1. World Cultures & Geography
Exploring the World Around Us

2. Geography: the study of the Earth
Geography comes from the Greek word geo meaning “earth” and graphy meaning “science of”.
Study of people, environment, and resources.
Maps, globes, charts, and graphs.

3. 5 Themes of Geography Location Place
Interaction between people and Environment
Movement
Region

4. Location Location: Position on the Earth’s surface.
Two ways to determine location:
Absolute -
Relative –

5. Location (continued)
Absolute Location: A place’s exact location on the Earth.
Example: ˚ N (Latitude), ˚ W (longitude).
Latitude/Parallels: Are imaginary lines that run horizontally around the globe: East & West.
Longitude/Meridians: Are imaginary lines that circle the globe vertically: North to South.
Draw Globe on Whiteboard before class. w/ lat & long lines.

6. Location (continued)
Relative location: This term explains where a place is by describing places near it.
Oakley/Brentwood area is about 60 miles southeast of San Francisco
Turn to a partner & give them a relative location of a store of your choice.

7. Place
Place: Physical and human characteristics or features of a location.
1) Physical features
Water
Climate (hot or cold)
Land (hilly, flat, etc.)
2) Human characteristics
Reasons why people live in a certain area
How many people live in a certain place
What kind of work people do

8. Place
Turn to a partner & give them the physical features and human characteristics of a place of your choice.
BE PREPARED TO SHARE OUT.

9. Human-Environment Interaction
HEI: The theme of how people affect their environment, the physical characteristics of their natural surroundings, and how their environment affects them.
People change their environment
Examples: Clearing forests, damming rivers, and digging tunnels.
Consequences of people’s actions:
Environmental impact such as erosion, pollution, and fertile land.

10. Human-Environment Interaction (continued)
People adapt
People change to suit environment
Eskimo’s
Chinese stir fry
People change environment
deserts to fertile land
valleys flooded for lakes, dams, etc.

11. Human-Environmental Interaction
Turn to a partner & brainstorm different HEI’s Brentwood/Oakley has had in the last 10 years.
BE PREPARED TO SHARE OUT.

12. Movement
Movement: helps explain how people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another
Migration: the movement of people from one country or region to another in order to make a home
Why migrate?
food, work, trade (imports and exports)
Ideas spread
Cultural changes and Mix of cultures
Interdependence
globalization and trade

13. Regions
Regions: Areas with their own unique characteristics which unify their locations.
Geographical or land
Culture or history
Political or economic
Religion or beliefs
Geographers use the theme of regions to make comparisons.
On maps, geographers use color and shape or special symbols to show regions
A place can be part of several regions at the same time
Houston, Texas is both a plains region and an oil producing region

14. Remembering the 5 Themes
If you can’t remember what they are, just ask MR. HELP
M – Movement
R – Regions
He – Human Environment interaction
L – Location
P - Place