ch 1 sec 1 - toward civilization

8/8/2019 Ch 1 Sec 1 - Toward Civilization

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Ch 1 Sec 1 Understanding Our

Past I. Geography and History

A. Geography: the study of people, their

environments, and the resources available tothem

1. 5 themes of Geography: location, place,

human-environment interaction, movement,and region


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B. Location: Tells where a place is on the surface of

the Earth

1. Absolute Location - Where something is

located on the surface of the earth

a.) Determined by longitude and latitude

1. Latitude: measures distance north or

south of Equator

2. Longitude: measures distance east or west

of Prime Meridian (imaginary line that runs through

Greenwich, England


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2. Relative Location: where one place is

located in relation to another

a.) Sometimes more important than the

location itself (i.e. Athens was influenced

by other ancient civilizations) (Relative location means to locate a place relative to other

landmarks while absolute location is locating a place using

a coordinate system.

For example, you could give the relative location of

Philadelphia, PA as being in the southeastern part ofPennsylvania, to the west of New Jersey but the absolute

location of Philadelphia is 39.57N, 75.10W)


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C. Place: Geographers describe places in terms of their

physicals features and human characteristics

1. Physical features of a place include: landforms, bodiesof water, climate, soil quality, resources, and plant &

animal life

2. Human characteristics include where most people live

and their economic activities, religious beliefs, andlanguages

D. Human-Environment Interaction People have shaped and

been shaped by their environments

1. Early farmers used water from rivers to irrigate their

crops

2. European settlers in the Americas cut down trees to

clear land for farms

3. Today, roads slice through deserts, and canals link

distant bodies of water


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E. Movement Movement of people, goods, and ideas

is another key link between geography and history

1. Early times people followed herds of deer orbuffalo on which they depended for food

2. Recent times People have moved from farms and

villages to cities in search of jobs

3. Ideas also move, carried by people likemissionaries or settlers

a.) How are ideas transferred even faster today?


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F. Region - Based on location, physical characteristics,

cultural characteristics

1. What region of the United States do we live in?

2.What region of Pennsylvania do we live in?


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II. How do we know? Prehistory the long period of time

before people invented systems of writing. Ancient people

had no cities, countries, organized central governments, orcomplex inventions

A. Anthropology - the study of the origins and

development of people and their societies

1. Study the culture - way of life of a society handeddown from generation to generation (some focus on the

origins of human life, others on the variety of human

cultures)


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B. Archaeology the study of past people and

cultures (branch of anthropology)

1. Began over 500 years ago 2. Europeans dug up old statues and sold them

for a lot of money

3. Became a specialized branch of

anthropology 4. Study past people and cultures

5. Find and analyze materials and remains of

human cultures to learn more about them

6. Use artifacts objects made by humanbeings (tools, jewelry, cloth, pottery, weapons,

etc)

7. Use Carbon-14 to determine age of artifacts


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C. Archaeologists at Work

1. By studying thousands of items, they have traced how early

people developed new technologies a. technology refers to the skills and tools people use to

meet their basic needs

D. Technology and the Past

1. Computers can be used to store and sort data or to developaccurate site maps

2. Techniques for measuring radio-activity help chemists and

physicists determine the age of objects


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A. Historians: study how people lived in the past

1. Study artifacts, from clothing and coins to artwork

and tombstones2. About 5,000 years ago people started to keep written

records. This marked the beginning of recorded history

B. Historical Detection historians must evaluate the

evidence to determine if its reliable

1. Historians must interpret the evidence, explaining what

it means

2. Their goal is often to determine the causes of a certain

development or event

3. By explaining why things happened in the past, the

historian can help us understand what is going on today

and what may happen tomorrow


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ch 1 sec 1 - toward civilization

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