Geography Map Skills 101

Physical features occur naturally Cultural features are created by people Physical Features Cultural Features

Five Basic Themes of Geography  1) Location: where places are located on the earth’s surface  2) Place: physical and human characteristics of places  3) Relationships: interaction of people and environment  4) Movement: movement and interaction of people  5) Regions: areas with similar characteristics

Many events in Georgia history did not just happen by chance. They involved people reacting to their physical surroundings.

Four Reference Points for Calculating Latitude The North Pole, the South Pole, the Equator, and the center of the earth. If a line is drawn from the center of earth to the Equator and another line is drawn from the center to the North Pole, the angle made is 90 ° The latitude of any location on earth is between 0 and 90° north or between 0 and 90 ° south

The Prime Meridian Where do you start counting the meridians? For a long time cartographers used their own country’s capital as the 0° marker. In 1884 Greenwich, England was chosen to be the standard during an international convention. Why England? They were the world’s leading naval power at the time. Maps and globes in general are Eurocentric.

The International Date Line Half way around the world we come to the 180° meridian. It not only divides east from west, it also marks the beginning point for counting time and dates.

The world has been divided into 24 time zones about 15 degrees apart. A state, country, or province may want all of its people following the same time.

There are six time zones in the United States. Georgia is in the Eastern time zone.

Except for New Jersey and Hawaii, every state has one or more boundaries based on latitude or longitude.

Using signals from at least 4 different satellites, GPS devices can identify your exact latitude and longitude.