GEOGRAPHY FOR
EVERYONE
1 videocassette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 minutes
Copyright MCMXCII
Rainbow Educational Media
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CREDITS
Producer: Martha Ann Byrnes
Author: Greg Byrnes Narrator:
Jack Dahlby Video Editor: Jeanne
Fones Graphics: Parterre
Productions
Produced for Rainbow Educational Video
By Parterre Productions
TABLE OP CONTENTS
Introduction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
........ 4
Objectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.......... 5
Summary
..........................
...... 6
Review
Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
... 9
Activities/Topics for Discussion.. . . . . . .
13
Bibliography
..........................
. 15
Script.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 16
INTRODUCTION
An English comic once noted that the difference
between biography and geography is that one is
about chaps and the other about maps. This
program looks at both, examining the land and
the people who live on it. Geography is Greek
for description of the earth, and looks at
where we live, and links it to the rest of the
earth.
This program gives background information and
shows the location of important landforms and
regions. When students are finished they'll
know a lot about geography and see clearly
where the United States fits into the world.
OBJECTIVES
This program :
* Shows why geography is important.
* Provides students with enough information to
understand geography in terms of landforms and
regions.
* Introduces students to the seven
continents.
* Shows students how geography can effect
lifestyles.
* Examines the various climatic, geologic,
plant and animal environments.
* Shows the United States in relation to the
other countries of the world.
SUMMARY
The program opens with a close-up of young
people hiking along the continental divide.
Clearly geography is not something abstract,
but a part of all of our lives.
Even when students haven't traveled beyond a
limited area, they've seen the world through
books, films and television. Pictures can tell
us a lot. To emphasize this point the video
looks at the way clues in pictures are used by
geography detectives.
For example, if you are surrounded by sand and
there's no water or vegetation you are in a
desert. This leads to a discussion of the
world's major deserts. In fact, one fifth of
the world is desert; Europe being the only
continent without a desert.
Next, students look at areas covered with snow.
Where are they? The program then discusses the
Rocky Mountains, Alps and Himalayas, the
highest mountain range in the world. Students
then look at the North and South Poles.
The video then changes venue and examines
tropical regions. Students are told they are
in a place where the sun shines directly down
at noon, making it very hot. It never snows
here, but it rains a lot, and sometimes there
are dry seasons and a thick forest. Where do
they think they are? Obviously they are in a
tropical rain forest.
The next landform covered is the savanna.
There are savannas in the Sudan below the
Sahara Desert; other savannas are the campos
in Brazil and the Veld in South Africa. In this
context the prairie of the American west is
also presented.
The reason for the four seasons is covered
next. Students are told how the seasons in the
northern and southern hemispheres-are reversed
due to the angle of the earth. While in the
temperate zones there are two types of trees:
broadleafed deciduous trees and evergreens.
The role of high altitude on weather and
settlement is then examined as the
significance of mountains is looked at in
depth. Most mountains are part of large
mountain ranges like the Rockies in the
western United States and the Appalachian
Mountains in the east.
But where is the United States in relation to
other regions of the world? Regions are large
areas or land masses. These often include large
sections of similar climate, geology and
culture. Every country and every continent have
their own geography which shapes the character
of the people. They may be farmers, fishermen,
miners, industrial workers, or craftsmen, from
any of the many regions of the world.
There are all kinds of people spread over
millions of square miles. Yet if they were all
gathered in one place at one time they wouldn't
even fill the Grand Canyon. The earth is
immense, and humanity, like a mighty river,
shapes the land and is shaped by it. The
destiny of humanity is tied up with the earth.
A short primer on the seven continents then
follows in the following order: North America,
South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia,
Antarctica.
The program concludes by noting that the
variety of landforms and people make
geography a fascinating field of study.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What does the study of geography involve?
To know geography means to understand
different landforms and regions.
2. What are some of the ways we find out
about other geographic areas?
We find out about other geographic areas
through books, newspapers, television and
other people.
3. What are two important tools in locating
different parts of the world?
Using a globe and a map will help you
understand where different geographic regions
are.
4. What kind of landform is sandy, very hot
and very dry with little vegetation? Where are
some of these located?
The landform is a desert. There is the
Kalahari in South Africa, the Gobi in Mongolia
and China or the Atacama in South America. The
Sahara extends from Northern Africa, through
Iran to Afghanistan in Asia. The American
southwest is noted for its deserts, too.
5. What percentage of the world is desert?
One fifth of the world is desert. Europe is
the only continent without a desert.
6. Do some people consider Siberia a desert?
And if so, why?
Some people consider Siberia a desert, because
there is little vegetation. There is water
there, but it's frozen.
