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Mary Help of Christians College – Salesian Sisters, Inc.

Canlubang, Calamba City, Laguna
PAASCU ACCREDITED LEVEL III
S.Y. 2020 – 2021

SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT 1

WORLD GEOGRAPHY
OVERVIEW

This module aims to discuss the significance of

geography and the five geographic themes as a tool
in understanding the world. This module also
characterizes the planet Earth in which we live in and
discuss the importance of the study of geography in
understanding the history and culture of humans from
past to present.

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 SESSION 1

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. identify the landforms and bodies of water in the map.

2. discuss the significance of geography and the five geographic themes as a tool
in understanding the world.

Locate and encircle on the chart below the given word.

E V E R E S T O T G

H O K E L M X N A E

P Y R U U A E T Q O

G P O T D N Z O O G

R E M B I T V P M R

O A A T P L A S I A

E N N E R E N O K P

D O T O I K E G O H

C I O P W R B U E Y

Identify in the map where the continents in the world listed below can be found. Write
only the number of the correct answer in the map.

1. Asia

2. Africa

3. North America

4. South America

5. Antarctica

6. Europe

7. Australia

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The study of history is closely related to the study of geography. Geography has a great
role in shaping history and culture, not only of the ancient people, but of the people at
the present as well.

What is geography? What is its relation to the study of Earth and of mankind?

The Concept of Geography

Geography came from the Greek word geographia, which means “description of the
Earth”. It is the scientific study of the physical features of the Earth. It also involves the
analysis of the distribution and interaction of different physical, biological, and cultural
characteristics of things on the surface of the Earth.

A person who specializes in geography is called a geographer. A geographer studies

the physical characteristics of the Earth, the changes that takes place, and its relation
to the people who live in it.

There are five themes used in geography. These themes are used to improve the way
people think about the world. They aim to describe the use of space on Earth to better
understand local, national, and global issues.

The five geographical themes are location, place, region, human-environment

interaction, and movement.

LOCATION

Answers the question “Where is it?”. This theme is used in identifying the site and the
distribution of people and place on Earth. There are two ways
to identify location on Earth through absolute location and
relative location.

 Absolute Location is determined by the intersection of

the line of latitude and the line of longitude. This system
of identifying location is called the grid system.
 Relative Location, on the other hand, is determined by
identifying the location of a person in relation to the things or places around it.

PLACES

Answers the question “How is it like there?” This theme identifies

the physical and cultural characteristics of a place that make it
different from other place on Earth. A place may be described
based on two aspects-physical and human.

 Physical Characteristics refer to the natural environment

of a place such as land, water, vegetation, climate, and
natural resources.

 Human Characteristics, on the other hand, involve ideas, behavior, and culture
of people, such as livelihood.

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REGION

Answer the question “How are the places similar or different

from each other”. Region refers to a part of the Earth that has
similar features. Each region is bounded by more than one
similarity in the physical, political, economic, and cultural
aspects. An example of this is the Asia-Pacific.

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

Answers the question “What is the relationship between

humans and their environment”. It is used in discussing and
studying how humans depend, modify, and adapt to their
environment.

MOVEMENT

Answers the question “Why or how are places related to one

another?”. This theme discusses how the movement of
humans, ideas, things and other physical systems, such as air,
affect human interaction in different places.

How are the five themes of geography used in understanding historical events?

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 SESSION 2

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. assess the physical features of the Earth.

2. examine the main characteristics of the world’s cultural geography.

BRANCHES OF GEORAPHY
There are two main branches of geography: physical geography and human
geography.

Physical Geography refers to the study of the different physical features and processes
of the Earth like the movement of air and water.

Physical Geography dictates to a large extent how the environment limits human
development. It influences, for example, the choices humans make with regard to what
job to take, what natural resources to develop, and what clothing to wear.

Human Geography, on the other hand, is the branch of geography that deals with how
humans live in their physical and cultural environment.

Human Geography includes language, religion, economy, government, and other

aspects of human life like population distribution and city formation.

THE PHYSICAL EARTH

Earth is located in the Solar System. It is third among the eight planets from the sun. It
has its own natural satellite, the moon. Although its size is only one percent of the Earth’s
size, it affects the oceans of the Earth. The moon causes the rise and fall of sea levels.

See the table for some information about Earth.

Diameter 12 756 kilometers

Approximate distance from sun 149.6 million km

Period of rotation 23 hours, 45 minutes, and 4 seconds

Period of revolution 365.26 days

Temperature on the surface of the
-70º to 55º Celsius
Earth

EARTH’S STRUCTURE
Earth is made up of three main layers. These are
the crust, the mantle, and the core.

CRUST - the thinnest and outermost layer of Earth

which is 3 to 60 km. Thick. It consists of continents
and ocean basins.

MANTLE - The dense and hot layer of semi-solid

rock below the crust. It is 2900 km. thick.

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CORE - It has two parts: the outer core, which is 2200 km. thick and made up of molten
rock, and the inner core, which is solid and 1250 km. thick.

Earth constantly changes. A major cause of this is the movement of tectonic plates.
Tectonic plates are large chunks of rock that make up the Earth’s crust.

When tectonic plates move, Earthquake occur, volcanoes erupt, and mountains are
formed; thus, changing Earth’s surface.

EARTH’S OCEANS
Earth has five vast Oceans. These oceans cover 71 percent of Earth’s surface. See the
table for the list of the five oceans covering the Earth.

Ocean Total Area

Pacific Ocean 155 557 000

Atlantic Ocean 76 762 000

Indian Ocean 68 556 000

Southern Ocean 20 327 000

Arctic Ocean 14 056 000

GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. What are the advantages of studying geography?

2. Why is geography closely related to history?

3. How do various kinds of landforms and bodies of water affect the way of life of
humans?

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 SESSION 3

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. value the Earth’s uniqueness

2. identify the continents of the world and the land forms and bodies of water.

The Continents
Continents are the largest landmasses on the surface of the Earth. It is surrounded by
big bodies of water. Earth has seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South
America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.

WHY DO WE HAVE CONTINENTS?

CONTINENT Total Area

(from largest) (in square kilometres)

ASIA 43 608 000

AFRICA 30 335 000
NORTH AMERICA 24 238 000
SOUTH AMERICA 17 835 000

ANTARCTICA 14 245 000

EUROPE 10 498 000
AUSTRALIA 7 682 000

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Landforms and Bodies of Water

Due to the various geographical processes, like the movement of tectonic plates and
erosion, different landforms and bodies of water are formed.

The table below shows some of Earth’s distinct landforms and bodies of water also
called water forms.

Mount Everest in Nepal and Reaching 8850 meters, Mount Everest is

China the world’s highest mountain

Andes in South America Extending about 8900 km., the Andres is

the world’s longest mountain range
Landform

It is considered as the world’s most

Tambora in Indonesia destructive volcano. Around 92 000 lives
were lost during its 1815 eruption

Sahara in Africa With an area of 8 600 000 km ², Sahara is

the world’s widest and driest desert

Nile in Africa The Nile, which stretches 6695 km, is the

world’s longest river
Body of Water

Caspian Sea in Asia-Europe With an 311 000 km ², Caspian Sea is the

world’s largest lake

Angel Falls in Venezuela With a height of 979 meters, Angel Falls is

the world’s highest waterfall

Write an essay compose of 100 words that answer the question “Why is Earth
considered unique?” Write a separate paper for this activity preferably short bond
paper.

Reference

Cruz, M. A.; Fietas, M. A.; & Mercado, M. M. (2015) World History. Vibal Publishing House,
Inc.