IPG - Introduction to Physical Geography Module Overview

Introduction to Physical Geography

Campsite in Long Beach, California

Introduction

Have you ever been on a camping trip or to an outdoor event and needed to choose the perfect spot for your group to gather? If you really put some thought into it, you looked at the terrain and chose a place that had enough flat surface area to keep your items from rolling away. You also considered the sunlight, shade, water features, and possibly even wind patterns. All of these factors could increase or decrease your group's enjoyment of the activity. If you chose incorrectly, you either moved to a more favorable location or at a minimum had the thought that in the future you might need to choose differently.  

The decisions that you or someone in your group made are very similar to the ones that humans have always made any time they relocated. In this first module, we will explore the physical characteristics of the Earth and use maps to enable us to draw conclusions about the ways in which landforms, bodies of water, climate, and natural resources influence human settlements. Since the concepts learned in this unit will be revisited many times throughout the course, students should read the information and review the examples provided multiple times.

 

Essential Questions

  • How do our planet's physical attributes impact human settlement?
  • How does climate influence human settlement?
  • What can maps tell us about locations for human settlement?

 

Key Terms

  • Climate - a region's weather conditions over an extended period of time.
  • Continents - the large land masses of the Earth.
  • Elevation - the height above sea level.
  • Geography - the study of the Earth and the humans that inhabit it.
  • Hemisphere - half a sphere. Models of the Earth are often divided into Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Hemispheres.
  • Landforms - natural features of the Earth's surface.  
  • Latitude - the imaginary east-west lines that measure north or south of the equator.
  • Longitude - the imaginary north-south lines that pass through the poles and measure east or west of the prime meridian.  
  • Natural resources - elements of the Earth that are of use to people.
  • Ocean Currents - a steady flow of water within an ocean that moves in a continuous direction.
  • Physical geography - the study of the Earth's landscapes, atmosphere, and physical processes.
  • Settlement - a place where people establish a community or village.

Review the key terms in the presentation below.

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.