7. What is the difference between the polar ice
caps on the North and South Poles?
One difference is that the North Pole is over
the Arctic Ocean while the South Pole is over
land.
8. In what landform are there more kinds of
trees than anywhere else?
In the tropical rainforest there are more kinds
of trees than anywhere else and more species of
birds, insects, reptiles and mammals live there
than live anywhere on earth.
9. What is a savanna and where are some of them
found?
On the northern edges of the tropics are tall
grasslands called savannas. In Africa most of
the world's big game live in the savannas
between the tropical rainforests and deserts.
There are savannas in the Sudan below the
Sahara Desert; other savannas are the campos in
Brazil and the Veld in South Africa. Some even
classify the prairie of the American west, and
the steppe of central Europe as a savanna or
grassland region.
10. Why are there four seasons?
Because of the angle of the earth there are
four seasons in the temperate zones. In the
United States the earth is tilted towards the
10
sun during June and away in December. In South
America the seasons are the opposite.
11. What is the highest mountain in the
world?
Mount Everest in Nepal, which is 29,028 ft.
high. The air is so thin there you need oxygen
to breathe.
12. How did mountains affect the settlement of
the United States?
Mountains channel development. Before
California could be settled, pioneers from the
east had to find a trail through the mountains.
13. Where is the United States in relation to
the major land masses of the world?
It is found in the Northern Hemisphere in the
center of North America, and is bordered by
Canada to the North and Mexico to the South.
14. Could all the people who live in the world
fit into the Grand Canyon? Yes or No.
Yes. The earth is immense; and humanity, like
a mighty river, shapes the land and is shaped
by it. The destiny of humanity is tied up with
the earth.
15. Name the seven continents.
North America, South America, Europe, Africa,
Asia, Australia and Antarctica.
1 6 . Which two continents are totally
surrounded by water?
11
Antarctica and Australia.
17. Some people consider Asia and Europe as
one continent. What do they call this?
Eurasia.
12
ACTIVITIES/TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Have the class break into small groups and
trace North and South America and then fill in
all the countries there with different colored
pencils or markers. You can do the same for all
the other continents.
2. Have students do a research paper, or hold
class discussions. Compare and contrast their
life with the life of young people in different
landform regions such as mountain, coastal,
farm areas, cities, savannas or tropical
rainforests.
3. Are there any students from foreign lands in
your class? If they have lived in their country
of birth long enough to remember it, perhaps
they can answer questions, or give a short
talk, about what it is like there. Those who
have traveled might also want to bring to class
some of the pictures they have taken, and share
them. How were the places they visited
different from the area where they live?
4. Create a bulletin board project that looks
at how mountains can create a wide variety of
temperature and vegetative zones in a very
short space. You can begin below sea level with
undersea life cut out from magazines or drawn
by hand. Next you can place a tropical
rainforest level with drawings or cut-outs of
the wide variety of life forms found there. Or
you can begin the mountain at the deciduous
forest level and draw cows and sheep grazing.
Then you have the evergreen forest level, here
you can draw bears, mountain goats or mountain
lions and finally
13
the top of the mountain will be snow with
little or no vegetation, a real tundra level,
You can then have a class discussion about how
the zones of the earth change from the equator
to the poles, and the various forms and
lifestyles along the way.
5. What jobs do people do in different
countries and geographic regions. Have
students select one country or region of the
world and then using the encyclopedia or
another research book have them give a brief
description of that country's major geographic
features and landforms. Have them list the
capital of the country, the number of people
who live there and the special kinds of jobs
people do there. Has the type of work people
do there changed in recent times? If so, how?
14
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bell, Neill. The Book of Where, or, How to be
Naturally Geographic. Boston: Little Brown,
1982.
Countries of the World and the Leaders,
Yearbook. Detroit: Gale Research C o . , 1975.
Currimbhoy, Nayana. Living in Deserts. New
York: F. Watts, 1987.
Hunt, Sarah Ethridge. Games and Sports the
World Around. New York: Ronald Press C o . ,
1964.
Lands and Peoples, 6 Vols. Danbury, CT:
Grolier, 1985.
Silver, James F. Geography Skills Activies Kit.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.
15
SCRIPT
To know geography means to understand different
landforms and regions. This program will give
background information and show the location of
important landforms and regions. When you're
finished you'll be able to say you know a lot
about what geography is really all about.
Geography is literally under your feet. The
study of geography involves knowing where you
are, where you are going, and how you get
there; if for no other reason than to find your
way back home.
For most of you geography really does begin at
home. When you were little your world was very
close to home.
As you got older and went off to school. You
had your first real lesson in geography...How
to find your way home from school.
