Location

Place

Human-Environment Interaction

Movement

Regions

The position of a place on the Earth’s surface

Answers the question “Where is it?”

ABSOLUTE: the exact location of a place using latitude & longitude

EX. Where is Manila? It is located at 15ºN, 121 ºE.

RELATIVE: the location of a place in relation to other places nearby

Ex. Where is Manila?

Manila is located in the northern part of the Philippines, south of Japan, and near Vietnam

LOCATION comes to play in our lives every day!

When we watch the news and hear a story about a car accident in a nearby town, you think in terms of the LOCATION of the accident.

When we run an errand at a store, we have to think of its LOCATION in order to get there.

When you go to class, you have to remember the LOCATION of the room within the school.

The physical & human characteristics on the

Earth’s surfaceAnswers the question “What is it like there?”

Every place on Earth has its own special qualities that makes it different from other places

PHYSICAL Characteristics: “things” made by nature

-landforms -climate -etc.

-vegetation -animals

HUMAN Characteristics: “things” made by man

-languages -government -etc.

-architecture -clothing

•Think of WESTFORD

•Physical Characteristics

-Humid Continental climate -Nashoba Valley

•Human Characteristics

-Middlesex County -English language

-Suburban area -School Committee

How people affect the environment and how the environment affects people

Humans DEPEND on the environment for the four life necessities (food, clothing, shelter, water)

-farming, hunting, gathering, etc.

Humans ADAPT to the environment without changing it

-warm & cool clothing; land conservation, etc.

Humans MODIFY (or change) the environment for their own benefit

-cutting down trees for housing developments; damming rivers to make reservoirs; sandbags on the edges of beaches to prevent flooding; creating landfills for garbage

Some of these modifications can be positive while others can be negative

If you lived high in the Alps (mountain range in Europe), your home would look very different than if you lived in the Persian Gulf (near Iran). In the Alps, you’d need a home with lots of insulation to keep you warm. That certainly isn’t necessary in the Persian Gulf!

Think about how humans interact with the environment based on where they live…

How “things” are transported on Earth; how humans interact on Earth

Answers the question- “How are people, goods, ideas, & services moved to and from a country?”

FOUR main categories of movement

1) People (moved by planes, trains, automobiles, etc.)

2) Goods (moved by planes, trains, automobiles, etc.)

3) Ideas (moved by email, phones, mail, etc.)

4) Services (moved by autos, Internet, planes, etc.)

The physical features of a place can make movement of people, goods, ideas, & services EASY or DIFFICULT

Rivers and oceans allow for easy movement of “things” while mountains may make movement more difficult

Movement impacts EVERY society on Earth

Dividing the land into smaller areas that have similar physical and cultural characteristics

Answers the question “How is a country similar to any of its neighbors (religion, language, vegetation, climate, government, landforms, industries, culture etc.)?”

PHYSICAL characteristics: landforms, climate, soil, vegetation

-Ukraine is an agricultural region because the vegetation there is tropical (Mediterranean & Humid Subtropical) while the Sahara is not.

CULTURAL characteristics: government, religions, languages, etc.

-Tokyo & Detroit are automobile manufacturing regions that produces much of the world’s car.

-Leominster is a plastic manufacturing region (Dupont F & D, Castle Plastics, etc.)

-is our central Social Studies focus this year.

-We have already covered… LOCATION

PLACE

-Still to come…Human-Environment Interaction

Movement

Region