1. Chapter 1 : Earth’s Land, People, & Environments
Key Questions:
What is geography?
What are the 2 main branches of geography?
What do geographers study?
What tools to geographers use?

2. Father of Geography Eratosthenes 276-194 BC Greek Mathematician, Poet,
Geographer, Astronomer
Father of Geography

3. What is Geography?
Geography- study of the Earth, its people, places, & environments
2 Main Branches of Geography
1. Physical Geography
2. Human Geography

4. Physical Geography
Physical Geography- study of the world’s physical features
Physical features – oceans, rivers, mountains, volcanoes, etc.

5. Physical Geography Why study the physical world?
So that we can make…predictions

6. Human Geography
Human Geography- study of the world’s people, communities, and landscapes
What they do
Where they live
Why they live there
What makes them move
Why some places have no people
Human features – villages, roads, tunnels

7. What about you???
If you had the option to study human or physical, which would you choose to study?
Why?

8. Five Themes of Geography:
Location (absolute & relative)
Place
Human-Environment Interaction
Movement
Regions

9. Location
Absolute Location- a specific description of a location Examples: 36 °N, 51 °E 143 West Main Street, Greenwood

10. Location
Relative Location- a general description of where a place is Example: Greenwood is just south of Indy

11. Place
Place - the features that make an area unique Examples: Landscape, people, climate

12. Human-Environment Interaction
HEI - how humans interact with the environment Environment-an area’s land, water, climate, plants & animals

13. Movement
Movement - how & why people move around the world (push or pull?) Example: Do we need more roundabouts in Greenwood to deal with the traffic issues?

14. Regions
Regions - Areas that share common characteristics Examples: Rocky Mountain Region Tropical Regions Sahara Desert Region

15. 3 Levels of Geography Geographers examine the world at 3 levels:
1. Local Level
2. Regional Level
3. Global Level

16. Geospatial Technologies
Geospatial Technologies- devices & maps that give us information on the location of physical & human features
GPS – Global Positioning System
GIS – Geographic Information System
30 satellites orbiting Earth send out radio signals, which devices receive

17. Satellite Images Used since 1970s to gather data
1st used by the US military
Satellite images show things we can’t see from Earth’s surface
weather, changes in vegetation and climate, soil

18. Geographers Tools
Map- a flat drawing that shows all or part of Earth’s surface
Globe- spherical, ball-shaped model of entire planet
(Why are maps more popular than globes?)
(Which do you think is most accurate?)

19. Scale of Maps Large Scale – shows small areas, up close (city)
Small Scale – shows large areas,
far away (continent)
Greenwood, IN
North America

20. 3 Types of Maps Political Maps – boundaries of countries
Physical Maps –shows natural features
likes lakes, mountains, etc.
Thematic Maps
Population
Climate
Vegetation
Natural Resources
Roads

21. Fields of geography
Cartography - the science of making maps -Today maps are made using computers and satellite images

22. Fields of geography
Hydrology - is the study of water on Earth Hydrologists study rivers, rainfall, drinking water, droughts, floods

23. Fields of geography
Meteorology - the study of weather and what causes it -Meteorologists predict weather and help keep us safe

24. Why Study Geography?
Geography allows us to find answers to questions about the world around us.
Allows us to make predictions!
Geography lets humans make
better-informed decisions.
(e.g. –You know that you and your buddy
should not travel across the desert in wool
jackets with nothing to drink and a box of
popsicles as your only food…)