Gradually, you extended the range of your
adventures to the next street, the next town
and then from one town to another.
Geography begins with finding out where you
live.
Even if you haven't traveled beyond a limited
area, you've made visits out into the world and
beyond through books, films and television.
Television brings the entire world into your
home. But sometimes that can be confusing.
16
Where are all these places they're always
talking about?
When you see shots from New York or Los
Angeles and Hollywood...
When you see reports from Europe, Asia and the
Middle East...
When you see news from all over the world,
you want to know where all these varied
locations are.
Using a globe will help you to find them.
But pictures can tell you a lot too.
In fact, there are so many clues in pictures
that you can all become geography detectives.
You can learn a lot about the world by
understanding what you're seeing.
You already know a lot about where places are.
Let's read some clues and find out about your
home in the world.
First, you're surrounded by sand. It's very
hot and the air is dry. There's no water or
vegetation and you feel hot. Where are you?
Right, a desert. Perhaps in the Kalahari in
South Africa, the Gobi in Mongolia and China or
the Atacama in South America.
The largest desert region in the world extends
from the Sahara through Iran to Afghanistan in
Asia. In fact, one fifth of the world is
desert. Europe is the only continent without a
desert.
17
Or maybe you're in the American west, Utah,
Arizona, New Mexico or Texas, or northern
Mexico. Deserts are regions with little water
and vegetation.
Some people consider Siberia a desert. There
is little vegetation. There is water but it's
frozen.
Now you look around and all you see is snow,
miles of it. Where are you?
You could be in the Rocky Mountains, or the
Alps, maybe even the Himalayas, the highest
mountain range in the world.
Or it might be winter in the northern United
States, Canada, northern Europe, Russia, Korea
or Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of South
America.
What if we told you this snowy area was over an
ocean. Where would you be?
Actually you'd be on the North Pole where the
ice is two to three miles thick.
The ocean you are over is the Arctic Ocean.
The South Pole is icy like the North Pole,
but it is over land, not water. The only
creatures that live here are smaller than
gnats.
Now you're in a place where the sun shines
directly down at noon, making it very hot. It
never snows here, but it rains a lot and
sometimes there are dry seasons and a thick
forest. Where do you think you are?
18
You are in the tropics and this is a tropical
rainforest. It is in a zone that circles the
earth like a belt, at its center.
There are more kinds of trees here than there
are anywhere else. And more species of birds,
insects, reptiles and mammals live here than
live anywhere on earth.
The high canopy of the rainforest keeps
sunlight off the ground. If sunlight does get
in, a jungle undergrowth develops.
On the northern edges of the tropics are tall
grasslands called savannas. There is a lot less
rain here.
In Africa most of the world's big game live in
the savannas between the tropical rainforests
and deserts.
There are savannas in the Sudan below the
Sahara Desert; other savannas are the campos in
Brazil and the Veld in South Africa.
Some even classify the prairie of the
American west, and the steppe of central
Europe as a savanna or grassland region.
Do you see this globe? It's tilted just like
the earth. It's because of this angle of the
earth that there are four seasons in the
temperate zones.
The earth is tilted towards the sun during
June in the United States, and in December it
is tilted away from the Sun.
But if you went to Argentina or Chile at the
end of South America during our summer you'd
be in for a surprise. It's winter there.
19
When the northern hemisphere is tilted toward
the sun the southern hemisphere is tilted away
from it.
In the temperate zones there are two types of
trees: deciduous trees, which are broadleaf
trees that lose their leaves in the fall, and
evergreen trees that keep their leaves all year
long.
Evergreens tend to predominate as you get
closer to the polar ice caps. Of course when it
gets really cold there are no trees at
all.
Say it's the middle of summer in the United
States, but you're surrounded by snow. Where
are you?
You could be on top of a high mountain, since
altitude affects the weather too.
Mountains are an important land formation.
Mount Everest in Nepal is 29,028 ft. high, the
highest mountain on earth. The air is so thin
there you need oxygen to breath.
Most mountains are part of large mountain
ranges like the Rockies in the western United
States and the Appalachian Mountains in the
east.
Mountains make their own weather. They also
affect their regions.
The deserts in the American West are caused
partly by high mountains that block rain
clouds.
20
Mountains also channel development. Before
California could be settled pioneers from the
East had to find a trail through the mountains.
The land takes many shapes and forms. As
you've seen, landforms are an important part
of your world. They can even define your
lifestyles.
The world also consists of many regions and
the more you know about them the better you
will understand geography.
For example, when you look for the United
States on a globe where do you look? Where is
it in relation to the major regions of the
world? (#4)
Regions are large areas or land masses. These
often include large sections of similar
climate, geology and culture.
