

4. Movement: Movement of people, goods, and ideas.

5. Regions: An area with certain unifying characteristics. -Physical or human.

Physical Maps