Midterm Review: Social Studies

Class 603

Brief OverlookChapter 1: A Geographers World

Section 1: Studying Geography
Section 2: Geography Themes [and Essential Elements*]
Section 3: The Branches of Geography
Chapter 2: The Eastern Hemisphere**
Section 1: Location**
Section 2: Water Features**
Section 3: The Land**
Chapter 3: Climate and Resources of the Eastern Hemisphere**
Section 1: Weather and Climate**
Section 2: Climates of the Eastern Hemisphere**
Section 3: Natural Resources* **
Chapter 4: Early Civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere
Section 1: The First People
Section 2: Early Human Migration
Section 3: Beginnings of Agriculture
Chapter 5: Physical Geography of the Middle East
Section 1: The Eastern Mediterranean
Section 2: The Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, and Iran
Section 3: Central Asia
Chapter 6: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East- Mesopotamia
Section 1: The Fertile Crescent
Section 2: The Rise of Sumer
Section 3: Sumerian Achievements
Section 4: Later Peoples of the Fertile Crescent

*Note: Some of these topics are TBD

**Note: These topics will be reviewed in class, so they will not appear in this guide.

Chapter One, A Geographers World

Section One, Studying Geography

PART A
There are many types of maps.
A political map is a map that uses different colors to represent countries, capital cities (often
shows in a star shaped symbol), popular cities, and country borders.
A physical map is a map that shows the physical features of an area or region. This may show
mountain ranges, rivers, oceans, islands, deserts, and plains. It can also show elevation levels.
A special-purpose map is a map that focuses on one specific topic, such as climate, resources,
population, and weather.
Chapter One, A Geographers World
Section One, Studying Geography
PART B
Geographers study the world at three different levels:
Local Level:
Geographers study issues at a local level. They ask questions to figure out why people live and
work the way they do. They can also help people improve their lives. For example, they can
help town leaders figure out the best place to build new schools, shopping centers, or sports
complexes. Also, they can help the people who live in the city or town plan for future changes.
Regional Level:
At a regional level, geographers study a part of the world that has one or more common
features that distinguishes it from surrounding areas. They can be defined by physical
characteristics such as mountain ranges, climates, or plants native to the area. Other regions
may be defined by human characteristics such as language, religion, or even history.
Geographers might want to study a larger section to see how people around the world interact
with each other.
Global Level:
Studying at a global level means really looking into the entire economy. They try to find
relationships among people who live far apart. They may also examine the products that country
exports to see how the products are used in other countries. Geographers help us understand
how our actions affect people around the world. Through their studies, they provide us with
information that help us figure out how to live in a rapidly changing world.
Chapter One, A Geographers World
Section Two, Geography Themes and Essential Elements
There are five themes of geography:

Location: Describes where something is. A specific description (the white house is located at
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the city of Washington, DC.) is called an absolute location. A
relative location is the general description of a place (Canada is north of the the United States).
Place: Refers to the areas landscape, the features that define the area and make it different
from other places. Such feature could include land, climate, and people.
Region: Areas that share common characteristics.
Movement: This theme looks at how and why people and things move.
Human-Environmental Interaction: How people interact with their environments.
*To remember the 5 themes of geography, simply memorize the phrase: MR.HELP
Movement
Region
Human
Environmental
Location
Place
Chapter One, A Geographers World
Section Three, The Branches of Geography
There are two main branches of geography- physical geography and human geography.
Physical geography is the study of Earths physical features, including rivers, mountains,
oceans, weather, and other features.
The geographer may want to study physical geography because they want to know what causes
the different shapes on Earth. Physical geography is used to see the physical changes,
landforms, waterways, etc. of the world.
Human geography is the study of Earths peoples, including their ways of life, homes,
cities, beliefs, and customs.
The geographer may want to study human geography because they want to understand the
worlds peoples, past and present. They ask many questions dealing with the lifestyles of the
peoples. Since human geography is a large topic, there are many subtopics under human
geography, such as economic geography, which focuses on the economy of humans and how
they use them, etc.
Practice Test

Since you have finished Chapter One, A Geographers World, it is now time to review
what you have covered. Select/write the best answer for each question.
1. What are three levels at which a geographer might study the world? Which of these levels
covers the largest area?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
______
2. The smallest level at which a geographer might study a place is
(1) microscopic.
(2) local.
(3) regional.
(4) global.
3. A region is an area that has:
(1) one or more common features
(2) no people living in it
(3) few physical features
(4) set physical boundaries
4. Based on what you learned in Section 1, what might attract people to work in geography?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
______
5. How might satellite images and computers help geographers improve their knowledge of the
world?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
______
Chapter Four, Early Civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere
Section One, The First People
The time before writing is called prehistory. The first humans, called hominids, lived
during prehistory.
Australopithecus were the first of the hominids. They knew how to stand upright and
walk to two legs. Homo habilis knew how to use tools, or handheld objects with
modifications used to help a person reach their objective. Homo erectus knew how to

use stone tools. Homo sapiens, or modern day humans, created fire and developed
language.

The first part of the Stone Age was the Paleolithic Era.
The first societies were hunter-gatherers.
(Hunter-gatherer societies were a community of people that hunt animals and gather wild plants,
seeds, fruits, and nuts to survive.)
(In the hunter-gatherer, society, the development of language, art, and religion was important.
Language might have developed relationships among people, or make it easier to resolve
issues such as distribution of food. Language, however, was not the only way hominids
expressed themselves. People used art as well, such as carved figures out of stone, bone, and
ivory. They may have been used to express religious meaning.)
Chapter Four, Early Civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere
Section Two, Early Human Migration
.
Chapter Four, Early Civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere
Section Three, Beginnings of Agriculture
.
Chapter Five, Physical Geography of the Middle East
Section One, The Eastern Mediterranean
The countries of the Eastern Mediterranean are called the Middle East. A narrow waterway
separates Europe from Asia. It consists of the Dardanelles, Bosphorus, and the Sea of
Marmara.
Lakes and Rivers
- Jordan River
- Dead Sea
Mountains and Plains
- Pontic Mountains
- Taurus Mountains
.
Chapter Five, Physical Geography of the Middle East
Section Two, The Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Iran

.
Chapter Five, Physical Geography of the Middle East
Section Three, Central Asia
.
Chapter Six, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East- Mesopotamia
Section One, The Fertile Crescent
.
Chapter Six, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East- Mesopotamia
Section Two, The Rise of Sumer
.
Chapter Six, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East- Mesopotamia
Section Three, Sumerian Achievements
.
Chapter Six, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East- Mesopotamia
Section Four, Later Peoples of the Fertile Crescent