What is Geography?

Is this Geography?

What about this?

What is Geography? Geography- The study of land, its landforms, and the people that live on the land. Geography is also concerned with where things are and why they are there. Where do people live? Why is it hot some places, but cold in others?

Two Types of Geography Physical Geography Physical Land Masses that we see on the map (North America, South America, Europe, etc.) Physical Landforms (such as mountains, plains, and valleys) Bodies of Water (such as lakes, rivers, and oceans) Also man-made aspects of Physical geography Buildings Highways

Physical Geography

Two Types of Geography Human Geography Where people live? Why do we live where we live? How do certain cultures interact with the land in which they live? How do humans interact with each other?

Human Geography

5 Themes of Geography Location- Where something is Relative Location- Where something is compared to something else Ex. Navo is in Paloma Creek. It is next to the fire station. Absolute Location- The exact point where something is. You can use latitude and longitude to find it. Ex. 33° N, 101 ° W

5 Themes of Geography Place- what a location is like Ex. Texas has a hot climate Ex. Texas is very large Ex. Texas has the 2 nd most people of any state

5 Themes of Geography Human-Environment Interaction- how do humans affect where they live and how does where someone lives affect them? Ex. Are all the trees and plants native to that place? Ex. How do people dress where they live?

Human-Environment Interactions

5 Themes of Geography Movement- how people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another People migrating from one place to another Goods such as food and clothing being shipped to new markets Ideas like fashion trends and other new concepts getting to new locations.

Movement

5 Themes of Geography Region A geographical area that has shared features The features could be different from every region Cultural region Political region Physical landscape region

Region

Finding Locations To find specific locations on a map we use Latitude and Longitude. This helps us find the absolute locations. Latitude- Imaginary lines that run side to side but measure North and South. Examples- The equator, The tropics, The arctic circle Longitude- Imaginary lines that run up and down but measure east and west Also called Meridians Examples- The Prime Meridian and The International Dateline

Finding Locations Continued When finding a location on a map, find latitude first then find longitude. Where the two lines cross is the location. Locations are written latitude, longitude. The equator is 0 0 latitude The Equator splits the Earth into North and South hemispheres The Prime Meridian is 0 0 Longitude. The Prime Meridian splits the earth into East and West Hemispheres.

Latitude and Longitude

Find the Locations 40 0 North, West 60 0 North, East 20 0 South, East 0 0, 80 0 West 40 0 North, East

Find the Locations 40 0 North, North, West 30 0 South, 20 0 East 20 0 North, 80 0 East 20 0 South, West

Answers 1. United States 2. Russia 3. Australia 4. Ecuador 5. China 6. Spain 7. Mexico 8. South Africa 9. India 10. Pacific Ocean

Maps Scale How the measurements on maps compare to the real life measurements Scale can be shown in 3 ways In words Ex. 1 inch= 100 miles With a graphic With a fraction 1/100

Projection Projections help take the round earth and put it onto a flat map. All maps are somewhat distorted, but projections help us reduce the distortion.

Types of Maps and Map Features Physical Map Shows what types of landforms and the landscape of the area shown on the map Ex. Shows mountains, lakes, rivers Political Map A map that shows the boundaries of certain areas. Ex. The states in a United States map Legend Shows what kind of symbols are represented on the map.

Texas Regions Coastal Plains Includes 1/3 of Texas land and is the biggest region in Texas Most of Texas’ largest cities are located in the coastal plains About 2 out of 3 people in Texas live in the coastal plains It is located from the Gulf of Mexico to the Balcones escarpment

Texas Regions North Central Plains Region Mostly grassland area with some small shrubs and small trees Rolling hills The land gets dryer as you move west

Texas Regions Great Plains Made up of 3 sub regions Llano Basin Edwards Plateau High Plains Mostly dry and not much vegetation

Texas Regions Mountains and Basins Alternating Mountains and Valleys. Mountains= high elevation Valleys= low elevation Some places have lots of vegetation Others have very little and are like deserts.