1. Topic: The Five Themes of Geography<br />Grade Level:9th grade Geography<br />Objective:To become familiar (or to become re-familiarized) with the five themes of geography and how each relates to the study of geography.<br />A Webquest of the Five Themes of Geography<br />So, what are the five themes of geography? And how do these themes relate to the study of geography? This webquest will give you an introduction to the five themes of geography. (For some of you it will actually be a review. ☺)<br />First, you need to be familiar with the names of the five themes. <br />1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa5lVoT1OuQ&NR=1<br />Watch the video to get an overview of the themes, and answer the following questions:<br />a.What is the mnemonic for the five themes (that is, what is the word or phrase to help you remember the five themes)?<br />23666453365500b.What does each letter of it stand for (in other words, what are the names of the five themes)? List them in the order that they appear in the mnemonic:<br />48006016891000<br />4711708699500Now that you know what the five themes are named, listen to a summary of what they're about.<br />2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqC79WrpKg<br />Watch – and listen to - the video, then answer the following questions with the information the video provides:Caution: Be ready to pause, if needed, to catch everything.<br />a.What does location tell you?<br />23666455080000b.What question does the video ask about place?<br />5003802032000c.What gets around?<br />17208505080000<br />d.What two questions are asked about human-environment interaction?<br />48006016891000<br />4800606477000e.What do regions have in common (give the first 4 mentioned)?<br />48006016891000<br />Next, let's learn more about each of these five themes. The first to explore is location.<br />3.http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm<br />Read the paragraphs below the blue & gray world map, and answer the following questions:<br />a.What are the two types of location, and what is an example of each?<br />48006016891000<br />48006016891000<br />48958512128500<br />b.What are the two elements in the main coordinate system used for absolute location? (Each is measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds.)<br />48006016891000<br />Now, on the right side of the web page, below where it says “Quickly find the latitude and longitude,” click on the hyperlink, which will take you to a page titled “Latitude and Longitude Finder”. In the box just a few lines below those words, type in “Salt Lake City, Utah” and click on the button labeled “Submit”.<br />The coordinates for Salt Lake City will appear, and a map will appear just below the coordinates. Use the coordinates and map and to answer the following questions:<br />c.What is the latitude and longitude of Salt Lake City, Utah?<br />48006016891000<br />d.Assuming that up is north, down is south, left is west and right is east, which direction must you go to get to Salt Lake City from Sandy, Utah? (That is, what is Salt Lake's relative location to Sandy?)<br />44316656032500e.And what is Salt Lake's relative location to Layton, Utah? <br />443166510795000<br />The next theme to explore is place. Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location.<br />4.http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/<br />Go to the light blue bar below where it says National Geographic Education, and hover over but do NOT click the part of the bar that says “Mapping” (about the middle of the blue bar). When you hover there, a drop-down menu will appear. Click on the hyperlink that says “MapMaker Interactive”. Once the page loads, click and drag the map so that the United States is centered in the map window. Do not zoom in or zoom out. Staying in the “Themes” tab, open directories to the left side of the map and click on the boxes to look at Physical Systems and Human Systems maps one at a time. Using this page and the maps and map keys accessible on it, answer the following questions:<br />(Note: the key can be picked up and moved to a different part of the map.)<br />a.Which tectonic plate is most of the U.S. (including Utah) on?<br />42716451524000b.What elevation (in feet) is most of the United States lower than?<br />4500245406400048006068326000c.What climate zone does a long, wide stretch of North America lie within, and does that climate zone have a dry season?<br />What major religion is predominant in the Southeastern region of the U.S.?<br />47053515938500<br />e.According to this web page, does the United States have more language diversity, less language diversity, or the same amount of language diversity as Canada does?<br />470535571500f.In the contiguous United States (meaning all states except Alaska and Hawaii), have there been any volcanic eruptions that caused human deaths? If so, how many eruptions?<br />3747770-50165005786120-4889500The third theme you will explore is human-environment interaction. This theme consists of three aspects: how humans depend on the environment, how humans adapt to the environment, and how humans modify or change the environment. Websites 5 through 7 each will address one of these aspects.<br />5.http://helenair.com/news/opinion/readers_alley/article_8bfc460c-455d-11e0-94bb-001cc4c002e0.html<br />This is a letter to the editor of the Helena (Montana) Independent Record, written by Mary Fitzpatrick, in response to some actions by the Montana State Legislature. Some of what is written is opinion, but some is well-stated fact about how humans depend on the environment. Use the letter to answer the following questions:<br />a.Ms. Fitzpatrick defines the environment as what? [2nd paragraph]<br />47053515938500<br />b.Defined this way, what does the environment do for humans? [2nd paragraph]<br />47053515938500<br />Do you agree with her claim that “when the waters and air are polluted, the whole community is polluted, including human bodies”? Why or why not?