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Introduction to Geography by Read
Some of the most critical issues we face as a society require knowing about Earth’s physical and human systems and the interdependency of living things and physical environments. Module 1 provided us with the background and tools needed for geographic analysis and examining the relationship between humans and the physical environment. In Module 2, we learned about landforms, weather, and climate as the main components of the physical environment that we live in. In this module, we focus on the spatial aspects of populations and investigate the human aspect of geography, where concepts such as population, culture, and human interaction will be explored. Afterward, download and review the slide decks summarizing the reading assignments from Chapters 5, 6, and 7 to finish reinforcing your new knowledge.
These videos provide us with background for a better understanding of the fundamental concepts in human geography and how humans and the environment are engaged in constant interaction. Some of the main questions addressed in these videos are:
Watch this video that explores the link between human population and food energy and production sustainability.
Continuing our look at population and human geography, watch this video discussing how populations grow and change.
One of the ways a population can be defined is by the culture members of the population share. This video examines the characteristics and forces that develop culture in a group of people.
Now, let’s explore the world population and its evolution using the World Population History interactive map. Make sure to make use of all the interactive features of this map such as the themes, overlays, and other map features.
Human geography utilizes a combination of spatial, physical, and social science with special focus on spatial patterns of people and how we’ve made sense of the places we inhabit, explore, or create. Let’s look at how people interact with the environment they capture and modify. Some of the questions answered here are:
This video introduces human geography by looking at an example of how humans have interacted with the physical space around us.
In the previous video, we looked at how people named a really big thing. Let’s look at how other parts of language are affected by geography.
In this video, we’ll look at how the movement of religion across continents was influenced by human movement.
Religion isn’t the only thing that human movement has moved across the world. This video explores how disease moves around the world.
Let’s conclude this module’s activities by looking at an interactive language map of the world where you can explore the spoken languages of any location on the globe.
Langscape is an interactive map developed by the Maryland Language Science Center that allows you to investigate the languages that are natively spoken around the globe. Zoom in on any location and click on a language name. It will display an information window below the map containing basic data about the language and its speakers. Above this general information are clickable icons that allow you to load sounds and recordings, references, and texts. You can also search for a language by name using the search box at the top left.
Have fun!