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Social Studies 4: U.S. Geography Subtopics 60 Views
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Description:
The study of geography in terms of the United States is actually the study of many, many different subtopics. Well…great. That sounds like a lot of work.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
The study of geography and the United States is usually the study of many, many different
- 00:18
subtopics. Well great, that sounds like a lot of work. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]
- 00:20
Eh, sorta..
- 00:22
See, geography is defined as the study of Earth. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
Full Transcript
- 00:25
And Earth is a pretty big place, with a whole lot of different stuff going on.
- 00:29
Not the kind of subject you can study for 10 minutes and call it a day. [Student closing his laptop]
- 00:33
There's physical geography, which includes landforms also known as the surface of the [Coop pointing at a blackboard]
- 00:37
Earth like mountains, plains and plateaus...
- 00:40
...bodies of water, including oceans, seas, rivers, lakes,
- 00:43
and everything in between.
- 00:45
In this one subtopic alone, we've got the vastness of the ocean and the entire surface [Boy in a dingy being circled by sharks]
- 00:50
of the Earth.
- 00:51
And we're only skimming the surface, like this guy. [Man water skiing flies into the air]
- 00:54
The Earth also has many different climates and climate zones.
- 00:57
If this subtopic is the focus of a particular geographer
- 01:00
they could look at the weather and temperature of an [Man looking confused at a computer]
- 01:03
area over time.
- 01:04
And then compare it to the climate of another area.
- 01:07
And another area.
- 01:08
And another.
- 01:09
It doesn't leave a lot of time for Sudoku solving. [Person playing Sudoku]
- 01:12
Another subtopic of geography is population.
- 01:15
Focusing on this subtopic would lead a researcher to look at where people live, why they live
- 01:19
there, and how they move about. [Man looking at screens about people]
- 01:21
They might also consider the population density of a specific area... [Video of a busy city]
- 01:24
And then compare it to another area.
- 01:28
And another.
- 01:29
And well, yeah, you're probably starting to get the idea.
- 01:31
Biomes are another subtopic.
- 01:33
A biome is an area of natural land where certain plant and animal wildlife are able to survive. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:38
As you can probably imagine, America has plenty of different biomes, ranging from cactus-filled [Man stuck in a biodome]
- 01:43
deserts to lush green forests, to studio apartments. [Man in his apartment]
- 01:47
Believe it or not, even the economy can be considered a geographic subtopic. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:51
Sure, you might think it's better suited for the field of finance, but the physical geography [Lots of dollar bills going round in circles]
- 01:55
and climate of a region can significantly impact an area's economy. [A clown in a busy city]
- 02:00
Hawaii's warm weather and beautiful beaches attract tourists year-round, while the Midwest's
- 02:04
low population density allows for many of its states to be filled with farms instead.
- 02:09
Yeah, not a lot of guided wheat field tours. [Tour guide showing people round a field of wheat]
- 02:12
Regardless of subtopic, geographers in the United States often use maps as tools to represent [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
- 02:17
the various areas they study, while commonly dividing America into four regions: the North, [The US broken into four different colours]
- 02:22
South, Midwest and West.
- 02:24
To say you're studying “geography” means you're simply studying Earth. [Planet Earth rotating]
- 02:28
But within that topic exists countless subtopics, each with an endless amount of information
- 02:33
to learn and consider.
- 02:34
Unfortunately, no matter how much you learn about the planet we call home, you will never [Man looking annoyed because he can't find the remote]
- 02:38
be able to find the television remote.
- 02:40
It's whereabouts are one of life's great mysteries. [The dog has the remote in its mouth]
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