You are an individual, right?

There is nobody else exactly like you

place a boundedarea;a local-
rrysucnasa townor a ctty
landmarkan objector landform
a place
thatidentifies
in appearance,abilify, and personaliry. The friends of identical
twins can tell them apart.Just as each person has a unique
character, each part of the earth has a special "sense of place."
A place is a part of the earth that canbe recognized as separate or
different from other parts. Each place is a unique combination of
natural physical characteristics (for example, landforms and bodies
of water) and human-made features (for example,roads and
buildings). Punkeydoodles Corners is unique becauseof its odd
name. Niagara Falls and Paris have their wide\y rccognized natural
or human landmarks: the Horseshoe Falls and the Eiffel Tower.

Checkpoint
Why are the words place and
landmarkt boldfacedin this

iffi
paragraph?

"rri

Whatwouldmakeeachof theseplacesunique?

G6 U n i t 1 : F i v eT h e m e so f G e o g r a p h y
 Places cornein many sizes, from a single room to the Pacific
Ocean. Since places occur on the earth's surface,they are of special
interest to geography. This subject focuseson the relationship geographythe studyof the
surface
earth's andpeople's
between people and the earth. Geographersoften study conditions to it
relationshio
at different places on the planet. Since the days of the ancient
Greeks, explorers have wanted to learn the characteristicsof
different parts of the wor1d. In fact, the word "geography" comes
from two ancient Greek words, "geo" (of the earth) and"graphica"
(descriptions). National GeographicmaSazinehas used maps,
graphs, pictures, and words to describeplaces on earth for more
than a century. Place
TheHighest
MountEverestis the highest
placeon earth.Standing
8848 metres,it towersnearly
9 kilometresabovethe level
of the lndianOcean.
MountEverestis partof the
Himalayan mountainrange
in southernAsia.This
giganticlandmarkof rock,
ice, and snowwasf irst
c l i m b e di n 1 9 5 3 b y S i r
E d m u n dH i l l a r ya n d h i s
Sherpaguide,TenzingNorgay.
Hundredsof adventurers
haveattemptedthe ultimate
ouest-Mount Everest's
summit.Someof them have
In 1986,SharonWoodbecamethe firstCanadian
womanto reachthe summitoj
oaidwith their lives.
MountEverest.

l . List,in orderof size,eighttypesof geographic or physical,

listof a) thenatural, features
and
places,
withan exampleforeach.Startwitha b) human-made that
characteristics make the
roomandendwithanocean. (Hint:A citywill placeunique.k
fallsomewherenearthemiddle.)I<
3. Describe
thenatural andthehuman-made
2 . Workwitha partner
to picktwopictures
of of the mostinteresting
features placeyouhave
places
fromthisunit.(Don'tchooseParisor everexperienced.seeif yourpartner can
NiagaraFalls.)
Foreachone,makea guessthe nameof the place. t E

C h a o t e r1 : P l a c ea n d M o v e m e n t G 7