STARTER 1.What is a region? 2.What two geographic factors play into the creation of regions? TURN TO PAGE 29 IN YOUR BOOK TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

STARTER1. What is a region?2. What two geographic factors play into the

creation of regions?TURN TO PAGE 29 IN YOUR BOOK TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

QUESTIONS:

3. Using your map key, draw the symbol for a major city?4. Using your scale bar, 1 inch on the map equals how

many miles in real life?5. Find the distance from New Delhi, India to Bangalore,

India.6. Draw an 8 sided compass rose.

Our Earth’s Continentsand Oceans

7.3.2Locate the Earth’s major physical characteristics

(i.e., 7 continents, 4 oceans)

We need a mental picture of the whole world, not just certain parts of it. This is “big geography.”

South America

Africa

How many continents are there?

Nine? One?

Seven? Five?Four?

The conventional map of seven continents

But what IS a continent?

But what IS a continent?

Conventional definition of a continentA large mass of land surrounded, or nearly surrounded, by

water.

If that is the conventional definition, why are Europe and Asia separate continents?

Since the nineteenth century, most scholars have accepted the Ural Mountains as part of the dividing Line between “Europe” and “Asia” as

continents.

The Urals as a border between continents? They are not that impressive.

Ura

l Mts.

Another part of the dividing line:Bosporus and Dardanelles

(Straits)

EUROPE

ASIA

So, why is Europe a continent?

European scholars of the nineteenth century decided that

it should be one.

One of the benefits of having power in the world is that you

get to name things!

European scholars of the nineteenth century decided that

it should be one.

One of the benefits of having power in the world is that you

get to name things!

Asia + Europe = Eurasia

E U R A S I A

Africa + Asia + Europe = Afroeurasia

A F R O E U R A S I A

Think of Afroeurasia as having some seas “inside” it.

Black SeaCaspian SeaMediterranean Sea Persian GulfRed Sea

You figure out which is which?

Another feature of big geography isthe earth’s great mountain chains

Mountains have been barriers to human communication. But passes across them have also served as

“valves” of communication.

So, how many continents?

• Afroeurasia• Australia• North America• South America• Antarctica

• Afroeurasia• Australia• Americas• Antarctica

But is it possible to think of North and

South America as ONE continent?

But is it possible to think of North and

South America as ONE continent?

Are theAmericasonecontinentor two?Try to think of

the Gulf of Mexico and the CaribbeanSea as bodiesof water “inside”the Americas.

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean Sea

AND OCEANS…

ITS REALLY ALL ONE BIG OCEAN!