Geography is Greek for description of the
earth. It looks at where you live and links
it to the rest of the earth.
Every country and every continent have their
own geography which shapes the character of
the people.
They may be farmers, as in the American
Midwest.
Or fishermen, like those who work off the
coast of Maine.
Maybe they work in mining, like the coal
workers of Pennsylvania.
Or industrial workers in Detroit, Michigan.
21
Maybe they are craftsmen in Mexico.
There are all kinds of people spread over
millions of square miles. Yet if we all
gathered in one place at one time we wouldn't
even fill the Grand Canyon.
The earth is immense. And humanity, like a
mighty river, shapes the land and is shaped by
it. The destiny of humanity is tied up with the
earth.
So geography isn't just about maps, it's also
about people. It frames the story of humanity
as it is found on seven continental land
masses. These continents are:
North America: which is cold in the north and
warm in the south and is bordered by the
Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
South America: which is warm in the north and
cool in the south and is bordered by the
Atlantic and Pacific.
Europe: Which has a temperate climate that is
cold in the north and warm in the south; it is
bordered by the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Some consider Europe and Asia as part of one
giant land mass called Eurasia.
There is Africa: which is hot in the north and
cool in the south and has nations on the
Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean and the
Atlantic.
Asia: which is cool in the north and warm in
the south includes China, Japan and the
subcontinent of India.
22
Australia: vast, empty and majestic has a warm
climate. Since Australia is a continent, not an
island, Greenland, a province of Denmark near
the North Pole, is actually the world's largest
island.
And finally Antarctica: it is the coldest
place on earth, the land mass around the
South Pole.
By understanding different landforms and the
different regions of the world you can begin to
understand why there is so much variety in the
world.
You might even understand why people would
travel from other countries, just to see where
you live.
When you study geography, variety is what you
come to expect.
23
CLOZE EVALUATION QUESTIONS
GEOGRAPHY FOR EVERYONE
NAME
DIRECTIONS: Select the correct word from the four choices given. Circle the correct letter.
1. The earth has a vast diversity of regions and landforms. The study of.
is one way
to learn about these many regions and various landforms. It also helps us locate where
in the world we are and how to get to other places.
2. We can learn about geographic regions and types of land through reference books and
materials. One such tool is a ____ which is a model of the earth showing the location of
continents and oceans. This is a more accurate picture of the earth when compared to a flat
map.
3. The earth has a variety of different regions. One such region known as the ____ is a very dry,
hot area. There is little rainfall here and very few types of plants and animals live here. In fact one
fifth of the earth is this type of region.
4. Another region of our earth is very cold with large amounts of snow and ice. This ____ is
found at both the northern and southern ends of the earth. In the northern area the ice can be as
much as two to three miles thick.
5. In another region of the earth the sun shines directly overhead and also much rain falls here.
The ____ are also home to the greatest varieties of birds, mammals, reptiles, and insect life forms.
In some parts of the world we are cutting down the rainforest and destroying the habitat for many
of these life forms.
6. The earth has other regions that are unique as well. The rolling plains of tall grasses called the
____ are home to other types of animals. This region is found in the Sudan, South Africa, and in
the country of Brazil.
we find a variety of temperatures and
7. Lets visit a different world region. In the
seasons. In this region there are both broad leaf and
evergreen trees. There are also a wide variety of other plants and animals that live here.
8. The regions are where we find the fewest people and the poorest soil for
growing good food. Some examples are the Rockies, Andes and the Appalachians.
9. Beside the oceans the earth has seven large land masses. These large areas of land called
____ have a variety of regions within them. Each of these land areas has a large diversity of
people, plant forms and types of animals.
10. We have seen how regions of the world and the landforms that make them up are varied in
climate, population, plant and animal life forms. We also have seen that ____ over the years have
changed some regions of the world. This is especially true in areas of high population density.
This form may be reproduced without permission from Rainbow Educational Video.
1. A.
B.
C.
D.
geology
geography
history
archaeology
2. A.
B.
C.
D.
globe
projection
earth model
world map
3. A.
B.
C.
D.
polar region
tropics
temperate zone
desert
4. A.
B.
C.
D.
Antarctica
Arctic region
polar region
frigid zone
5. A.
B.
C.
D.
tropics
deserts
temperate zone
savannas
6. A.
B.
C.
D.
jungles
tropics
temperate zone
savannas
7. A.
B.
C.
D.
savanna
temperate zone
jungles
tropics
8.. A.
B.
C.
D.
mountain
coastal
savanna
tropic
9. A.
B.
C.
D.
plains
coasts
continents
islands
10. A.
B.
C.
D.
people
animals
weather
climate