What is Europe and Where is it Exactly?

The Geographic and Cultural Environment of Europe

Teacher Outline

Geography Conceptual Strand: Place and Environment - Students learn about how people perceive, represent, interpret, and interact with places and environments. They come to understand the relationships that exist between people and the environment. Achievement Objective(s): Level 6: Understand that natural and cultural environments have particular characteristics and how environments are shaped by processes that create spatial patterns. Level 7: Understand how people’s perceptions of and interactions with natural and cultural environments differ and have changed over time. Level 8: Understand how people’s diverse values and perceptions influence the environmental, social, and economic decisions and responses that they make. Geographic Concept: Environment: may be natural and/or cultural. They have particular characteristics and features which can be the result of natural and/or cultural processes. The particular characteristics of an environment may be similar to and/or different from another. Skills:

Geographic resource interpretation skills – calculating distance, using an atlas to locate places

Geographic resource construction skills – constructing a map of Europe, constructing a graph of population and area of continents

Communication skills Useful video clips:

EU and Italy – comparison, humorous http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzEvX2eXufE

Stupid quiz show answer humorous – why you should learn about Europe! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6WgB0dCuII

What is Europe and where exactly is it? : The Geographic Environment of Europe

Student Worksheet

Learning Outcome: Students will understand the geographic boundaries of Europe and understand

what the EU is and what it does.

Exactly what comprises the boundary of “Europe” is something which has changed over time and

will vary according to the perspectives of the people and groups involved. This is most clearly seen in

the periphery areas, with the Eastern borders of Europe being particularly hard to fix adequately.

The definition of environment below is taken from the Geography Teaching and Learning guide and

is one that all geography students need to be familiar with and be able to apply.

The activities on this work sheet look at the environment of Europe from two perspectives:

1. The natural environment of Europe – the climate, bio-geography, geology and landform of

the environment of Europe are very diverse, however, a ‘geographic’ concept of Europe is

possible to come up with based on natural geographic features.

2. The cultural environment of Europe – the religions, languages, traditions and outlook within

Europe are incredibly diverse.

Environments exist on a number of different scales. Although we can talk of Europe as an

Environment it is clear that it is best thought of as a region of the world which contains a

number of distinct natural environments. The concept of a ‘European environment” is perhaps

best thought of in political, social and economic terms. Ideas of Europe have been defined in a

number of ways:

Geographic Europe with established borders in the north, south and west but vague and

shifting borders in the east

Europe with a shared Christian heritage

Europe with shared history of intellectualism (e.g. classical, renaissance, enlightenment)

Some have even seen it as an ethnic rather than geographic region. Adolf Hitler was

perhaps the best know proponent of this line of thought.

At times it was seen in political terms i.e. were the communist countries in the east part

of Europe?

Environments may be natural and/or cultural. They have particular characteristics and

features which can be the result of natural and/or cultural processes. The particular

characteristics of an environment may be similar to and/or different from another.

1. Using an atlas or the internet rank the continents from largest to smallest for area and

population

Continent

Rank

Area population

Antarctica

Africa

Asia

Australasia/Oceania

Europe

North America

South America

2. Write a short paragraph describing how Europe compares to the other continents.

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3. Label the continents and oceans on the map below

The Physical Environment of Europe

Read the article below which describes the Physical boundaries (those that are formed by

natural features such as river sand mountains) of the geographic continent of Europe

“Europe is generally divided from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains,

the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting the Black and Aegean

Seas. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the

Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Yet

the borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the

primarily physiographic term "continent" can incorporate cultural and political elements”.

