Mrs. Stuart's Website - Social Studies

Big Ideas in Social Studies

Geography determines both how and where people live.
Geography shapes culture.
People must have water, food, shelter and clothing in order to survive.
Societies will develop where survival is most likely, such as near a river or a body of water.
The development of tools is vital to the success of a society.
Communication and cooperation are, important to the success of a society.
Civilizations have government, religion, social classes, art and writing.
Knowledge of the past will help me understand the present and dictate the future.
Ancient advances in technology affect the way people live.
Religious beliefs guided the daily lives of many ancient cultures.
The Fertile Crescent is considered the cradle of civilization.
The area known as the Fertile Crescent is now the modern Middle East.

5 Themes of Geography

Location – Where is it?

Absolute – exact location, complete address (80 Jones Dr., NP, NJ 07974), latitude & longitude
Relative – near the location (Starbucks is across the street from DD)

Place – What is it like when you get there? Landforms, languages spoken, religion, government, etc.
Regions – What do locations have in common? Climate, language, education, etc.
Movement – How do people and ideas get around? What ideas/people are shared? Think about the supermarket (trucks, cars, planes, import/export, etc.).
Human Environment Interaction – What do the people do to the environment (pollute, chop down trees)? What does the environment do to the people (Super Storm Sandy, natural disasters, natural resources, etc.)?

Map Vocabulary

Cartographer - the person who makes maps

Compass rose – a small drawing on a map used to show directions (cardinal N,S,E,W/intermediate directions NE, NW, SE, SW)

Equator – 0 degrees latitude (divides the Earth into north and south)

Geography – the study of the Earth

GPS – another tool to help navigate from one location to another (directions)

Grid system – a series of lines that criss-cross each other to help us find locations on a map

Hemisphere – one half of the Earth

Key/legend – place on a map that tells you the meaning of each symbol

Location – where a place is

Latitude – Equator (0 degrees)/the distance north or south of Earth’s Equator in degrees

Longitude – North Pole/South Pole/(Prime Meridian 0 degrees)/the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian

Migration – moving from one location to another

North Pole – 90 degrees North/ The North Pole latitude is 90° North. At the North Pole all lines of longitude converge there, so North Pole longitude can be defined as any degree value.

Parallel – a line of latitude

Physical map – a map that shows the kinds of landforms on the earth by showing different elevation

Political map – a map that shows boundaries between areas, such as cities, states, countries…

Prime Meridian – divides the earth into east and west (0 degrees longitude)

Regions – groups of places that have something in common

Scale – relationship between the actual distance in places on earth and the distance shown on a map (relative size)

South Pole - the southern end of the earth's axis, the southernmost point on earth.

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