Why is it that we have a class called Social Studies? Why don't we just study geography or history or economics or politics or the environment? Well, it is difficult to study them individually because they are all intertwined. Why should we study these topics? It's important for us to understand the world around us. Can you locate Canada on the world map? Can you locate the US? How about England or France or Iraq or China? Why do you think some people cannot locate their own country on a world map? While, certainly some of Miss South Carolina's answers came from nervousness, I would hate to see any of my students in a position where they cannot talk intelligently about the world they live in.
Let's see how much you know about the country and world we live in. On the two maps on your hand out, fill in as many countries, provinces, and cities as you know. You have 10 minutes to do this.
Watch the following video to find the answers to the questions below:
Social Studies 10
Why Geography?
1. How many people are on earth?
2. How much of the earth is covered by seas?
3. How much of the earth is covered by desert?
4. Earth is mostly ____________________________________ about 4000 miles deep.
5. How thick is the earth’s crust?
6. If the earth were an apple, how thick or thin would the crust be?
7. 85% of the atmosphere is only ________________________ miles thick.
8. How old is the earth?
9. If you scale Earth’s existence to a day when did humankind arrive here?
10. List the 5 ways geography studies changes to people and the environment.
11. How quickly is global information increasing?
12. How many text messages are sent each day?
13. How many words are there in the English Language today?
14. How does this compare with Shakespeare’s time?
15. How much information does a week of The (New York) Times newspaper have compared to what would be available in the 18th century?
16. What is the hierarchy of wisdom, knowledge, information and understanding?
17. What does GEO – GRAPHY mean?
18. Geography allows you to think through what media?
What is place?
Geographers use 5 principles to help them understand the idea of place:
Places have a location.
Places have physical and cultural characteristics.
Places change over time.
Places interact with other places.
Places are in regions.
If I were to describe my home using these principles, I would say:
My home is in Duncan.
My home is on a hill with apple and walnut trees, and we practice aspects of Canadian, Italian, Japanese, and Welsh/Irish culture in our home.
My house has changed colour since I have lived there and now there is a road between the back of our yard and the farm behind us. Also, we hear sheep now, rather than cows.
At our house, we will often cut part of the neighbour's grass on the north side and he will cut ours because we have no fence there. We do the same for the farm on the other side of our house.
My home is in Duncan, on Vancouver Island.
Now, describe your home using these principles.
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