4. On your Physical Map of Europe locate and label the features mentioned in the article

above

5. Draw a line which marks the geographic boundary of Europe. Add this to your key.

6. Add the following important natural geographic features to your map:

Scandinavian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

Adriatic Sea

Straits of Gibraltar

The Arctic Circle

British Isles

Baltic Sea

North Sea

The Alps

The Greenwich Meridian

River Danube

Iceland

The Pyrenees

River Volga

Gulf of Bothnia

7. Resource two shows just how diverse the physical environment of Europe is. For each of the

photographs write down three words which describe what you can see. These could be

aspects of relief, vegetation or climate.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

8. Chose any one of the photographs from resource two. Make a sketch in the box below of

the natural landscape shown and label all of the natural landforms you can see in the

photograph.

9. Describe the ways that humans might be able to make use of the environment you have

sketched.

10. Resource three shows a number of satellite images taken above Europe. Use an atlas with a

good map of Europe to help you identify the features indicated by the numbers 1 to 24.

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16.

17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22. 23. 24.

A Varied Climate

11. Europe’s large landmass means that it has a range of different climate types. These

variations come about due to latitude and how far away a place is form the ocean. Match

the place, climate type and description in the chart below by shading each of the matching

climate type boxes a different colour.

Climate Type Description of Climate Place

Continental The main features of this climatic region are mild and

wet winters, hot and dry summers, and clear skies

Tromso

Maritime The main features of this climatic type are short, mild

summers and long cold winters

Moscow

Mediterranean The main feature of this climatic region is the huge

annual temperature variation. There are hot and dry

summers and the cold winters

Copenhagen

Mountain/sub-Arctic The main feature of this climatic type is the relatively

small annual temperature variation. There are mild, wet

winters and the mild and relatively wet summers.

Naples

The Cultural Environment of Europe

12. Refer to Resource Four. Name the famous European landmark and the city in which it is located

A

B C

D

E F

G

H I

12. On the blank Political Map of Europe:

o locate and label all of the countries of Europe and their capital cities

o Use the webpage http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/index_en.htm to identify and

shade in the 27 countries which are members of the EU

13. Refer to resources five and six. Explain how the information on languages shown can add to

our understanding of the environment of Europe.

The European Union (EU) as a geographic Environment of Europe

14. The EU can be viewed as a distinct geographic environment. The Treaty on European Union

states that any European country may apply for membership if it respects the EU's

democratic values and is committed to promoting them. But specifically, a country can only

join if it meets all the membership criteria in the first column of the chart below. Fill in

other two columns of the chart to show what each criteria means to you and give an

example(s)

Criteria What this actually means Specific examples

Political – it must have stable

institutions guaranteeing

democracy, the rule of law and

human rights

Economic – it must have a

functioning market economy and

be able to cope with competitive

pressure and market forces

within the EU

Legal – it must accept established

EU law and practice – especially

the major goals of political,

economic and monetary union.

In the chart below are listed some important aspects of the EU and which help make it

distinct as a geographic environment. For each one think of why it would be an advantage

for a country to be a member of the union

Aspect of the EU Benefits a country or individual may get from this aspect

The EU is based on the rule of law.

This means that everything that it

does is founded on treaties,

voluntarily and democratically

agreed by all member countries.

Free Movement. Any EU resident

has the right to travel, live, study,

work, become established or

provide a service in another

Member State

17 EU countries are members of

the Eurozone which means that

they have a common currency,

the Euro.

“Unity in Diversity” – the motto of the

EU. It signifies how Europeans have come

together, in the form of the EU, to work

for peace and prosperity, while at the

same time being enriched by the

continents many different cultures,

traditions and languages.

Human dignity, freedom, democracy,

equality, the rule of law and respect for

human rights: are the core values of the

EU. The EU's Charter of Fundamental

Rights brings all these rights together in a

single document which EU institutions

and governments are legally bound to

uphold.

The EU's trade with the rest of the

world accounts for around 20% of

global exports and imports. The EU is

the world’s biggest exporter and the

second-biggest importer.

In the 91429 Demonstrate understanding of a given environment(s) through selection and

application of geographic concepts and skills examination paper you will be asked show

understanding of a geographic environment by analysing it through applying geographic concepts.