<br />47053515938500<br />4610103429000What do you think is something important that we depend on the environment for?<br />47053515938500<br />6.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_humans_adapt_to_their_environment<br />This page is a collection of answers to the WikiAnswers question “How do humans adapt to their environment?” Four answers are posted; the second one (“They wear...”) and fourth one (“People use...”) best answer the question. Use those answers to respond to the following questions:<br />a.What two things have people used to adapt to their environment?<br />480060571500b.What are the ways (5) that people have used these two things?<br />4800602355850048006051689000<br />What is one example of how humans adapt in the way of clothing?<br />4705352476500<br />7.http://otis.coe.uky.edu/ccsso/cssapmodules/dams/overview.html <br />This web page uses a specific yet common modification to introduce the idea of how humans modify or change the environment. Use the letter to answer the following questions:<br />a.What does the page call the relationship between the natural environment and human culture?<br />14141451651000b.Besides technological adaptation, what has increasingly modified the natural environment?<br />31953202603500What are two of the five examples of the permanent changes to the natural world resulting from the factor listed in b.<br />47053515938500<br />4610102476500What is one adaptation from website #6 that could also be considered as a way that humans have modified or changed the environment, and explain how it could be a change/modification?<br />47053515938500<br />4705353429000<br />The next theme you will explore is movement. This theme deals with how we are connected by the movement of people, products, and ideas.<br />8.http://maps.google.com/<br />You will use this website to answer the next three questions. First, in the box at the top of the page, type in “Salt Lake City, Utah” and hit the enter key.<br />a.Which Interstate freeways (the ones with a blue & red shield) run through the area visible on this map?<br />31857953175000On the left hand side of the web page, below where it says “Salt Lake City, UT” it should also show the hyperlinked words, Directions, Search nearby, Save to map, and more.<br />Click on “Search nearby”. A box will appear below these words. In that box, type “airports”. A list will come up and will show nearby airports, including their distance from Salt Lake City (shown next to the city & state).<br />b.What is the closest airport, and how many miles away from Salt Lake is it? (Round it to the closest mile.)<br />2214245-1841500c.How many airports (including the one in b.) are located within 25 miles of Salt Lake?<br />57480201651000The previous three questions dealt with a couple of ways that people and products can move. But how do ideas move? One way is communication.<br />d.What are three search terms that could you enter at this site that are businesses related to communication?<br />16046457937500<br />The last theme is region. This theme deals with the ways in which the world is divided into units for study. Websites 9 and 10 will address this theme – 9 will show what regions can be, and 10 will allow for a comparison of regions.<br />9.http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/ <br />Below the screen shot of the new website, go to the 3rd column and under “Standards”, click on the hyperlink text that says “See the current national geography standards >>”.<br />At the top of the page that comes up, just below where it has the word “Archive” of National Geographic Xpeditions Archive, click on number 5 (in the Places and Regions segment).<br />At that page (Geography Standards: That People Create Regions to Interpret Earth’s Complexity), answer the following questions:<br />a.What does a region have that sets it apart from another? [1st paragraph]<br />489585571500<br />4991107239000b.What does understanding the nature of regions require, and why is it needed? [2nd paragraph]<br />47053515938500<br />4705351524000How small, and how big, can regions be? [2nd paragraph]<br />47053515938500<br />4705352476500d.How many basic ways do geographers define regions? [2nd paragraph]<br />5081270-1333500e.What is the first type of region, and what is it characterized by? [3rd paragraph]<br />47053515938500<br />f.What is the second type of region, and what is it organized around? [4th paragraph]<br />4705353429000g.What is the third type of region, what does it reflect, and what is it defined by? [5th paragraph]<br />47053515938500<br />4610105334000<br />10.http://library.thinkquest.org/4552/ <br />Use the information on this page to answer the following two questions:<br />95694547244000a. Into how many regions does this website divide the U.S., and what are the regions' names?<br />b.How are the regions grouped (that is, what characteristics do the regions share with places within the region that set it apart from other regions)?<br />47053515938500<br />At the top of the web page there is a United States map colored by region.<br />c.Click on the purple section of the map. You will be taken to information about the West.<br />Into the table below, insert at least one fact in each box under the heading “West” next to the appropriate topic.<br />When you have completed the “West” column, use the back/left arrow in your web browser to navigate back to the map page and click on the dark green section of the map. You will be taken to information about the Northeast.<br />Do the same thing in the “Northeast” column with the information on that region as you did with the West.