Geography Human & Physical Geography & Climate

Human and Physical Geography  The study of the environment, people, and the resources they use  Geography determines the way in which humans live, the adaptations they have developed to survive, and the alternations to the environment they have made to better their existence  Five Themes of Human and Physical Geography  Location  Place  Interaction  People and their Environment  Movement  Region

Theme 1 - Location  Describes where a place is – its position on the Earth’s surface. Two ways to describe location: Relative Location and Absolute Location  Relative Location: the description of a place in relation to another  Absolute Location: the exact location of a place using lines of longitude and latitude

Theme 2 – Place  Describes an area in terms of it’s physical and human characteristics such as climate, landforms, waterways, language, religion, social activities, etc….

Theme 3 – Human/Environment Interaction  Describes how people change their environment or adapt to it

Theme 4 - Movement  Describes the movement of people, goods, and ideas. This occurs through migration, trade, and cultural diffusion

Theme 5 - Region  Describes an area that has its own unifying characteristics.  Example: politically –- the Middle East is a political region, physically –- the rainforests of Brazil, and culturally –- Muslim areas are influenced by the religion of Islam

Climate  The usual weather patters that occur in an area over a long period of time.

Zone 1 - Tropical  Located near the equator  Little temperature change from year to year  Tropical Rainforests – warm and wet most of the year  Tropical Savanna – warm and dry part of the year, warm and wet the other part

Zone 2 - Dry  Little to no rainfall, less than 10 inches per year  Temperature very hot during the day, very cold at night  Extremely cold winters  The Sahara Desert is a dry climate

Zone 3 – Mid Latitude  Variety of climates due to mixing warm and cold air masses  Variety of weather patterns  Most people in a mid latitude climate zone  Europe and North America are mid latitude climate zones

Zone 4 – High Latitude  Polar regions, very cold  Often have high mountains that remain cold at the peak year round