Unit 2: Human (Cultural) Geography



Unit 2: Human (Cultural) Geography

 

Enduring Understanding: Cultural geography focuses on settlement patterns, population, demographics, places, regions and cultures. Various social, political and economic factors affect cultures, the way said cultures change over time, and how the components of culture shape the characteristics of a region.

 

Essential Questions:

Concepts: Distributions and Patterns, Economic Systems, Cultural Patterns, Population and Demographics, Migration, Places, Regions, Character of a Place, Culture, Cultural Traits, Standard of Living, Urbanization

 

Topic/Take-Away: Population growth rates vary, posing different problems for different countries because of development, resources, etc. The world's population is unevenly distributed because of the physical geography of the world. Large numbers of people are emigrating from rural areas to cities. The push factors would include wars, food shortages, persecution, lack of jobs, or other problems. The physical environment and distribution of resources determines settlement patterns.

 

Topic/Take-Away:  Global cultures include language, religion, social groups, government, and economic activities. Geographers divide the earth into specific culture regions to better identify trends. Trade, migration and war all change cultures. The world's first civilizations arose in cultural hearths. Unique physical and human characteristics define places and regions and often change over time. Social, political, and economic factors determine population trends and demographics in a region.

 

Topic/Take-Away: Political and economic systems are extremely important because they directly affect individuals. The three major economic systems are traditional, command and market economy.

 

Topic/Take-Away: Peoples are increasingly interdependent in the world. Because natural resources are not evenly distributed, countries must trade. Governments can create or eliminate trade barriers. A negative effect with the development of human economic activities is the creation of pollution. Social, political, and economic factors affect cultures and cause changes in the culture over time.

 

Academic Terms to Know:

Culture

Language

Religion

Ethnic Group

Culture Region

Culture Hearth

Political Systems

Economics Systems

Population Distribution

Standard of Living

Death Rate

Birth Rate

Natural Increase

Doubling Time

GNP

Per-Capita

Literacy Rates

Middle Income

Developed

Developing

Life Expectancy

Dense and sparsely populated

Urban Growth

Urbanization

Cities

Rural

Population Pyramids

Human Migration

Natural Disaster

Natural Resource

Disease

Famine

Political Instability

Industrialization

Diffusion

Population Patterns

Population Distribution

Population Density

Soilis

Climate

Vegetation

Language

Trade Network

Free Trade

Pollution

River Systems

Unitary System

Federal System

Autocracy

Oligarchy

Democracy

Traditional Economic System

Command Economic System

Market Economic System

Map

Goods and Services

"Melting Pot"

"Tossed Salad"

Education Systems

 

Guided Reading Questions

 

1. How does the physical environment, location of water, and location of resources determine the distribution of settlements?

2. How do settlement patterns change over time in response to physical or cultural change?

3. How do population and demographics represent the various human landscapes on Earth?

4. What social and cultural factors contribute to changes in populations and demographics?

5. What unique physical and human characteristics define a place and region?

6. How are places or regions affected by human perceptions and how do they change over time?

7. What is a culture? What does a "cultural landscape" look like?

8. How are cultures affected by social, political and economic factors?

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