1. What are the names of large landmasses on the map?
2. What are the names of the large bodies of water on the map?
Geographers look at
people and the world in
which they live mainly in
Geography is the terms of space and place.
study of Earth and its
peoples, places, and They study such topics as
environments. where people live on the
surface of Earth, why
they live there, and how
they interact with each
other and the physical
Geography, then,
emphasizes the
spatial aspects of
the world.
Spatial refers to
Earth’s features
in terms of their
locations, their
shapes, and their
relationships to
one another.
Physical features
such as mountains
and lakes can be
located on a map.
These features can
be measured in
terms of height,
width, and
depth. Distances and
directions to other
features can be
determined.
The human world
also has spatial
dimensions.
Geographers
study the size
and shape of
cities, states,
and countries.
They consider
how close or far
apart these
human features
are to one
another.
Geographers
also think about
the relationships
between human
features and
physical
Physical features such as climate, landforms, and
vegetation combine with human features such as
population, economic activity, and land
use. These combinations create what
geographers call places.
One way that
geographers learn
about places is by
studying
landscapes.
Landscapes are
portions of Earth’s
surface that can be
viewed at one time
and from one
location.
They can be as small as the view from the front porch of
your home, or they can be as large as the view from a tall
building that includes the city and surrounding
countryside.
Geography is not something you learn
about only in school or just from books.
Geography is something you experience
every day.
• We all live in the world.
• We feel the change of the seasons.
• We hear the sounds of birds.
• We walk on sidewalks and in forests.
• We ride in cars along streets and
highways.
• We fly in airplanes to distant places.
This is all geography.
Earth is dynamic, or
always changing.
Rivers shift course.
Volcanoes suddenly
erupt, forming
mountains or
collapsing the peaks
of mountains. The
pounding surf
removes sand from
beaches.
Geographers, then, study how places change over
time. They try to understand what impact those
changes have.