15. Refer to the resource booklet and your answers to the questions above, to analyse THREE

aspects of the cultural environment of Europe

MURMANSK 68 96 N, 33 5 E, 167 feet (51 meters) above sea level. STRASBOURG 48 55

N, 7 63 E, 505 feet (154 meters) above sea level.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Avg. Temperature

1 3 7 10 15 17 20 20 15 11 5 2

Avg. Max Temperature

4 7 11 15 21 23 25 26 20 16 8 5

Avg. Min Temperature

-1 0 2 4 9 12 13 13 10 7 2 0

Avg. Rain Days

9 9 11 10 9 9 9 8 9 10 10 8

Avg. Snow Days

2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3

PALERMO 38 18 N, 13 10 E, 111 feet (34 meters) above sea level.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Avg. Temperature

12 12 13 15 19 22 25 26 23 20 16 13

Avg. Max Temperature

15 15 17 18 23 27 29 30 27 23 20 16

Avg. Min Temperature

9 8 10 11 15 18 21 22 20 17 13 11

Avg. Rain Days

8 6 6 6 3 1 0 2 4 5 9 7

Avg. Snow Days

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

LONDON WEA CENTER 51 50 N, 0 11 W, 127 feet (39 meters) above sea level.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Avg. Temperature

6 6 8 10 13 16 18 18 15 12 8 6

Avg. Max Temperature

8 9 11 13 17 20 23 23 18 15 11 8

Avg. Min Temperature

3 4 5 6 9 12 15 15 12 10 6 3

Avg. Rain Days

14 12 13 12 12 11 10 10 11 12 14 10

Avg. Snow Days

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

CHRISTCHURCH AWS 43 46 S, 172 51 E, 121 feet (37 meters) above sea level.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Avg. Temperature

15 16 14 11 8 5 5 6 8 11 12 15

Avg. Max Temperature

20 22 19 16 13 10 10 11 13 16 17 20

Avg. Min Temperature

11 12 10 7 5 2 1 2 4 7 7 10

Avg. Rain Days

6 6 6 7 7 9 9 8 7 7 7 7

Avg. Snow Days

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Avg. Temperature

-10 -12 -6 -1 2 9 12 11 6 1 -6 -10

Avg. Max Temperature

-6 -8 -2 1 6 13 16 15 10 3 -3 -6

Avg. Min Temperature

-14 -17 -11 -6 0 5 8 6 3 -1 -10 -14

Avg. Rain Days

1 0 1 5 11 13 13 13 11 10 3 1

Avg. Snow Days

17 15 14 12 10 1 0 0 0 9 15 17

Resource One: Climate data for selected European locations

8. The Alps

7. Arctic Tundra

3. Siberian Taiga

10. Deciduous Forest - Poland

9. Croatian Coastline

2. Ukrainian Steppe

5. The Central Masif

1 Norwegian Fjord

6. Rhine River Valley

4. Dutch Lowlands

Resource Two: Photographs of European Landscapes

Resource Three: Satellite images over Europe

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

1 3

4

6

7

8

5

9

10

14

13

20

19

17

18

16

22

23

24

11

2

12

15

21

25

Resource Four: Famous European Landmarks

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

Resource Four: Distribution of European Languages

Resource Five: Languages of the EU

Most common Languages of the European Union EU-27 by speakers as percentage of EU population

Language First language Additional language Total

English 13% 38% 51%

German 16% 11% 27%

French 12% 12% 24%

Italian 13% 3% 16%

Spanish 8% 7% 15%

Polish 8% 1% 9%

Russian* 1% 5% 6%

Romanian 5% 0% 5%

Dutch 4% 1% 5%

Hungarian 3% 0% 3%

Portuguese 2% 1% 3%

Czech 2% 1% 3%

Swedish 2% 1% 3%

*Russian is not an official language of the EU but is commonly spoken in the ex-soviet countries of Eastern Europe