Name of presentationAMERICAN HISTORY

MEASUREMENT TOPIC IFOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN CHARACTER AND IDENTITY

Sub-Topic 1: Geography of the United States

Activity: Mix-Freeze Group (Modified “The Boat is Sinking”)Students rush to form a specific size, hoping not toland in “Lost and Found” Students mix around the room Teacher calls “Freeze” Teacher asks a question to which the answer is a

number or a key Students group and sit down Students without groups will go to “Lost and

Found” Students in the “Lost and Found” will be given the

chance to rejoin the group when the next question is asked.

Five Themes of Geography

Geography – comes from two words, “geo”meaning Earth and “graphia” meaning, to draw, writeor describe.Geographers usually use five themes when describingthe geography of a place, and these are:1. Location – What is the exact location? relative

location?2. Place – What are the physical features (natural

characteristics ) and human features (man-made characteristics) of the place?

3. Interaction – How people interact with land, rivers, mountains and climate? How people modify, adapt and depend on their surroundings.

Five Themes of Geography

4. Movement – What people, goods and ideas move into and out of the place and by what means? What are the results?

5. Region – An area that has common physical or human features.

Five Themes of Geography

4. Movement – What people, goods and ideas move into and out of the place and by what means? What are the results?

5. Region – An area that has common physical or human features.

Map of the World

4. Movement – What people, goods and ideas move into and out of the place and by what means? What are the results?

5. Region – An area that has common physical or human features.

Key Directions

NORTH

WEST EAST

SOUTH

Relative Location of the U.S.

• The United States is in both the northern andwestern hemispheres. It is in the North American Continent. It is bordered by the countries Canada in the north, Mexico in the south, Pacific Ocean on the west and Atlantic Ocean on the east

• The U.S. is on the west of the Philippines.• The U.S. is on the north of Mexico

Relative Location – Location of a place in relation to another place. It changes depending on the perspective.

LATITUDES & LONGITUDES

NORTH

WEST EAST

SOUTH

ABSOLUTE LOCATION OF THE U.S.

Absolute Location is the definitive location of aplace using a recognized coordinate system or What we know as latitudes and longitudes

Absolute Location or the “Postal Address” of the U.S.:Latitude and longitude: 38º 00' N and 97º 00' W

ABSOLUTE LOCATION OF THE U.S.

Latitude (shown as a horizontal line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds of a point north or south of the Equator. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels.

Longitude (shown as a vertical line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, of a point east or west of the Prime (Greenwich) Meridian. Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians

PLACE – Physical FeaturesThe United States may be divided into seven broad

physiographic divisions: from east to west, the Atlantic–Gulf Coastal Plain; the Appalachian Highlands; the Interior Plains; the Interior Highlands; the Rocky Mountain System; the Intermontane Region; and the Pacific Mountain System. An eighth division, the Laurentian Uplands, a part of the Canadian Shield, dips into the United States from Canada in the Great Lakes region. It is an area of little local relief, with an irregular drainage system and many lakes, as well as some of the oldest exposed rocks in the United States.

PLACE – Human Features

• These are the man-made structures of a country. In the U.S. the more prominent ones are the following:

• Golden Gate• Brooklyn Bridge• Gateway Arch• Mount Rushmore• Hoover Dam

REGION

The United States is divided into five regions. These regions are the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West. The regions of the United States are grouped by history, traditions, economy, climate, and geography. Each region is different from one another. The states in the five regions are all in the same area of the United States.

REGIONAL MAP OF THE U.S.

HUMAN ENVIRONMENTINTERACTION IN THE U.S.

Building bridges, building houses, driving cars, really anything we do is an interaction because it is a adaptation or a modification to the Earth.

Examples:

• Building of Golden Gate Bridge• Planting of corn on the fields of Iowa or North Dakota• Building the famous World Trade Center or the JFK

International Airport in New York

MOVEMENTMovement may refer to how people, goods and even ideals move in a particular place.

For example, we can say that the U.S. is the world’s biggestexporter but it is also the world’s biggest importer and goodsare being brought in and out of the country by means ofships.

People on the other hand move by cars and by mass transport such as trains and subways. There are also the so-called interstate highways that make it possible for people to travel in any part of the country by car or by land.

Ideals on the other hand, especially those about liberty and freedom were brought first by the founding fathers or the European explorers, others came to be known because of the wave of migration that happened in the latter years.

POLITICAL MAP OF THE U.S.