<br />FeaturesWestNortheastClimate:temperaturesJulyJanuary Climate:yearly precipitationMajor LandformsPopulation:Largest state(& its population)Population:Smallest state(& its population)Manufactured Products/ Resources – list 3:<br />* Continues on next page *<br />Features [Con’t]West [Con’t]Northeast [Con’t]Natural Products/ Resources – list 3 (including at least 1 from mining & 1 from farming):<br />Although any region has a number of differences from other regions, there are usually at least some similarities across different regions.<br />d.Complete the chart below with similarities that you noticed between the West and the Northeast. Think of as many as you can, using the links from web page if necessary, as well as any knowledge you already had about these two regions.<br />Similarities<br />Answer Sheet for: A Webquest of the Five Themes of Geography <br />1.a.MR. LIP<br />b.movement, region, location, (human and environment) interaction, place<br />2. a.Location tells you “where it is”<br />b.“What is it like when you get there?”<br />c.“People and ideas” get around<br />d.“What do the people do to the environment?” and “What does the environment do for the people?”<br />e.“Climate, religion, language, education”<br />3.a.relative and absolute; <br />example of relative location is that Galveston Island is located in southeastern Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, about 48 miles southeast of Houston; <br />example of absolute location is that Galveston, Texas, is 29°16' North, 94°49' West<br />b.latitude and longitude<br />c.40° 45' N / 111° 53' W<br />d.north<br />e.south<br />4.a.North American<br />b.1,443 feet<br />c.Humid Cold Climate, no<br />d.Protestant<br />e.less language diversity than Canada<br />f.Yes, 1<br />5. a.she defines it as a life community that supports all species, including humans<br />b.the environment cleans the air and water, and grows all the food<br />c.(Answers will vary, but should include at least one reason why the students agrees or disagrees with her claim.)<br />d.Answers will vary, but should mention human dependence on the environment through food, air, water, or something related or similar.<br />6. a.science and technology<br />b.developing protective clothing, using fire to heat their homes and cook their food, domesticating animals, divert water to grow their crops, breed improved plants and animals for farming<br />c.either: 1) they wear heavy clothes in the winter and light clothes in the summer, or 2) people in deserts wear scarves so that sands from sand storms could not go into their noses and they also wear light clothes.<br />7. a.a two-way street<br />b.human culture<br />c.two of the following: Clearing forests for agriculture, paving surfaces for urban areas, damming rivers, exploiting minerals, polluting air, streams and oceans<br />d.(Any of the listed adaptations from #6 could be considered a change/modification; the student simply needs to give explain of how.)<br />8. a.I-15, I-80, I-215<br />b.Salt Lake City International Airport, 5 miles<br />c.six<br />d.(Answers will vary, but phones, newspapers, and internet service providers are a few possibilities.)<br />9. a.certain characteristics that give it a measure of cohesiveness and distinctiveness<br />b.a flexible approach to the world, because the criteria can be very specific or very changeable<br />c.as small as a neighborhood, or as vast as a territorial expanse covering thousands of square miles in which the inhabitants speak the same language<br />d.three <br />e.the formal region, characterized by a common human property or by a common physical property<br />f.the functional region, organized around a node or focal point with the surrounding areas linked to that point<br />g.the perceptual region, reflecting feelings and attitudes about areas, and defined by people’s shared personal images of those areas.<br />10. a. 5; Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West. <br />b.they are grouped by history, traditions, economy, climate, and geography<br />c.↓<br />FeaturesWestNortheastClimate:temperaturesJanuary75° F high69° F averageJuly5° F low21° F averageClimate:yearly precipitation32” per year46” per yearMajor LandformsRocky Mountains, Great Basin, & Great PlainsAppalachian Mountains, valleys, & hillsPopulation:Largest state(& its population)California(33,364,000)New York(18,198,000)Population:Smallest state(& its population)Wyoming(501,000)Vermont(584,000)Manufactured Products/ Resources – list 3:Answers will vary, but may include:processed foods, chemicals, Answers will vary, but may include:processed foods, chemicals, electrical equipment, lumber, paper products, dairy products, electrical equipment, lumber, paper products, printed materials, jet airplanes, metal products, machinerysyrups, clothing, medicines, plasticsNatural Products/ Resources – list 3 (including at least 1 Answers will vary, but may include:Mining: coal, natural gas, oil, zinc, copper, gold, lead, silver, Answers will vary, but may include:Mining: coal, natural gas, oil, zinc, gravel, iron, sand, stone;from mining & 1 from farming):uranium;Farming: fruits, vegetables, cattle, coffee, cotton, dairy cows, hay,Farming: fruits, vegetables, cattle, poultryrice, sheep, barley, sugar cane, wheat; [Fishing: crabs, fish, oysters, scallops, shrimp]<br />d.-><br />SimilaritiesAnswers will vary, but may include:Both manufacture processed foods, chemicals, electrical equipment, lumber, and paper products.The smallest states in both regions have similar numbers of people.Both mine coal, natural gas, oil, and zinc.Both farm/grow fruits and vegetables, and raise cattle.Both have at least three states with populations under 1,000,000.Both have at least one state with populations over 10,000,000.Both consist of 11 states.Both include an ocean coastline.<br />